Bill Coburn changed settings a few times to meet certain needs in his life. Employment, advancement, family-friendly schedule. Check out his story and let him know if you have questions for him.
Bill, where did you start as an AT?How long were you there?
Ohio University in the spring of 2000
Took a job in the high school as just the AT for afternoon and afterschool job
I taught sports med for 3 years
Worked through the county for exercise science and AT
Continued to get a reduction in force or RIF
Went to grad school to get a masters in AT
Took a job at Davidson North Carolina
The change in conferences made travel unbearable.
Had my son in 2014
Returned to the high school setting
Had a 50-minute commute for about 2 years
Took a job closer to the house in Greensboro
When my second son was born I had to be available at home more.
Worked for an independent orthopedic office until they merged with EmergeOrtho. That opened up an opportunity for me to
Where did you start as an AT? How long were you there?
Started out as a College AT at Division 1 Mid Major Universities, Interned at my Alma Mater New Mexico State University for a semester, then Grad School at the University of Wyoming, My First Job was at the University of Alabama Birmingham for 2 years, then at the University of Southern Mississippi for 3 years.
Then life got Lifey, my parents were getting older and having health problems so I needed to move back home. I was able to find a job in a Physician's Practice and worked there for 5 years.
When I felt that I had hit the “ceiling” and was not growing professionally I was looking to leave, and my Alma Mater was in need of an emergency hire to teach in the Athletic Training Program. I taught Full time for 2 years, then adjunct for 2 years.
A local High School position opened up so I applied and accepted that position for a year. That high school was not a good fit, but have now been at my current High school for 4 years.
Where are you now?
Texas 6A High School
Is this where you plan to stay?
No intention of moving on anytime soon.
Tanya, what pushed you to change settings?
Life 🙂
A favorite resource for someone looking to change settings?
NATA has a lot of great resources on job descriptions, committees, etc.
For those interested in the Physician practice the Athletic Trainers in Physician Practice Society has a lot of great info and job postings https://atpps.org/
Regrets or missed opportunities
The physician practice setting – I wish I could have grown it.
When it was time to make the change it wasn't hard to make that decision.
It took a while to recognize I needed a change.
Mental and physical exhaustion
The clinical setting did not provide me with the mental challenge I craved.
Find what takes priority in your life and make a career decision based on that.
Started at an orthopedic clinic working at a high school right out of college. New school so the first AT they had. I was also the first and only full-time outreach ATC Rockhill had.
Loved my school. Very High turnover in management at the clinic
How long were you there?
Nearly four years
What was next (tell more of your story)?
So this is kind of two parts. Before COVID I started a cash-based rehab services business. Partnered with local gyms. This was my plan to leave and do full-time. Was about to make the jump then COVID hit and the gyms shut down.
This kind of killed my momentum and made me pivot. I tried to go into the online space and still do that some but needed it to be a side gig for now at least.
Things came about with the clinic I was at. Did not feel appreciated or supported anymore and had the opportunity to try Sales.
Gave me more “regular” hours. Higher pay potential and higher pay to start.
Dynasplint for 6 months. I ended up working more hours. Being bored with the work and just did not like my situation.
Where are you now?
This led me back to “traditional” – I am with a children's hospital here in Kansas City as the ATC of a Class 5 high school. It is the district I live in, and my wife teaches at the school. Just started at this school after being at another one before internally transferring when this came open.
Is this where you plan to stay?
The answer is maybe. I don’t want to leave for another school or hospital system. CMH treats me well and the school situation is about as ideal as they come.
But we just had a baby 6 weeks ago. And I can see my priorities already shifting and wanting to be home more. I know I won’t be willing to miss his sporting events and other activities.
Other options I am keeping an eye on: Industrial, Military, Healthcare Admin/Leadership, Self-Employed
What pushed you to change settings?
Feeling underappreciated
Lack of work-life balance
Pay
Advancement opportunities
Tyler, what held you back from moving on?
Fear of failure
Lack of opportunity at first
Not want to leave my athletes
Really enjoyed the school I worked with
A favorite resource for someone looking to change settings?
Fellow ATCs!!
Speak to others in the setting you are thinking about or who are with the company you want to apply for.
Former employees at those places can also be very helpful
Call to action:
Do your homework before jumping into just any opportunity
Now is a great time to advocate for your worth in many ways
If you want to stay in traditional settings, don't feel bad about it. Maybe your current position is just not that great of a fit but another could be. And if you want to try something else don’t let fear hold you back.
“We have to elevate Athletic Trainers.” This has been a driving force for me since I became a director of athletic accounts at Henry Schein. – Eric Kearns
The Ice Machine is not working..we all know the story, cross country meet followed by a football game and the Ice Machine stops making ice the day before.
Try to have two machines running and schedule maintenance one at a time.
Cube Ice drops in batches and needs time to cycle
Nugget ice (Sonic Ice) machines continue to run and don’t need to shut down and cool off.
Water cooled is typically better than air cooled
Water filters?
6 months is a must for filters.
Proper size filter is really important, typically follow manufacturers' instructions.
Try to use the multi-phase filter approach to help prevent the machine from shutting down.
Clean the ice machine every six months or when you change your filter.
Change the filter anytime you have the water shut off.
Scale reduction is important in maintaining the life of the machine.
Bad taste, lower performance.
Air Filter?
Cleaning them when you change your filter is a good recommendation
Emptying and cleaning the Ice Machine?
Use a scale cleaner or remover according to the manufacturer's recommendations
Best if you let someone trained to run the cleaning cycle.
Ice machine sanitizer from amazon is usually ok but check for food-safe branding.
Sanitize and rinse the machine because scale remover is caustic.
Be sure it is food grade!!!
Troubleshooting
Make sure the machine is level or it can decrease the production rate.
The filter is the number one cause for not making ice – no water pressure means your filter is clogged
Most machines will have an error code you can google or look up on the chart.
Making a loud noise – turn it off and leave it until it can be serviced.
This is a great time to clean it out anyway.
Won’t dump – usually a sensor that stops working.
Check that the sensor door doesn't have an ice cube blocking it from closing
From the fans:
Tip#1
Stop using ice.
Michelle Crosby
Annual maintenance is a MUST, depending on your water, here in El Paso the water is so hard with minerals that 7 years is the life expectancy of ice machines. Change your filters, at least every 6 months more if waterlines are broken or whenever you have mandatory boil drinking water. We bought Scotsman nugget ice machines and ironically exactly 7 years they both died, with gearboxes getting water and burning out covid hits, and parts are slim to not available, we switched to Manitowoc insides are stainless steel made in the middle of covid in ITALY bought with fundraiser money right at $9,000 worth. Wow, that was a lot of Gatorades.
Joe Messinger, MA, LATC
Athletic Trainer/Sports Med. Instructor
Bel Air High School/Medical Magnet
Hey Jeremy, my school gets my ice machines serviced annually and has a service contract. My one horror story is that this company came recently without my advanced knowledge to service both on the same day and so drained them both and left me without ice for the day. Luckily I didn’t need it so badly that day
David Silverstein
Michelle Crosby –
My coaches take care of water for games, etc. and we utilize water systems we’ve made that hook up to spigots for practices.
During times I need a cold tub set up for heat illness, we do have an ice machine but I also Freeze 1g pails of water to lessen the amount we take from the ice machine (and wear and tear).
For injuries, I’ll use an ice cup every now and then or a reusable ice pack if necessary (rarely).
Honestly, I function without an ice machine for 90% of the year.
Robotic Surgery is the movement of medicine. Dr. Jeff Davis of Andrews Sports Medicine believes the repeatability makes robotic surgery a better long-term option for the health of the patient.
– iStock Photos
Paint me a picture, what does robotic orthopedic surgery look like?
Robot-assisted procedures
Primarily used for the spine but as we progress more surgeries become an option.
Total hip and knees are currently being done.
There is imaging to “zero” the joint.
Why Robotic Surgery?
It is an imageless surgery so it reduces the radiation.
The program runs based on preoperative planning.
There is a learning curve and it does take a slight bit longer
There is more opportunity for error if you do it manually
The reproducibility of the surgery is improved
How can Athletic Trainers be a part of the change?
My MA is an AT with a lot of field experience
There is not anything specific about the robot that an AT would benefit.
Knowing about it and its advantages as a resource to the community.
Do some people choose not to have Robotic surgery?
There is some fear of who is controlling the robot, but the surgeon is in control of the robot.
One patient would not get into the CT scanner so we could not do the surgery.
Share some fun / cool stories
Patients that have been in pain for a while have really benefited from the robotic surgery.
The more difficult the surgery the better the outcome from the robot.
With the robot, you can have a much better idea if previous surgeries will impact the current one. Since we use imaging and a computer plan we can prepare a little better than non-robotic procedures.
Robotic Surgery questions from Twitter:
Have you noticed a reduction in recovery times or improvements in outcomes? – ATScoop
Quad Inhibition and Muscle Atrophy can really slow down the recovery process. However, Jackie Kleihege and Jena-Claire Auten know it is essential for healing. Finding the balance between helpful and hurtful is kind of an art form.
Looking at the timeline is essential so we can see the progress of where we have come.
What is the research showing us?
We do not have all the data yet from the quad tendon ACL
We have 10 years of data on it
What are some reasons we have inhibition?
In the acute phase, it looks about the same.
If we can interrupt the inhibition early then we have better outcomes
It is really hard to study the brain when we are studying the knee
How can we find this loophole or workaround to muscle atrophy?
Decrease swelling
Decrease local inflammatory response
ICE???
Is there a time frame where are going too fast in turning off the inflammation?
We still want the natural healing process to continue through that phase.
