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- William Paterson University
William Paterson Program Answers the Call for Allied Health Professionals
by Joseph Martinelli
"Get the athletic trainer!"
Those four words, hurriedly yelled in the midst of
an athletic event, carry an important message - the athlete is
injured and needs immediate attention.
A certified athletic trainer attends all sporting events - usually on the sidelines in khaki pants and a golf shirt, wearing a fanny pack equipped with medical scissors, bandages, and adhesive tape. When an athlete is injured during the heat of competition, the athletic trainer jumps into action. Taping joints, bandaging wounds, or attaching braces, trainers often reduce the seriousness of an injury and shorten the time needed for rehabilitation. In the locker room, both before and after a game, the trainer assists athletes with proper conditioning techniques, such as weight training, to reduce injuries and boost performance.
As competitive sports continue to expand on all levels from elementary school through adult teams, the role of the athletic trainer becomes more critical. Recognized as skilled allied health professionals by the American Medical Association, athletic trainers are counted on by coaches, athletes, and team physicians to provide top-notch care before, during, and after practices and contests.
Currently marking the twentieth anniversary of its athletic training concentration (one of only 90 programs in the country), William Paterson University has gained widespread recognition for its rigorous, clinically-based curriculum, which offers students hands-on experience in the field. Since 1979, approximately 250 students have graduated from the program, the first in New Jersey accredited by the Commission for the Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. The program has seen a 100 percent placement in the field since 1994.
"Our program must
meet all of the national standards set by the board of certification
of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA)," says
David Middlemas, assistant professor of exercise and movement
sciences at the University. He directs the program, assisted
by Linda Gazzillo, an assistant professor of exercise and movement
sciences and coordinator of clinical education. "We offer
a competency-based clinical program that monitors a progression
of skills," Middlemas adds.
The path to a career in athletic training truly tests the students'
ability to strive for and achieve academic success. It is an
academic career marked by clinical study, research, and strong
professional preparation. Students seeking certification must
pass NATA's six-hour national certification exam. The three-part
(written, written simulation, and oral practical exam) test covers
areas such as health, anatomy, kinesiology, biomechanics, physiology,
and nutrition.
For many students enrolled in the University's program, that professional preparation includes more than 1,000 hours of clinical study, well above the 800 hours required by NATA. Students accepted into the program must first spend a year observing clinical situations both in the training room and on the field of competition. During the junior year, students complete the first of two required internships, either at a high school or professional level. The second internship occurs during senior year; students are expected to assume as much of the day-to-day training duties as possible.
For Damion Macioci, that
internship process included a year-long stint with the New York
Giants of the National Football League. "My experience working
with the Giants taught me how to be responsible in my clinical
decision-making process, which in turn has helped me gear up
for a bright future," says Macioci. "The opportunity
to work with Giants Head Trainer Ron Barnes and his assistants
Steve Kennelly and Bryan Hansen was incredible.
It's one I'll always remember."
Macioci's journey into the field of athletic training began as a high school soccer player at Nutley High School. "I've always been interested in athletics and by being an athletic trainer I can continue that interest on a professional level," he explains.
His knowledge of the game
of soccer provided Macioci with the opportunity to serve as the
student athetic trainer for William Paterson's Women's Soccer
Team during its NCAA tournament appearance in 1997. He made sure
the athletes used proper stretching techniques and helped to
treat such common injuries as general trauma (abrasions, contusions,
lacerations, bursitis, muscle cramps/spasms), sprains (injuries
to ligaments), and strains (injuries to muscles and tendons).
Macioci is quick to praise the program and its staff. "I
strongly believe that the structure of our program built my self-confidence
and strengthened my decision-making abilities as a trainer,"
he says. Macioci, who passed the NATA national certification
test on the first try, is now a full-time certified athletic
trainer with Chatham High School in New Jersey.
One of the unique aspects of the University's athletic training program is that students are divided into teams. These teams rotate every five weeks, giving the student athletic trainer the opportunity to experience both contact/risk sports such as football, soccer, and basketball, and team/ individual sports like track. The program also places equal emphasis on both men's and women's athletics, so all student athletic trainers obtain a well-balanced clinical background.
Often a coach develops a sense of confidence in a student athletic trainer and requests that individual be assigned to his or her team for the entire season. Dondi Boyd, an August 1999 graduate of the University, spent the 1998-99 season assigned to the men's basketball program. "Dondi was an invaluable member of our basketball staff last year," says Jose Rebimbas, head men's basketball coach. "Her love and passion for the squad and the game of basketball was deeply appreciated by all members of the 1999 team."
Boyd attended every practice, as well as home and road games. She assisted players with their conditioning programs, oversaw stretching routines, and handled all taping and wrapping details. Her knowledge of each player's physical condition and injuries played a key part in keeping the Pioneers healthy for one of the best campaigns in the history of the program, a season that ended in the team's first-ever NCAA Division III Final Four appearance.
Toby Barboza, the University's head athletic trainer for the past 25 years and an adjunct instructor in the program, serves as the link to the clinical aspect of the curriculum. Barboza, whose concern is providing William Paterson athletes with the finest athletic injury care available, handles prevention, recognition, treatment, and rehabilitation of their injuries. He also is responsible for staffing the student athletic trainers at all William Paterson athletic practices and varsity sporting events.
With the number of University athletic events reaching an estimated 300 each year, the staffing of student athletic trainers is both time-consuming and challenging. Each varsity sport requires a certain amount of coverage by the athletic training staff at practices and games. For example, football, which is both a risk sport and one of the largest team sports on campus, requires a minimum of four student athletic trainers plus a certified athletic trainer (ATC). Basketball, baseball, and softball require one student athletic trainer and a certified athletic trainer.
Barboza, who is well-respected throughout athletic training circles, is assisted by certified athletic trainer Ernst Feisner. Feisner, who splits his time between the Athletics Department and the Exercise and Movement Sciences Department, earned his bachelor's degree in physical education with a concentration in athletic training from the University in 1991. He went on to earn his master's in athletic training in 1993 from the University of North Carolina, which has one of the most respected athletic training programs in the country. He returned to William Paterson in 1998.
How Feisner came to William Paterson in the first place is typical of the nontraditional students who make up a large portion of the program's student base. A former football player from Livingston, New Jersey, he originally enrolled at the University of Denver to pursue a degree in hotel and restaurant management. But in 1986, he returned to New Jersey and entered William Paterson to major in athletic training because it gave him the opportunity to enjoy a career in athletics.
"Two things sold me on William Paterson: the nice campus and its accredited athletic training program," Feisner says. "I was able to graduate with honors from a program that gave me the best preparation for a career in athletic training."
Athletic trainers are on the front line in evaluating injuries and providing care, especially in emergencies. Under the supervision of the team physician, they also use their knowledge of each athlete's injuries to develop individualized treatment programs.
Barboza and Feisner, along with all student athletic trainers, share a close relationship with Pioneer team physician Dr. Alan Schultz. Schultz, who specializes in orthopedic medicine, is on the sidelines at Pioneer football games. He serves as the official medical expert for all injured Pioneer athletes, and the information passed on to him from the Pioneer athletic training staff enables him to diagnose and treat an injured athlete with more precision.
Interestingly, about 49 percent of the estimated 17,000 certified athletic trainers across the nation are women. William Paterson's enrollment mirrors that statistic; of 23 students currently enrolled in the athletic training program, 13 are women.
Rebecca Sutton, a May 1999 graduate of the program, says her decision to attend William Paterson was the right one. "It was a program that gave me so much hands-on experience," she explains. No stranger to the stress of being a collegiate athlete, Sutton was a four-year letter winner for the Pioneer volleyball team. "Being an athlete was a definite plus," she adds. "It especially enabled me to understand the frustrations of an athlete who is undergoing rehabilitation for an injury."
Sutton put her skills to the test last June when she joined Feisner as a volunteer athletic trainer at the University of North Carolina basketball camp. "We had 2,000 campers come through the program, and I had all the training I required to deal with their needs," she says.
Her combined volleyball and athletic training experience are paying off this fall as she begins a graduate assistantship at Tulane University where she is pursuing a master's degree in public health with a concentration in nutrition. She will be the lone athletic trainer for Tulane's Division I volleyball program. Sutton would like to cap off her academic career by earning a master's degree in physical therapy.
Like Sutton, numerous alumni of the program have chosen to pursue graduate study in a range of disciplines, including physical therapy and medicine. Graduates have attended such prestigious institutions across the country as the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina, and the University of Florida.
In the last twenty years, advances in the athletic training field have been numerous and significant. No longer do athletic trainers simply hand out bags of ice. Their expert knowledge of the up-to-date techniques of how to treat and rehabilitate the injured athlete is key to the total success of an athletic program.
"To keep its reputation as the home of one of the premier athletic training programs in the nation, the University must continue to maintain its commitment to staying current with advances in the field," Middlemas says.
Consider the number 3,000. That's how many treatments are provided to injured athletes by the William Paterson training staff each year. Multiply that number by three and that will provide a rough estimate of the number of hours logged by the athletic training staff to make sure Pioneer athletes receive the very best care possible. W
Alumni on the Job
Daniel Bartolomeo: Atco High School
Kim Bohn: Neptune High School
Jeffrey Burek: County College of Morris
Drew Caruso: Bergenfield High School
Melinda Chiechanowsky: Don Bosco Prep
Jason D'Amelio: New York Giants
John Desimini: New Jersey Red Dogs,
New Jersey Nets, HealthSouth
Dina Desimini: HealthSouth
Ozzie Diaz: West Orange High School/
Houston Oilers
Margaret Doherty: Wayne Hills High School
Sean Donellan: New York Islanders
Jon Heck: Richard Stockton College
Christopher Jones: West Milford High School
James Lioy: Michigan Hills High School (MI)
Sharon Lopaty: HealthSouth
Damien Macioci: New York Giants
Kevin McKnight: Toms River High School
Diane Mulder: HealthSouth/James J. Ferris High School, Jersey
City
Mike Pobdoro: Hofstra University
Matt Rennie: HealthSouth
Eric Ryan: Bayonne High School
Linda Stanton: HealthSouth
Mark Steinsky: Northern Valley High School, Old Tappan
Kimberly Vieira: HealthSouth,
Kearny High School
Debbie Visco: Marc Physical Therapy
John Wagner: Snyder High School
Cindy Williams: HealthSouth
Alex Wolf: Bay City High School (GA)
Natalie Zeno: North Plainfield High School
Student-Trainer on the
Job
What is a typical day like for Whitney Olson, a
member of William Paterson's student athletic training staff?
Olson, a junior majoring in athletic training who also is seeking
teacher certification in athletic training, is working this fall
with the 1999 Pioneer Football Team. The Toms River resident,
named to both the National Dean's List and the University's Dean's
List, last year received the Alumni Association's Athletic Training
Scholarship.
Olson's assignment with the team began in August when she arrived on campus to work with the players during training camp. Here's how she described one day's activities:
| 6:00 a.m. | Wake to coaches banging on doors and whistling in the halls to wake up players. |
| 6:30 a.m. | Off to Wayne Hall for breakfast. |
| 7:00 a.m. | Arrive at the field house; begin taping athletes and setting up for morning practice. |
| 8:00 a.m. | Set up workstations and water coolers on the practice field for the three-hour morning session. Treat any athletes injured during practice. |
| 11:15 a.m. | Time for a quick lunch at Wayne Hall. |
| 11:45 a.m. | Provide treatment and rehabilitation for injured athletes in the training room. |
| 2:00 p.m. | Return to the field house to set up for afternoon practice. Re-tape athletes. |
| 3:30 p.m. | Set up workstations and water coolers at the practice field for another three-hour session; watch afternoon practice. |
| 6:45 p.m. | A much-deserved dinner break in Wayne Hall. |
| 7:30 p.m. | Return to dorm room and collapse from exhaustion! |
