Athletic Training - University at Buffalo

We love when alumni come back to Buffalo! We were able to see alumna Gabriella Giordano ('24) when she traveled with her men's soccer team at St. Bonaventure to play Canisius.

We aim to foster a desire for our students to be patient advocates and give back to their community. Today was one of our favorite opportunities to do so. UB 1st year MSAT students in collaboration with UB medical students, provided free physicals on south campus! We were able to provide 39 community members with school, sport and work physicals who otherwise did not have access to a provider. We are so proud of this group of interprofessional collaborators and future healthcare providers, they really demonstrated what it means to provide patient centered care today!

Join us tomorrow for free physical day!

Need a sports or school physical? Come to UB South Campus on Saturday 8/17 between 10am-1pm. Buffalo Public Schools, Child Care Resource Network.
On 9/7 another clinic will be held at the Seneca-Babcock Community Association from 10am-1pm.

Today our first years MSAT students had the opportunity to volunteer at the NHL Referee Combine. They all worked so hard and collaborated so well with everyone! Thanks UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Impact Sports Performance for having us assist with today’s big event!

The first years finished up summer classes today with a casting lab! We are proud of the progress they’ve made and can’t wait to see how they continue to grow this fall. Shout out to alumnae Rylee Haffey for helping in the lab.

Checkout of free back to school and sports physical day!

Are you ready for back to school?

Free sports and school physicals will be provided by Lighthouse Free Medical Clinic together with students from Public Health and Health Professions - University at Buffalo and Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences - University at Buffalo Join us this Saturday, August 17th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Kimball Tower located on ’s South Campus. Parking is available on campus (Michael-Farber Lot) or use the NFTA Metro Bus & Rail (University Station).

Thank you to Theresa and her DME team of Nick and Mikala from Excelsior Orthopaedics for coming in today to teach our first years about various braces and other types of DME that can be used to help support our patients! We love having a community of experts in their fields who help to shape our students in future clinicians!

Our medical director, Michael Freitas, MD, MSPT from UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine taught the first-years about joint dislocations yesterday. Thank you Dr. Freitas for being an awesome medical director and so invested in teaching athletic training students!

Fun couple days doing Vo2 max and wingate testing at the 2024 NHL Players Combine here in Buffalo. Great opportunity for our students and faculty to work with elite athletes.

On Monday our first year MSAT students had their program orientation. The morning started with a review of the program policies ended with becoming familiar with the campus and city! The faculty designed an amazing race course that took the students to some favorite spots in Buffalo! Students completed various challenges from eating the hottest wing at Duffs to reciting the words to “oh give me a home where the buffalo 🦬 roam”! This was an amazing opportunity for teamwork and collaboration and was a lot fun! Way to go green team for being the winners of the programs first amazing race!

On Friday, the 2nd-years were at Prodigy Surgical (Arthrex) to participate in a cadaveric surgical lab. Dr. Brian Mata taught the students how to perform a SLAP repair, a latarjet, meniscus repair and quad tendon ACL reconstruction! This is always one of the highlights for the students as they get to drill, cut, suture and more! We are thankful to Prodigy Surgical (and Ryan Pitt) and Dr. Mata for their expertise!

AT faculty, along with Buffalo Bills team physician Dr. Bisson were out this morning teaching hands only CPR training at the Buffalo Public Schools summit sponsored by the Buffalo Bills, the American Heart Association and Highmark of Western New York! Well over 600 people trained in the morning alone!

Checkout the event that Drs. Bisson and Suffoletto are doing!

Save the Date for Monday, June 3, at 5:30 p.m.! Our very own Leslie J. Bisson, MD, and Heidi N. Suffoletto, MD, FACEP, are hosting a webinar with the American Heart Association, titled: Understanding New Legislation for Youth Sports Programs & Cardiac Emergency Response Plans. All are welcome to join and learn how Cardiac Emergency Response Plans (CERPs) can increase survival rates during cardiac emergencies. Register now, and be prepared to make a difference! ➡️ https://heart.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rnFBV-4cQjOXBd-IoQuG_g #/registration

Today we welcome our next cohort of MSAT students. Welcome Class of 2026! These 18 are joining us from various states and countries! Now they are a Bull🤘! We can't wait to see you grow over the next 2 years into young professionals.

Checkout this great story. It morphed from a quality improvement project in a class to reality. Marie and Victoria are doing great work. Proud of the collaboration with UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, specifically Scott Dinse and Dr. Heidi Suffoletto and UB Athletics to make this into what it is.

Helping dancers get back on their feet Athletic trainers who are former dancers are working with UB dance majors to help them better care for their bodies.

It feels like just yesterday this group of amazing students was beginning the journey to becoming ATs. Nervous and uncomfortable embarking on this adventure they swiftly found their footing and began to shine. Fast forward 2 years and they have graduated! We are incredibly proud of this group of 14 and can’t wait to see them continue to grow into young professionals. Remember where it all started, reflect often and remember being uncomfortable is the best place for growth! You will be missed class of 2024!

Today three students and one faculty from AT were inducted into The Alpha Eta Society which is the National Honor Society for Allied Health Professions. Graduating 2nd years Nick Olszewski, Amy Sternberg and Jayden Metade along with Program Director Ryan Krzyzanowicz were all inducted by chapter president Sarah Krzyzanowicz. Congrats to all!

Recently, our program was able to host UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine for this event. Our classroom facility was a great space for them to practice and learn!

Thank you to Brian, Kayleah, Tori and Austin from our clinical staff for teaching the 1st years about the Alter-G, laser, shockwave and SwimEx! We are so fortunate to collaborate with our clinicians who have these tools and are able to teach the students about them.

Riana Pryor, PhD, ATC, faculty in athletic training was recently interviewed for an article on Inverse about urine color and hydration. Check it out below!

What Color Should Your P*e Really Be? Experts Reveal Why Urine Shouldn’t Always Be Clear It's normal for urine to begin a darker color after you wake up and lighten throughout the day as you drink fluids.

Today the first-years had lecture by Mike Adesso, assistant athletic trainer for the Buffalo Sabres in conjunction with Ed Gannon, Director of Physical Performance at the Buffalo Sabres on Integrating the Return to Play Process to Optimize Health and Performance. We are so grateful to have experts in our local community connect with our program!

A few photos of what the first year students have been up to the past few weeks! They learned how to insert IVs with James C***a, MS, FNP-BC, ENP-C simulation director for the University at Buffalo Nursing. Then, they spent time with Ed Gannon, PhD Director of Sport Performance at the Buffalo Sabres and adjunct professor in our program learning how to integrate biometric data in rehabilitation and return-to-activity.

In honor of Women's History Month, the National Athletic Trainers' Association is highlighting women who are working to advance the profession through research. Our own Riana Pryor, PhD, ATC was recently featured and discussed the research going on in her Hydration, Exercise and Thermoregulation (HEAT) Laboratory. We are so proud to have Dr. Pryor on faculty and as a mentor to our students. Checkout her feature.

Research’s Safety In honor of Women’s History Month this March, NATA is highlighting women who are working to advance the athletic training profession through research.

Did you know that athletic trainers work in the circus and a wide variety of performance arts?! This week Trish welcomed our students to escape to the circus 🎪 Students and CCE Sarah had the opportunity to shadow her and see what a day in the life of an AT in this setting is all about. These opportunities aren’t always readily available for students exploring this career path, so this was an amazing thing that Trish did for us and we are eternally grateful!

Way to go Dr. Pryor and your team for your recent publication! This new article shows that taking shorter, more frequent rest breaks during exercise in the heat helps stabilize body temperature better than taking longer, less frequent breaks. If you are exercising for more than 2 hours, athletes will likely see lower body temperatures when more frequent rest breaks are taken, preserving their health and performance. Check out the full article: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/3/371%3Chttps://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdpi.com%2F1660-4601%2F21%2F3%2F371&data=05%7C02%7Ckrzyzano%40buffalo.edu%7C26fe957108504fa8036408dc48e452ad%7C96464a8af8ed40b199e25f6b50a20250%7C0%7C0%7C638465392696508474%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=WWI6AKU8rZe1qQ5my0ycCYZdv4%2FQTSVYER%2FztGBxL%2Fo%3D&reserved=0%3E

Today we had Heidi Suffoletto, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Orthopaedics and Team Physician for the Buffalo Bandits, Buffalo Sabres, Erie Community College (and more!) speak about abdominal trauma. We used our butterfly ultrasound to perform a FAST exam to look for internal bleeding. Dr. Suffoletto is an amazing advocate for athletic trainers. We are so grateful to receive training from experts!

In honor of National Athletic Training Month we will be showcasing some of our amazing alumni!

First up we have Mike who graduated from the UB MSAT program in 2022! Mike now works for the Tennessee Titans as the Director of Rehabilitation.

We are incredibly grateful for our preceptors Michael and Kedryn at the Rochester Americans and our medical director Dr. Michael Freitas. Second years Amy and Nick are getting an experience of a lifetime during their full immersion! Our program wouldn’t be what it is without all our amazing preceptors, thank you!

Our program faculty and students are so proud to be a part of this project teaching hands-only CPR and AED. This project directly impacts our community in so many ways. Congrats to Dr. Bisson on this award from the NFL Physicians Society!

Bills team physician Dr. Leslie Bisson awarded for research in CPR training and outreach The NFL Physicians Society awarded this year’s Arthur C. Rettig Award for Academic Excellence to Dr. Leslie Bisson, head team physician of the Buffalo Bills.