Thursday, May 25, 2023

Media Contact:
Mack Burke | Associate Director of Media Relations | 405-744-5540 | mack.burke_iv@okstate.edu

Athletic trainers and sports activities drugs suppliers at colleges throughout the state have a
new useful resource to name on for knowledgeable steering 

 In collaboration with the Oklahoma State University Human Performance and Nutrition
Research Institute (HPNRI), OSU Center for Health Sciences launched an Athletic Training
– Sports Medicine Project ECHO line Wednesday.

“This new ECHO line, developed in partnership with OSU’s Human Performance and Nutrition
Research Institute, will enable us to assist well being suppliers caring for student-athletes
throughout the state,” stated Dr. Johnny Stephens, OSU-CHS president. “More than half of
the counties in Oklahoma have zero athletic trainers or sports activities drugs professionals
to assist within the well being and well-being of our younger athletes. 

“The aim is to share information particular to treating student-athletes so as to
scale back damage and preserve them lively and wholesome. We are grateful to the Tobacco Settlement
Endowment Trust (TSET) for offering $4.5 million in funding to OSU-CHS to broaden
Project ECHO’s traces of care to assist extra well being suppliers and physicians throughout
the state with the aim of enhancing well being outcomes, significantly in rural areas
of Oklahoma.”

Project ECHO supplies entry to specialty look after complicated well being situations, particularly in rural
and underserved communities the place specialists are fewer in quantity and tougher
to entry. Project ECHO brings best-practice well being care to sufferers who usually
wouldn’t obtain it due to the place they reside. Instead of transferring individuals, Project
ECHO makes use of a hub-and-spoke telementoring mannequin to maneuver information, so native major
care suppliers can entry experience to offer high-quality, specialised care to sufferers
of their communities. 

The new ECHO line — the primary ever to deal with athletic coaching — will attain athletic
trainers and sports activities drugs suppliers at colleges throughout the state to present them entry
to a multidisciplinary group of athletic coaching, sports activities drugs, counseling and
diet specialists in a digital mentoring and academic community by Project ECHO.

The Athletic Training – Sports Medicine ECHO can be held from midday to 1 p.m. on the
second and fourth Wednesday of every month. Anyone offering care to student-athletes
is invited to take part within the new ECHO, together with: athletic trainers, athletic
administrators, coaches, nurses, nurse practitioners, doctor assistants, bodily therapists,
rural physicians and faculty directors. 

Participants will study the perfect practices within the identification, discount
and remedy of sports-related accidents to maintain student-athletes lively, wholesome
and expedite return to play. In addition, contributors will study coverage implementation
and administration methods to enhance outcomes, sustainability and high quality of life
throughout Oklahoma. Participants are inspired to submit circumstances to the ECHO group of specialists
who will overview the case and supply suggestions, finest practices and academic sources
which will be carried out to enhance look after student-athletes. Athletic trainers will
have the chance to earn persevering with training credit score, as effectively.

Rick and Gail Muncrief Executive Director Lance Walker leads HPNRI. A licensed bodily
therapist and an internationally acknowledged knowledgeable in fusing sports activities efficiency, sports activities
science and sports activities drugs, Walker has seen important shifts within the business over
the final 30 years. 

Walker stated the brand new ECHO line — the primary of three new ECHO traces HPNRI plans to launch
— will present the sort of sensible and research-supported options that can make
a distinction for athletic trainers, sports activities drugs professionals and the individuals they
serve. 

“That’s what HPNRI is all about — serving to Oklahomans reside higher lives by a efficiency
mindset. We do this by making connections, offering sources and working as thought
leaders on the reducing fringe of the business,” he stated. 

“Early in my profession, it felt like there have been occasions I used to be on an island. Getting this
degree of entry to knowledgeable steering from the tutorial neighborhood is a recreation changer for
athletic trainers, no matter their expertise degree. This will not be a easy occupation.
Human well being is sophisticated, and athletics presents distinctive challenges. Project ECHO
goes to ship handy entry to specialists, placing the newest, analysis pushed
data and ways into the palms of those that want it regardless in the event that they’re
in a metropolitan space or in a rural nook of the state.”

Learn extra, or signal as much as register for future Project ECHO periods by visiting https://okla.st/athletictrainingECHO.