KUMC Athletic Training Program

The KU School of Health Professions is hosting the Making Healthcare Heroes Golf Tournament this Friday, August 23rd, featuring fantastic auction items, please visit the provided auction website:
https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/121521/auctions/167156?r=1&t=all&fbclid=IwY2xjawEzQBdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQvVNFwf9ea2lJFxnmgOYCrVpu1GARuHZYu2NrhbQGjMFVfQFyVal8cR6A_aem_Jype0dMv0EyNm_FozVI9Ag

2024 Making Health Care Heroes Silent auction '2024 Making Health Care Heroes' hosted online at 32auctions.

We are delighted that Mr. Lynn Bott, MS, AT/Retired was selected as the 2024 Honorary Health Professions Alumnus for the KU School of Health Professions.

Mr. Bott is a Kansas native who received his bachelor's degree from Emporia State University in 1975 and his master’s degree from the University of Arizona in 1976. After graduation, Lynn returned to Kansas to begin his career as an assistant athletic trainer at KU in 1976. In 1984 he was promoted to the Director of Athletic Training Services and an Instructor, which he held until 2004. Over the course of 28 years, he impacted the careers of many athletic trainers who started their education and career at KU. After leaving KU he served as Director of Sports Medicine and Assistant Professor at Baker University until his retirement in 2023. He is still very active in the profession attending state, regional, and national meetings and sharing his experiences with current students.

Mr. Bott has received numerous awards and recognitions over the years including being inducted into the Halls of Fame for the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Mid-America Athletic Trainers’ Association, Kansas Athletic Trainers’ Society, Baker University, and the University of Kansas Athletic Training Education program. He has served the profession in many leadership roles throughout his career at the National, District/regional, state, and local levels as well.

Program Director Dr. LesLee Taylor stated “The lives he has touched as a clinician and educator are too many to count. The number is even larger when you count those whose lives his students have touched… I owe my career to Lynn; he believed in me before I did. I am honored to carry on his legacy and that of athletic training education at KU.”

Congratulations to Mr. Lynn Bott and all 2024 Alumni Award honorees!

Congratulations to our 2024 Alumni Award honorees. The recipients will be recognized during Alumni Reunion Weekend at a luncheon on Sept. 27. Learn more about the honorees and join us in congratulating them online: https://bit.ly/3SPxMcH

🔹 Early Career Achievement in Health Professions Alumna: Lauren Ptomey, Ph.D. '13, M.S. '11
🔹 Honorary Health Professions Alumnus: Lynn Bott, MS, AT/Retired
🔹 Distinguished Health Professions Alumna: Katie Brown, Ed.D., M.S. '94, RDN

It was a great morning volunteering as a faculty/staff and kicking off the day giving back to our community!

The KU School of Health Professions' Board of Advocates is hosting the second annual Making Health Care Heroes golf tournament on Friday, August 23rd at the St. Andrews Golf Course in Overland Park, Kansas. This is a great opportunity to get outdoors for a great cause!

You can registers online now: www.kumc.edu/healthcareheroes

🏌️‍♂️🏆💙❤

We are excited to welcome Mr. Ken Wainwright, MS, LAT, ATC as the Director of Clinical Education for the MSAT program. We asked Ken a few questions, read below to learn more about him!

Where are you from?
Born and raised in Reno, NV.
BS – University of Nevada, Reno
MS – University of Oregon

What were you doing before joining the MSAT program?
My background is 26 years of clinical practice of Athletic Training in the D1, collegiate setting. The last 20 of those years have been at the University of Kansas Athletics/Kansas Team Health. My primary role at KU was daily Sports Medicine care for the baseball program. Additionally, I was an Adjunct Faculty member, in the HSES department, for the undergraduate Athletic Training program while it was on the KU Lawrence campus.

What are you most excited about joining the MSAT Program?
I am very excited to join the SHP faculty and get back into the classroom. I really enjoyed that role in our undergraduate program, and I’ve missed the interaction with AT students since the program transitioned to the graduate level and KU Med. Dr. Taylor and Dr. Quintana are excellent educators, and I look forward to our collaboration as we see this program grow and mature.

At the end of last month, the MSAT students joined the Kansas Team Health athletic trainers as they had their annual emergency care training at the KU athletic facilities.

We appreciate Kansas Team Health for including us in these events and the awesome opportunities for learning and collaboration they provide!

❤️💙

Congratulations, Madi Mohar (Class of 2024) for passing the BOC Exam! We are so proud of you!

✅Finish Coursework
✅Graduation
✅Pass BOC Exam

🎊🎁🎉 ❤️💙

We are back from a whirlwind week in New Orleans, Louisiana attending the 75th NATA Clinical Symposia & AT Expo. It was a great week of networking, learning, and exploring all that NOLA has to offer. Additionally, the KU MSAT had a great showing sharing their work and clinical expertise.

-Thursday, Dr. Becky Bliss, PT, DPT, DHSc (Clinical Associate Professor, PT/AT faculty) presented an engaging and interactive learning lab titled Raising the "Bar in Concussion Management: Neuroplasticity Principles to Guide Intervention Using the Concussion Clinical Profile Screening Tool." We appreciate Dr. Bliss' continued support of ATs and advocacy for interprofessional practice!

-Dr. Carolina Quintana, PhD, ATC (Clinical Associate Professor, AT faculty) participated in the NATA Foundation Free Communications poster session titled "Healthcare Administration and Professional Development" presenting the abstract titled "Athletic Trainers’ Experience, Knowledge and Confidence Treating Patients Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing." This session provided a great opportunity to network and even formed a new collaboration!

-Friday, Caitlin Truhe MHPE, LAT, ATC, (Blue Valley High School Athletic Trainer and Kansas Athletic Trainers' Society President-Elect), with the support of Dakota Orlando, MS ED, ATC, LAT (Shawnee Mission East High School Athletic Trainer) and Haley Garcia, MSAT, LAT, ATC (Indian Hills/Indian Woods Middle Schools Athletic Trainer and MSAT Adjunct Faculty) closed out the convention presenting and leading the learning lab titled "Bridging the Gap: Developing and Implementing a Mental Health Emergency Action Plan." The session provided a clinicians to apply what they learned and discuss their experiences and planning for how to respond in the event of mental health emergencies.

It was a great time to be a Jayhawk! Until next year.. ❤💙🧠

This week the Class of 2025 was fortunate to get a full-day visit from Dr. Becky Bliss (PTRSAT Faculty) who provided an engaging day of concussion content. We spent the morning discussing the latest research in concussion recognition, assessment, and treatment and dug in during the afternoon and played with different strategies to challenge the systems and ensure a healthy return to participation.

Dr. Bliss constantly reminds us of the power of collaboration and interprofessional practice through her demonstrations of respect for all professions and service to all!
💙❤🧠

From-the-Dean:
An article from KU Medical Center News about our graduation events included students sharing their stories about their unique roads to graduation. Athletic training graduate Ashley Mick, M.S., told of her experience working with local high school student athletes and how much our program's clinical experiences connected her with future options in her career. Nicely done!

KU Medical Center graduates more than 700 students prepared to begin their new careers Five graduates share stories about their extraordinary roads to graduation

From-the-Dean:

The Department of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science, and Athletic Training held its ceremony for graduates on May 9. Honors were presented to athletic training graduates Ashley Mick and Madi Mohar. The physical therapy program presented awards to Caitlyn Cox, Christine Cunningham, Ben Fulton, Megan Koenigsman, Tarah Phongsavath and Colby Works. Congratulations to each of you!

Send a message to learn more

It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating and saying goodbye to the Class of 2024! Today we had the honor of welcoming the Class of 2026 with a full day of orientation. They are ready to hit the ground running with their first day of classes tomorrow! Feel free to share any words of wisdom as they embark on this journey!

💙✏️✂️📓

You might recognize a familiar name representing the KUMC School of Health Professions in this great piece about the KUMC graduating class of 2024. 👀👀

KU Medical Center graduates more than 700 students prepared to begin their new careers Five graduates share stories about their extraordinary roads to graduation

Well, that's a wrap for the Class of 2024! Celebrations continued this weekend with the School of Health Professions Graduation Ceremony at Memorial Hall on Saturday. On Sunday, Dean Akinwuntan hosted a reception for the graduates at the KU Memorial Union before the traditional walk down the Hill. It was a whirlwind of celebrations. We wish nothing but the best to both Madi and Ashley, don't be strangers!

Congratulations to the Class of 2024!

❤️💙

It's the time of year where we celebrate the accomplishments of our amazing students and graduates! We are halfway through our spring celebrating and want to share some of the excitement thus far:

Thursday we hosted the AT Program Recognition Ceremony. We are grateful to have had Hannah Prymek and Natalie Ligtenberg (Class of 2023) share their words of wisdom to the Class of 2024. Ashley Mick was awarded the 2024 Athletic Training Leadership Award and the Brian W. Luinstra Athletic Training Award. Ashley Mick and Madison Mohar were awarded the Leap of Faith Award and Evan Zars won the "Deaner" Jayhawk Award.

Last night, we celebrated the graduates from the 3 degree programs in the PTRSAT department. Madi Mohar gave the graduate reflections for the Class of 2024 and graduates were hooded by Dr. Taylor. It was a wonderful event shared with family, friends and all who celebrated the Class of 2024.

We look forward to more celebrations this weekend!!

Mental health is an important part of our wellbeing. During this Mental Health Awareness Month, we encourage you to be part of the conversation to destigmatize mental health. Learn about resources and strategies by visiting , and KUMC Counseling and Educational Support Services https://www.kumc.edu/academic-and-student-affairs/departments/counseling-and-educational-support-services.html

Congratulations, Ashley Mick (Class of 2024) for passing the BOC Exam! We are so proud of you!

✅Pass BOC Exam
⏹Finish Coursework
⏹Graduation

🎊🎁🎉 ❤️💙

From-the-Dean:

The National Athletic Trainers Association Research and Education Foundation selected current KU student Ashley Mick to receive the President's Scholarship. Sponsored by Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society, this award recognizes an outstanding student in a master's degree program in athletic training. Congratulations!

Scholarship Awardees – NATA Research & Education Foundation Supporting and Advancing the Athletic Training Profession through Research and Education

The MSAT program is fortunate to be able to share courses and collaborate with students and faculty in the DPT program! Claire Keeten, MSAT, LAT, ATC is a first year student in the DPT program but she is also a proud athletic trainer! Even though she is a Wildcat, we still appreciated learning what NATM means to her!

❤️💙

Happy Tuesday! We are happy to spotlight the last of the Class of 2023, Abby Garrett, MS, LAT, ATC. In honor of NATM, Abby shared what the profession means to her.

❤️💙

It's Monday and we are still buzzing from the energy at the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships that were hosted in Kansas City last week. Both students and faculty assisted in providing athletic training coverage at the event and had the opportunity to network with athletic trainers from all over the country, collaborate with ATs and physicians from the University of Kansas Health Systems and provide host coverage for the event. It was a busy three days and I think it is safe to say we all learned a lot about wrestling!

Congratulations to all of the athletes, staff, families, and all others who participated in this exciting event and a special thank you to the announcers who were sure to recognize the ATs whenever they could!

❤️💙

From-the-Dean:
March is National Athletic Training Month and current KU athletic training student Madi Mohar traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, with faculty members Carolina Quintana, Ph.D., and LesLee Taylor, Ph.D., for the annual meeting of the Mid-America Athletic Trainers Association held March 14-16, 2024. In addition, faculty member Stacia Troshynski Brown, DPT, presented a learning lab session titled "Mental Health First Aid Training" with Brian Seiler, Ph.D., learning and design strategist for the Zamierowski Institute for Experiential Learning at KU Medical Center. Excellent job.

It's Thursday! Recent alum, Hannah Prymek, MSAT, LAT, ATC, shared what athletic training means to her. Happy AT Month, Hannah! Thank you for all that you do for our program and our profession!

❤️💙

Another Tuesday, another Spotlight! Meet Tanner Ramirez, current MSAT student in the Class of 2025. Tanner shared why he choose athletic training:

❤️💙

Happy Monday! We hope everyone had a happy and safe spring break! This weekend Dr. Taylor, Dr. Quintana, and Madi Mohar (Class of 2024) traveled to Omaha, NE for the 2024 Mid-America Athletic Trainers Association Annual Meeting. It was a great few days of learning and networking with athletic trainers in our region and beyond. Dr. Brian Seiler and Dr. Stacia Troshynski Brown represented KUMC presenting the learning lab "Mental Health First Aid Training." After this weekend, 15 more athletic trainers are certified in Mental Health First Aid.

Happy Pi Day! Today we are excited to spotlight Natalie Ligtenberg, MSAT, ATC, LAT. Natalie shared what she has been up to lately and what she loves most about AT!

Happy AT Month, Natalie! Thank you for all that you do for our program and our profession!

❤️💙

That's a wrap on another Big XII tournament for the women of the Big XII. Congratulations to all the athletes, coaches, and staff who participated in an exciting weekend of basketball. The Big XII tournament also provides a great opportunity for the MSAT students who worked alongside the medical staff throughout the tournament.

❤️💙

Happy Tuesday! Today's AT spotlight is current second year, Ashley Mick. Read about why Ashley chose athletic training:

❤️💙

NATM is a special time to recognize the many athletic trainers in the KUHS who are not only incredible clinicians but amazing mentors as many of them serve as preceptors for our program!

We thank you for everything that you do!

During National Athletic Training Month in March, we recognize our athletic trainers throughout The University of Kansas Health System. Athletic trainers are highly qualified, multiskilled healthcare professionals who collaborate with physicians and other care team members in a variety of settings. For tips from our athletic trainers, follow on X and Instagram.