March is National Athletic Training Month, and it serves as a way to spread awareness of the work done by athletic trainers and physical therapists around the country.

Dallas County Hospital Physical Therapist Clint Lutterman explains what athletic training is and its role in healthcare. “The goal of athletic training is to provide sideline emergency coverage for injuries that may occur during events. Athletic trainers also provide rehab assistance in rehab centers, physical therapy offices. They work alongside physicians sometimes to help get people back to the sport, back to what they want to do.”

Lutterman says a lot of what trainers do is assess the severity of injuries, and then make recommendations on how they can best be treated. Additionally, trainers will typically aid physical therapists in helping the athlete on their road to recovery. The education required to become an athletic trainer is a bachelor’s degree program at most universities, but it’s transitioning to a master’s program. Physical therapy on the other hand, is a doctorate program. Lutterman offers some advice to anyone considering either path.

“Make sure you like it. So spend some time with somebody that does it. Get out in the field, get into the clinic, kind of see what it’s all about. If it’s something you’re interested in, you need a lot of anatomy (classes). That’s the big thing, you have to know what you’re looking at. So anatomy is a big thing during school. But I always tell people, try to find somebody that you can go and shadow and observe, and make sure it’s something that you really want to do.”

To learn more about National Athletic Training Month, listen to this past Wednesday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.