KUMED - The University of Kansas Hospital Authority
02/24/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/25/2025 08:44
Athletic Trainers at the Heart of Sports Medicine
February 24, 2025
Kansas City, Kan. - During National Athletic Training Month in March, we recognize the more than 70 athletic trainers at The University of Kansas Health System. These trainers are highly qualified, multiskilled healthcare professionals in the Kansas City area who collaborate with physicians and other care team members in a variety of settings.
Our athletic trainers care for middle school and high school athletes at partner schools, as well as student-athletes at the University of Kansas. They also work with orthopedic and sports medicine physicians and physical therapists in our sports medicine clinics.
Athletic trainers are a big part of our health system's Sports Medicine and Performance Center. The University of Kansas Health System provides athletic trainers to more than 60 high schools and middle schools in the Blue Valley, De Soto, Gardner, Lansing, Olathe, Osawatomie, Paola, Prairie View, Shawnee Mission, Spring Hill and Wellsville school districts in Kansas and the Liberty, North Kansas City, Platte County and West Platte school districts in Missouri.
Our high school athletic trainers work full time at their schools, available to see athletes in the school training room and attend practices and games to assess and care for injuries as they arise. At middle schools, our athletic trainers cover more than 1 school each due to the smaller size of the schools and fewer number of team sports. Learn more about the health system's partnerships with local school districts.
Our sports medicine program also includes 20 athletic trainers who provide care for athletes at KU through Kansas Team Health, a partnership between the university, our health system and LMH Health.
The athletic trainers also provide care to youth athletes at the Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy and the Chiefs Cheerleaders.
Our athletic trainers also work with our sports medicine and orthopedic physicians in clinics, assisting physical therapists, and in our Sports Medicine and Performance Center location in Overland Park. In the clinical setting, they have a vital role in the successful recovery of athletes and physically active patients - they are the heart of our multidisciplinary approach in sports medicine.
Athletic trainers in clinics have the education, experience and understanding of the whole spectrum of sports injuries and recovery, including injury prevention, mechanism of injury and the sport-specific demands of recovery.
With this knowledge, they assist providers in developing and implementing treatment plans and injury-specific protocols for rehabilitation, as well as educating patients and families on the recovery process.
Collaboration with others
Clinical athletic trainers maintain an open line of communication with patients and other rehabilitation professionals (physical therapists, occupational therapists, etc.) to ensure a patient's recovery stays on track, and they help make adjustments based on each athlete's progress.
Athletic trainers also enhance patient care by working with sports medicine physical therapists to ensure a great patient experience during physical therapy. In our Overland Park location, athletic trainers teach injury prevention classes, including the ACL bridge and concussion risk-reduction programs.
For more information on our athletic trainers, follow @KUSportsMed on Twitter.
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