Over half of all those who get certified each year find their first job in a sports medicine clinic. The aspect of these positions that many fail to recognize is that they are for profit situtations. If you can't convince the public that you have a service they need and that you are the best person available to provide the service, you won't be in business very long. We encourage those students who see themselves employed as future clinical athletic trainers to consider getting a minor in business and learning some marketing, managment and basic principles of organization. No one is an athletic trainer because of the fame, fortune and prestige.
Athletic training is a ministry.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ says the mark of a true leader is one who knows how to serve. Athletic training is about serving, and therefore a wonderful tool for ministry. The profession is full of persons dedicated to providing quality preventative, management and rehabilitative health care to those who are physically active. But, we don't punch a clock, we don't get our names announced over the public address system, and we may not even get a thank you for being the first one in and the last one to leave. Athletic training is a real life illustration of the way the Christian life is to be lived.