Spring isn’t just an exciting time of year for athletes – it’s also an important season for the certified athletic trainers (ATCs) who work with them. That’s because March is National Athletic Training month, an event focused on spreading awareness about the important work ATCs do.
According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, an ATC is a certified healthcare professional who provides services or treatments like primary care, injury and illness prevention, wellness promotion and education, taping and prophylactic care, examination and clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions.
At Ortho Rhode Island, three experienced ATCs make up the athletic training staff: Michael Lopes, ATC, CSCS; Tanya Quaresma, ATC, MED; and Kelly Teixeira, LAT ATC. Together they work with individuals and teams who participate in sports across Rhode Island, through a variety of programs they’ve established to connect with their community. This work includes collaborating with Ortho Rhode Island physical therapists and PTA’s on patient care, and providing outreach athletic training services to local high schools and colleges.
As part of this outreach, Ortho Rhode Island partners with the Rhode Island Interscholastic League, providing athletic trainer coverage at postseason tournaments for participating high schools that don't have their own ATCs. Their coverage may involve stretching, taping, injury assessment, icing, and proper referral to Ortho RI Express, a physician, or the emergency room. They also provide education for high school athletes and their families about injuries and injury prevention.
“I believe that the primary responsibility of an ATC is to the ensure the safety and wellbeing of the student athlete,” Lopes says of his role at Ortho Rhode Island.
Whether responding to a player who broke a bone during a game, helping an athlete rehab in the gym, or speaking to an entire team about diet, nutrition, and off-season training, the athletic training staff prioritize the health of their patients.
“We are committed to providing our student athletes, coaches and parents with the highest quality of care and are always looking to expand our services,” Quaresma explains. “Our mission is to provide complete sports medicine services for all orthopedic related injuries.”
Meeting this high standard for coverage and care begins with Ortho Rhode Island’s seamless coordination among their ATCs, physical therapists, and surgeons. Their team-oriented approach helps return athletes to the activities they love.
“Being an athletic trainer is being part of the ‘team behind the team,’” Teixeira says.
In true collaborative fashion, her fellow ATC agrees. “It really does take a team to provide good care to an injured individual,” Lopes says.
And while the month of March is dedicated to honoring their work, the athletic trainers at Ortho Rhode Island relish the job they do every day. When asked what she finds rewarding about being an ATC, Teixeira emphasizes “getting to bring athletes through a rehab program and see them succeed.”
Lopes echoes the sentiment. “We usually see them at their worst, on the field or court where they are in pain or unable to move,” he says of student athletes. “To help them get back to what they were prior to that injury is special.”
“There is nothing like getting an eager student athlete back onto the field or court after sustaining an injury,” Quaresma says. “The excitement when they successfully participate in that first game back is something you can’t find anywhere else.”
You can learn more about Ortho Rhode Island’s Athletic Trainers at https://www.orthopedicsri.com/team/athletic-trainers/, or call 401.777.7000.
