Public Health 101

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Abstract:
There is a significant practice gap in recognizing and understanding the public health foundation underlying much of athletic training practice. While athletic trainers regularly engage in population health activities—conducting injury surveillance, implementing prevention programs, promoting health behaviors, and addressing environmental hazards—many lack awareness of the public health principles that guide these practices or understanding of how their work contributes to broader population health outcomes. ATs often don't recognize daily practice activities as public health practice or understand how to systematically apply public health frameworks to enhance their effectiveness. This program addresses the educational need by helping ATs recognize their existing role as public health practitioners while providing the theoretical foundation and analytical tools to strengthen their population-based approach. The unmet need for patients and athletic populations is having ATs who can consciously and strategically apply public health principles—such as epidemiological thinking, health equity considerations, and evidence-based population interventions—to maximize the health impact of practices they're already implementing. By bridging this awareness gap, ATs can more effectively leverage their unique position to create systematic, data-driven approaches to improving health outcomes across the populations they serve.

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify the ten essential public health services as they relate to athletic training practice.
  • Discuss mechanisms for using public health data to address individual- and population-health needs.
  • Describe the ATs role in local, state, and federal public health and health care systems

Level:
Essential

Domain(s):
Domain 1: Risk Reduction Wellness and Health Literacy 
Domain 5: Health Care Administration and Professional Responsibility

Orthopedic Domain(s):
N/A

CEUs:
1.25 Category A

Keywords:
Public health, epidemiology, data, health communication, health policy

Enhanced Access On-Demand Course Expiration:
Access to this course will expire at the end of the membership year on December 31 at 11:59 p.m. CST.
For full details, refer to the Expiration Date Policy on our FAQ page.

Heather Hudson, EdD, LAT, ATC

Dr. Heather Hudson serves as the Program Director for the Master of Athletic Training Program. Dr. Hudson joined Baylor in August of 2018, after serving as an assistant professor, athletic training program director and Dean of the School of Preventative and Rehabilitative Health Science at Gardner-Webb University. Dr. Hudson received her EdD in Curriculum and Instruction from Gardner-Webb University. She is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association. 

Allison Strickland, PhD, MEd, LAT, ATC

Allison Strickland, PhD, MEd, LAT, ATC joined Sepsis Alliance in 2022 as the Senior Clinical Education manager and has over a decade of clinical education experience. She holds a PhD in Communications with an emphasis in Health Communications. Her dissertation research focused on athletic training communities of practice on social media and Facebook groups.  Allison also holds a Master of Education degree in Health and Kinesiology and a Bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training. She is a Certified Athletic Trainer, licensed in the state of Iowa. Allison has worked for several medical device companies and life science organizations throughout her career. Allison enjoys spending time with her two elementary school-aged sons, running, and catching up on beach reads in her free time.

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