Unit 3: Evaluate the Role of the Athletic Trainer in a Globally Diverse World Report
The athletic training profession has been dominated by non-minorities. In 1986 Ronnie Barnes and Philip Horton had a meeting and identified the areas of concerns for athletic training. They concluded that there was a lack of quality health care available to the black athletes, lack of minority memberships in NATA, lack of educational tools for minority athletic trainers, and an extremely low number of minority athletic trainers working in the profession itself. In June of 1986, the Minority Athletic Trainers’ Committee was formed, aka MATC. This is the first time the profession began to expand diversely.
Even after this was introduced, the athletic training profession is still historically white. In 2015, the NATA organization reported that 81 percent of all athletic training professionals classified as white or non-hispanic. Ithica College received a grant, along with many other schools for the same purpose, so they can expose the profession to other people. At Ithica College in 2014, 95 percent of all athletic training majors were identified as white or nonminority. Nothing has changed there after four years. 95 percent of the graduating class identified as Caucasian. They stated that they got the idea for the grant from other colleges. They provide other opportunities like following Division I colleges to see the facilities they work with. Their goal is to broaden the interest. The more diverse pool of races means the more diverse amount of talent. This means they can better recognize different cultures, religion, or race. This can help make a patient feel more comfortable.
When working as an athletic trainer, you will see many different races, be confronted with many different religions, and other personal preferences. As large as this seems, being able to identify and work in any environment is absolutely necessary. Aside from working with patients, co-workers fall under this category also. Most businesses employ people from two or more different backgrounds at the same time. Maintaining proper communication is key. Paying attention to the implications and potential barriers can be difficult. Watching what you say verbally, the language you use, gestures you perform, and space you give someone all factors in this. Small gestures may come across offensive. Simple emblematic gestures such as a peace sign or a thumbs up can mean different things from culture to culture. Personal space is a huge problem in this. For example, Latin Americans hold conversations at a very short distance from each other. In North America, personal space is of much greater importance. One way to avoid or figure it out is to provide a handshake to establish a distance.
When talking to or about patients, saying things like “People from ___ country are...” and “It’s really hard to work with ____ people because...” should be avoided. This is generalizing one group of people and attaching a stereotype. An open mind should be kept in order to perceive every situation the same and enacting the procedure in the correct way, altering whatever needs to be in to ensure the safety of the patient and respect their preferences.
Works Cited:
Montserrat Fonseca Estrada Program, et al. “Cultural Sensitivity in the Workplace.” Penn State
Extension, 21 Apr. 2019, extension.psu.edu/cultural-sensitivity-in-the-workplace.
“NATA Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee History.” NATA,
www.nata.org/sites/default/files/EDAC-history.pdf.
Webmaster. “Athletic Training Program Aims to Improve Diversity.” The Ithacan, The Ithacan,
theithacan.org/sports/athletic-training-program-aims-to-improve-diversity/. Accessed 8 May 2019.