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Context: Health care practitioners face increasing expectations to provide patient-centered care. Communication skills, specifically empathy, are critical in the provision of patient-centered care. Past work correlates empathy with improved patient satisfaction, compliance, and treatment outcomes. In particular, a predictive relationship exists between clients’ ratings of their clinician’s empathy and treatment outcomes. There is a dearth of studies examining empathy using qualitative methodology and factors of empathy in athletic training. Objective: To gain an understanding of athletes’ perceptions of empathy in the patient–clinician relationship. Design: Qualitative interviews were completed using grounded-theory techniques. Setting: A quiet office. Participants: A typical, purposeful sample of 15 college-age Division I student-athletes (8 female, 7 male; 19.3 ± 1.2 y) from a variety of sports (football, wrestling, volleyball, baseball, etc) participated. Data Collection and Analysis: Researchers utilized an interview protocol designed to understand the factors of empathy related to athletic training. The interview protocol established a concept of empathy to help facilitate discussion of ideas. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes and patterns using grounded-theory techniques. Trustworthiness of the data was ensured using an external auditor, member checks, and methods triangulation. Results: Five themes described empathy: advocacy, communication, approachability, access, and competence. Advocacy was described as the athletic trainer (AT) representing the patient. Communication was the ability to listen reflectively; approachability emerged as the comfort and personal connection the patient felt with the AT. Access and technical competence were bridges required for the development of empathy. Conclusions: Providing patient-centered care facilitated by developing good patient–clinician relationships is critical in enabling the best treatment outcomes. ATs portray empathy through advocacy, communication, and approachability. Empathy improves the patient–clinician relationship and is critical for patient-centered care delivered by ATs.

During the fall preseason of 2013, a 19-year-old Division I linebacker (body mass = 104 kg; height = 189 cm) attending a college football camp developed severe throat pain, quickly followed by night sweats, fever, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and generalized body weakness. The athletic trainer believed that the athlete had a cold. Because symptoms did not improve, the athlete was referred to several physicians with different specialties and underwent standard testing. The ears, nose, and throat (ENT) physician recognized the signs and symptoms of Lemierre’s syndrome based on a previous case seen only once in his career. A computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed the presence of a peritonsillar abscess and thrombosis of the left internal jugular vein, which justified further investigation for this rare syndrome. A positive blood culture for Fusobacterium necrophorum confirmed the diagnosis of Lemierre’s syndrome. Several antibiotics and anticoagulation medications were prescribed and the athlete was closely monitored. After two months, he was cleared to play football.

A healthy, 21-year-old football player presented to the athletic trainer with pain and swelling over anteromedial aspect of his lower right leg after being “cleated”. Physical examination revealed a hematoma, ecchymosis, and no unusual sensations. The physician’s physical examination revealed a superficial fluid filled collection, ecchymosis, minimal discomfort with palpation and no muscular deficiencies. MRI results revealed an organized collection of fluid in the subcutaneous tissue, confirming a Morel Lavallée lesion. The fluid collection resolved, without aspiration, and the athlete finished the season without further complications due the interprofessional collaboration between medical staff.

The purpose of this study was to examine variability in overarm throwing velocity and spatial output error at various percentages of maximum to test the prediction of an inverted-U function as predicted by impulse-variability theory and a speed-accuracy trade-off as predicted by Fitts’ Law Thirty subjects (16 skilled, 14 unskilled) were instructed to throw a tennis ball at seven percentages of their maximum velocity (40–100%) in random order (9 trials per condition) at a target 30 feet away. Throwing velocity was measured with a radar gun and interpreted as an index of overall systemic power output. Within-subject throwing velocity variability was examined using within-subjects repeated-measures ANOVAs (7 repeated conditions) with built-in polynomial contrasts. Spatial error was analyzed using mixed model regression. Results indicated a quadratic fit with variability in throwing velocity increasing from 40% up to 60%, where it peaked, and then decreasing at each subsequent interval to maximum (p < .001, η2 = .555). There was no linear relationship between speed and accuracy. Overall, these data support the notion of an inverted-U function in overarm throwing velocity variability as both skilled and unskilled subjects approach maximum effort. However, these data do not support the notion of a speed-accuracy trade-off. The consistent demonstration of an inverted-U function associated with systemic power output variability indicates an enhanced capability to regulate aspects of force production and relative timing between segments as individuals approach maximum effort, even in a complex ballistic skill.

The purpose of our study was to determine the effect of music (music with lyrics versus music with lyrics plus instruction) relative to on-task behaviors in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a gross motor setting. Five preschool children (4 boys, 1 girl) diagnosed with ASD served as participants. A multiple baseline across participants in conjunction with an alternating-treatment design was used. For all participants, music with lyrics plus instruction increased on-task behaviors to a greater extent than did music with lyrics. The results of our study provide a better understanding of the role of music with regard to the behaviors of young children with ASD.

The original and modified Ottawa Ankle Rules (OARs) were developed as clinical decision rules for use in emergency departments. However, the OARs have not been evaluated as an acute clinical evaluation tool.

Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injuries have become increasingly more common over the years. Reconstruction and nonoperative treatment have been the conventional treatment for athletes, especially for overhead athletes. This case study presents a 16-year-old female, competitive Level 10 gymnast, with a complete distal tear of her UCL with a full thickness, Grade 3, ulnar sided avulsion off of the sublime tubercle. She underwent medial UCL repair with internal brace augmentation with the goal of faster return to gymnastics. To the author’s knowledge, this is the second gymnast reported in the literature to have an internal brace augmentation completed on the UCL.