Expert: Dr. Kevin D. Kanz - 4/16/2009

Question
i really want to be a athletic trainer and get my teaching certificate so i can teach a sports medicine class at a high school and be a athletic trainer there too. but i also want to be a physical therapist ever since i started having too go to physical therapy and i really like it but we have a ATC at our school and i watch her and i really like it i also have taken both of her classes at our high school and was wondering is there any way i can do all three things?

Answer
Dear Marie:

Of course, you can do anything you have a passion for... Athletic trainers, physical therapists and doctors work very closely together, and many times their work is interchangeable.  Most athletic trainers can actually earn scholarships while working their way through college and studying sports medicine.  Physical therapy requires a bit broader scope of education as does becoming a medical doctor, chiropractor or osteopath. Sports medicine is a broad field and encompasses many specialties.  I studied sports medicine as a graduate student, and still incorporate a great deal of my training in my practice of human performance, diagnostics, rehabilitation and functional restoration.  Here are some helpful links if you'd like to learn more:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos294.htm
http://www.spts.org/home/
http://www.acsm.org/
http://www.acbsp.com/

Hope this helps...

~Dr.K