2013 Boston Marathon

As many of you may already be aware, several members of our athletic training family were in Boston on Monday, April 15, 2013, serving as medical volunteers at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Dr. Ray Castle,  first year student Derek Carter, second year student Brendan Jacob, and third year student Caitlyn McKinley were among the first responders to the scene of the horrific tragedy that took place that afternoon. We are incredibly proud of all of their efforts, acting selflessly to help bring victims to safety. All four members of the team were unharmed and have returned home to Baton Rouge. For a full news story, please follow this link. We will have a full article to follow next month and appreciate your support of these courageous volunteers.

Caitlyn McKinley, Brendan Jacob, and Derek Carter with fellow athletic training student volunteers from James Madison University prior to the beginning of the Boston Marathon in medical tent A

The 9th Annual Spring Symposium: A Huge Success!

Symposium this year was a great success!  There were over 220 high school students from all around the state who attended this year.  We first had current and past LSU Football players Eric Reid, Chase Clement, Josh Dworaczyk, and Corey Webster speak to the students about the impact that athletic trainers had on their success in athletics and lives.  Head Football Athletic Trainer Jack Marucci and our Program Director Dr. Ray Castle also spoke to the students before they began the day's event.  Our first activity was to learn how to properly spine board an athlete, which was taught by several of our athletic training students.  A relay game followed, which incorporated spine-boarding skills, taping, filling up water bottles, and throwing a football.  After the relay game, the students rotated between groups where they learned various athletic training skills such as bracing, concussion assessment, ankle taping, and wound care.  After rotating through stations the students were given a tour of our Broussard Center for Athletic Training and of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.  The symposium concluded with lunch with an exciting nutrition talk from our Sports Nutritionist, Jamie Mascari, RD.   The 9th Annual Spring Symposium was a great experience for both the LSU Athletic Training Students and high school students and we look forward to next year!

To view more pictures from symposium, click here!

New Summer, New Opportunities

This summer we have eleven of our first and second year athletic training students participating in summer internships.  We have seven students who were accepted into profession football internships and two of which were females! Derionne Brooks was accepted to work with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tamaria Hollis with the Buffalo Bills. Trebrisa Thomas, another second year student, will be working with a first year student, Jazmine Wilson, at the Arizona Volleyball Festival.  Four other second years also have football internships; Will Payne who will be working with the Washington Redskins, Ben Morale and Meaghan Hussey working the LSU Football Operation Athletic Training Summer Internship, and Eddie Godoy who will be returning to work with the Arizona Cardinals.  We are also very proud of our first year students; Derek Carter who will be working with the Houston Texans and Keressa Ackles, Tiffani Frizzell, and Jazmine Wilson who will be working varsity cheer camps.  Our athletic training students have worked very hard this year and have shown their passion and dedication for athletic training.  We look forward to all of the many new learning opportunities they will be presented with this summer to grow as athletic trainers.  Congratulations LSU athletic training students!

Graduating with Graston

Here at LSU, we are always trying to stay at the forefront of the athletic training field. One of the ways we can do this is constantly searching for new and progressive ways to assist athletes in the rehabilitation of injures through both exercise and modalities. Recently, our second year students and several graduate assistants were given the opportunity to become module one certified in The Graston Technique®. This technique was developed by an athlete who was frustrated with current therapies following a debilitating knee injury and decided to create his own instruments to treat soft tissue injuries. Patented in 1994, The Graston Technique® is now used by more that 16,000 clinicians worldwide, and the athletic trainers at LSU are some of those clinicians. Ray Castle, PhD, ATC, LAT is certified in this technique and was able to provided education to our students to help further their clinical skills. Both the students and graduate assistants have been able to put this technique into practice at their clinical sites and have seen great results including faster healing times and alleviation of chronic injuries. Upon graduation, students will receive their module one certification. Keep up the great work!

Student of the Month

Congratulations to our March Student of the Month, Taylor Wright! Taylor is a first year student in our athletic training program origially from Lake Charles, Louisiana. This year, Taylor worked with the LSU football and proved to be a great addition to the athletic training team. Taylor has distinguished herself among her classmates and we all look forward to what she is able to accomplish in the future. When asked about Taylor, Derek Calvert, current graduate assistant with football, said “she has done a great job this year at football. Not only has she handled the responsibilities she has been given well, but she was able to design and implement a rehab this year and did a great job with it. Her strong work ethic has gained the respect of her peers early on. “ Great work and congratulations again Taylor!