Abstract
One of the ways that healthcare systems have adapted to the needs of patient care is to expand the role of allied healthcare professionals. The utilization of these clinicians, with wide-ranging skill sets, allows for increased adaptability and improved patient outcomes.1 Expansion of physician reach through allied health professions provides improved connectivity to patients.2 While medical communities all have a common goal, the healthcare system varies among nations in terms of the representation of allied healthcare professions.2 Within the United States (US), one of the most versatile allied health professions is athletic training. With a skill set that can extend the primary care of physicians to a range of settings, athletic trainers (ATs) have become an asset to healthcare systems.3-5 ‘Global Health’ is defined as the interdisciplinary sphere of prevention, treatment, and care. The definition spans beyond the medical concerns addressed by the World Health Organization (WHO) whose primary focus is to address large public health disparities and communicable disease control.6,7 The definition of global health includes clinicians working hands-on with patients to address nutritional deficiencies, obesity, industrial health, injury prevention, and the safety of migrant populations.7 The laws and expectations created by the WHO are often unclear and have low enforceability, demanding a ‘synthesis of population-based prevention with individual-level clinical care’ to address health needs.7 Allied healthcare providers are essential to the front line care of this model.2 These providers are equipped and ready to address trans-national problems on domestic levels from their specialization in some of the most pressing global health concerns including disaster relief and emergency care, musculoskeletal pain and disability, care of military and first responder personnel, and work optimization.2,7 The most common allied health professions within underdeveloped countries are those of rehabilitation and disability management.8 Occupational and physical therapy specialties have stated that rehabilitative professionals have an ethical duty to serve the world’s populations of poverty and disability.8 The Bone and Joint Decade of 2000-2010 was established and endorsed by the WHO and the United Nations (UN) to address growing concerns for the impact of musculoskeletal diseases and disabilities.9 This international mandate increased awareness around the impact of pain and disability, leading subsequently to the advancement of therapeutic and rehabilitative professions.10 The advances of these professions further heightened the need for international musculoskeletal collaboration, including the expatriation of allied health professionals.9 Providing health care in settings beyond athletics allowed US ATs to gain notoriety as valuable primary care providers in a variety of settings.11 The term athlete has expanded to include all those active in their work or lives including performing arts, industrial, and tactical athletes.3 In addition, the definition of an athlete can include all general populations with musculoskeletal burdens commonly seen in clinic settings with no specification of athleticism.3,4 This growth allowed ATs to be utilized in the US healthcare system as primary care providers, far beyond the sport field.3 This versatility has led the athletic training profession to seek globalization to match the recognition of other allied health professions on the international stage.12 While studies have been performed to investigate similarities in educational standards and practice patterns of US-ATs abroad, no investigation has yet to look at the lived experiences and adaptations of these individuals working abroad.13 Understanding the work these expatriate professionals do in a variety of different countries is crucial to establish a baseline of knowledge for the future of international athletic training. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to explore the lived experiences of US-ATs working as clinicians abroad.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their deepest gratitude to the following individuals for their expertise, assistance, and support throughout many aspects of our study, Mark Gibson, Dr. Katelyn Allison, and Dr. Mita Lovalekar.
Recommended Citation
Mulkey EK, Neil ER, Cousins T, Murray M. The Lived Clinical Experiences of Expatriate Athletic Trainers. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. 2024 Jul 03;22(3), Article 26.
