MISSION STATEMENT
The sports medicine
program is responsible for all instances that affect the health and welfare
of the student-athlete on campus. Athlete has been defined as any person
participating in a university sponsored intercollegiate athletic activity.
The sports medicine program shall be responsible for managing the complete
health needs of the intercollegiate student athlete.
The professional
staff of Auburn University Sports Medicine has the responsibility over
all items affecting the health and safety of student athletes. This includes,
but is not limited to, participation, conditioning, protective equipment/devices,
nutritional concerns, maintenance of safe playing fields and facilities,
and any other matter that would affect the health or safety of the student-athlete.
PHILOSOPHY
The sports medicine
program embodies the commitment of patient/player care, education of the
student-athlete as well as the provider, personal and community service,
and the implementation and development of research.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
To act upon the
mission of Auburn University Sports Medicine, several goals were established,
and the pursuit of these goals enacted. Below is a brief listing of the
goal and outcome.
Higher Standard of Care:
Increased player awareness about what they should
expect from the medical staff, what the medical staff will expect from
them, and how to best communicate about personal and team health care issues.
Increased Number of Qualified Personnel:
From 1993 to 2002 the increase in the number of Certified
Athletic Trainers increased from six to eighteen, including staff and graduate
assistants.
Higher Education of Student Athletic
Trainers:
Increased emphasis placed on the evaluation of student
athletic trainers in cognitive and technical aspects of sports medicine.
Higher Education of Student Athletes:
Programs, such as the OPS
Team , were begun with emphasis placed on player awareness of disordered
eating, self-esteem, motivational techniques, and stress management, to
name a few.
FACILITIES
Auburn University
Sports Medicine (AUSM) is comprised of two main training rooms and augmented
with four satellites. The Athletic Complex-Athletic Training Room is comprised
primarily for football and provides physicians offices and storage for
all medical records. The Memorial Coliseum Athletic Training Room provides
facilities for basketball, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, &
volleyball. The four satellite athletic training rooms are located in the
following areas: baseball's Plainsman Park, swimming's Martin Aquatic Center,
gymnastic's and softball's new McWhorter's Center for Women's Athletics
and the Wilbur Hutsell track facility.
STAFF
AUSM is comprised
of ten full time Staff-Certified Athletic Trainers, one on-campus Team
Physician, and ten Graduate Assistant-Certified Athletic Trainers. These
medical professionals work with 650 athletes and manage approximately fifteen
Student Athletic Trainers. The Director of Sports Medicine oversees the
total sports medicine program and is charged with meeting the programs
goals and establishing the philosophy. He works with each sport, as needed,
but spends much of his time with football. There is a Head Football Athletic
Trainer whose responsibility is to manage all personnel and concerns of
football and its operations. His office is in the Athletic Complex-Athletic
Training Room. In the Fall of 2002, an Assistant Athletic Trainer for football
was added to the staff and another was added in 2004. In 2001 a certified
athletic trainer utilized to manage insurance and medical records was added.
Six Assistant Athletic Trainers round out the full-time staff, with each
having responsibility over their individual sports but have secondary coverage
over all other sports that work out of the Coliseum. Graduate Assistants
are responsible for one sport throughout the year and for training room
coverage on a daily basis. Graduate Assistants are treated as staff members
and are expected to contribute to the care and management of the athletic
training program.
AFFILIATIONS & RESOURCES
Alabama Sports
Medicine & Orthopaedic Center (ASMOC), and American Sports Medicine
Institute (ASMI) are integral parts of our care and management team at
Auburn University.
ASMOC, home to
our Co-Medical Directors and Team Orthopaedist, is a world renown orthopaedic
group with all specialty areas and leading researchers in their specialty.
Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Larry Lemak are co-founders of this well-known
group and are each, in their own right, leaders in the profession.
ASMI, the research
group for HealthSouth Medical Center and ASMOC, is a non-profit research
foundation. It has credits available for orthopaedic sports medicine fellowships,
general sports medicine fellowships, and mini-fellowship opportunities
for foreign as well as domestic practitioners.
All Graduate
Assistants have access to these facilities in research, education, and
mentorships. While these facilities are in Birmingham, AL, they are as
close as a phone or computer and these facilities are eager to play a part
in the future of sports medicine.
We are proud
and thankful to have physicians and physician groups in the Auburn/Opelika
area that are daily healthcare providers for Auburn University Sports Medicine.
They work through East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC). EAMC is a level-two
trauma center that is the facility where all life threatening athletic
emergencies are transported. In addition to the trauma center, EAMC also
has cardiac specialists that are outstanding and work with our department
very closely. EAMC is a 348 bed hospital and is familiar and sensitive
to the needs of athletes.
RESEARCH
Auburn University
Sports Medicine continually explores various topics in sports medicine
worthy of research. There are several divisions of the University which
can serve as interdisciplinary research centers. These include the Schools
of Education, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine. Also, our affiliates
include well-established research institutions which Auburn University
Sports Medicine has the opportunity to work in cooperation with.
One of the goals
of Auburn University Sports Medicine has been to be very involved with
the future direction of Athletic Training and Sports Medicine. We intend
to achieve this goal through professional presentations and publications,
both at the regional and national level.
JOURNAL REVIEW
On a weekly basis,
members of Auburn University Sports Medicine convene for a review of current
literature. Each Graduate Assistant presents one article throughout each
semester. The journals vary in the realm of sports medicine, and each presentation
encourages discussion and debate. It is an excellent means to remain abreast
of advances in sports medicine.
