I mulled over getting my Doctorate in Athletic Training for a couple of years before deciding to go for it. I spent four years in community college, then three years obtaining my Bachelor of Arts in Athletic Training. It was over six years before I decided to go back to school for my Master of Science degree, and who would want to do even more schooling after that? I wanted to make sure it was something I truly wanted, and that it was something that would benefit me both personally and professionally, and that would benefit my patients. As I near the end of the program, I haven’t regretted the decision, and the further I’ve went, the more I think it’s something more athletic trainers should look into. 

Getting a terminal degree as an athletic trainer isn’t about ego; it’s not about thinking you’re better because of the degree. It’s the journey along the way that helps to shape and solidify why you got into athletic training, what drives you to be better than yesterday, and how you can make an impact with your patients, your community, or your profession. One can begin to zoom in at a very microscopic level, asking, “how can I make an impact daily?” Or “how can I make an impact with one person,” to a very macroscopic view of developing research, and everything that is in between. 

The instructors at A.T. Still University understand that every person that is enrolled to earn their Doctor of Athletic Training is an adult who has their own goals, their own struggles, and their own life that they’re trying to juggle. The coursework is online and there is only one in-person learning that is scheduled, being the Winter Institute, which is four days that are worth the price of the degree alone. If anybody is out there who has an inkling, that perhaps there’s something more that they can become, something more that they can get out of the profession, out of their career, out of themselves, they owe it to themselves to inquire about the DAT program at A.T. Still University.