What to Look Forward to in April

There is a lot happening at NATA! Stay up to date on what’s to come each month in advocacy, engagement and development in this NATA Now blog series. Check out what else is in store for April, and follow our communication channels throughout the month for more information!

Watch the accompanying video as NATA President Tory Lindley, MA, ATC, discusses NATA’s virtual conferences and other education-related opportunities taking place in April and year-round at NATA.

Advocacy

• A tip from the NATA Government Affairs Department! For April, ATs are recommended to advocate for themselves and the profession by inviting their legislators to their workplace, either in person or virtually. For more advocacy tips and information, visit the NATA advocacy webpage.
• In the April NATA News, the At Your Own Risk Value of the Athletic Trainer Series looks at the performing arts setting. The resource details the various patient populations ATs can provide care to within this setting, facts about ATs in this setting and details each of the five domains of athletic training.

Engagement

• The monthly Built For This article series in the April NATA News features Thomas Mackowiak, PhD, ATC, who, thanks to Domain Two, helped diagnose cancer in golf athlete Elizabeth “Liz” Nagel.
• The Journal of Athletic Training hosts two podcasts, AT Tapes and JATCast, that highlight articles from the Journal of Athletic Training. There will be three new episodes coming in April. Find the podcasts on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean and Stitcher.
  • The April 5 AT Tapes podcast will discuss “Mentorship of Newly Credentialed Athletic Trainer.” Lizzie Elder, PhD, LAT, ATC, will interview Stacy Walker, PhD, ATC, FNATA, about her recent JAT article, “The Role Mentoring Plays in the Transition to Practice of Newly Credentialed Athletic Trainers."
  • The April 14 JATCast podcast will discuss biomechanical response to external biofeedback. Shelby Baez, PhD, ATC, will summarize, “Biomechanical Response to External Biofeedback During Functional Tasks in Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability,” by Danielle Torp, MS, ATC, in under eight minutes.
  • The April 21 JATCast podcast will discuss health-related quality of life in former NCAA athletes. Shelby Baez, PhD, ATC, will summarize, “Health-Related Quality of Life in Former National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 Collegiate Athletes Compared With Noncollegiate Athletes: A Five-Year Follow Up,” by Janet Simon, PhD, ATC, in under eight minutes.  

Development

• The April NATA News is all about athletic training education! The featured article, “Learning Never Ends,” discusses the NATA Professional Development Committee’s efforts to ensure it provides representational and relevant educational content for all members. Other education-related content in this issue includes an article by the AT EducATionalist Cabinet about athletic training students’ perspective on education during COVID-19 and insights into a survey the NATA Post Professional Education Committee conducted of AT employers.
• The educational content from the April NATA News will continue on the NATA Now blog. Be sure to visit the blog throughout the month for more articles on education and what NATA committees are doing to help members be lifelong learners.
• Join us April 5-8 for the fifth NATA Timely Topics Series event, “Employment Transition.” The series is free to members and $45 per event for nonmembers.
• The NATA Secondary School Athletic Trainers’ Committee is hosting a new educational engagement opportunity for athletic trainers who work in secondary schools. The NATA Secondary School Sessions 2021 is a four-week program providing educational and discussion opportunities in short and meaningful segments. The event begins April 21 and will feature Wednesday morning educational sessions, followed by Thursday evening peer-to-peer discussions through May 13. Registrations will have access to the sessions and discussions on-demand through June 12.
• The NATA Council on Practice Advancement hosted its first-ever conference with a focus on physician practice and health care administration in March. It’s not too late, though, to register for the NATA COPA Con 2021 Virtual Conference on Practice Advancement. Registration is open through April 26 and the price is $200 for members and $500 for nonmembers. The sessions will be available on-demand through April 27, so you can consume the content at a time that works for you.
• The biennial Athletic Training Educators' Conference  is the premier event for athletic training educators. ATEC will be held virtually April 29-May 1. The conference theme is “Strategies for Athletic Training Pedagogy and Assessment” and will feature plenary presentations, interactive breakout sessions, focused model practice presentations and virtual chat opportunities. The preliminary program is available on the NATA website.
  • The EducATionalist Community Town Hall session at VATEC 2021 will be focused on the many critical and interconnected issues pertaining to student recruitment, admissions, retention and program viability for professional athletic training education programs in today’s competitive educational market. Issues and challenges pertaining to recruiting a more diverse student population into professional programs will also be discussed.
• The 2021 Virtual NATA Education Research Series is April 8-May 6. Each week will focus on a different topic and will be on-demand for a limited time. The early bird pricing ends April 7, which is $30 for members and $50 for nonmembers. The price will increase to $45 for members and $65 for nonmembers after that date. Attendees can earn up to 2 Category A CEUs by participating in the 2021 Virtual NATA Education Researchers Series. In order to earn CEU credit, you must attend the CEU worthy sessions in their entirety and complete the session assessment. Partial credit will not be awarded for sessions not attended in their entirety or without a completed assessment.
• The NATA Research & Education Foundation Faculty Mentor Program is accepting mentors and mentees for the 2021-22 class. This program pairs junior faculty members with established faculty who will provide guidance, advice and assistance in navigating the first several years of employment within higher education. The goal is to form a lasting relationship to help the mentee build a solid knowledge base and acquire an understanding of the balance necessary to becoming a successful researcher and educator. Direction of the relationship and areas of focus will be built upon the mutual interests and goals of the pairings. Each mentor and mentee will work together to set expectations for the relationship.