Athletic training students intern with Wisconsin Woodchucks
“Take me out to the ball game” has special meaning to athletic training students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Nine athletic training students interned this summer with the Wisconsin Woodchucks, a Northwoods League baseball team based in Wausau. The league features college players from all over the country. Behind the scenes were student athletic trainers who regularly taped wrists and ankles, helped stretch shoulders before games and did deep-tissue massage during them.
Two students worked each Woodchucks home game with Chris Orgeman, a licensed athletic trainer for Marshfield Clinic Wausau Center Orthopedics. Orgeman has supervised UW-Stevens Point students with the Woodchucks since 2007.
“Personally, this has been the best group I’ve had so far,” Orgeman said. “I’ve really enjoyed their company, their thoughts and their thinking processes. Sometimes they even teach me about things I haven’t seen in a while. They’re getting more experience.”
Cassandra Salmen (pictured, far left), a senior from Stillwater, Minn., was among athletic training students who worked with Orgeman and the Woodchucks for a second season this summer. Salmen saw the full spectrum of the profession, including a rare shoulder dislocation. She assisted a player rehabilitating after Tommy John surgery, in which a healthy tendon from an arm or leg replaces a torn ligament in the elbow.
“Injuries were usually mild — sprains and strains mostly,” Salmen said. “But this allows us to get hands-on experience as much as possible. When you see an injury, you’re not going to forget it.”
Students do as much of the injury assessment as they are comfortable doing, Orgeman said. “It’s a good learning environment.”
This internship is a valuable opportunity for UW-Stevens Point students, said Holly Schmies, School of Physical Education and Athletic Training department chairperson. “Chris allows them to take the lead, but provides the mentorship they need to be athletic training professionals.”
Athletic training students learn from the classroom, summer internships and fall preseason training and by working with the UW-Stevens Point Athletic Training staff and other area professionals serving UW-Stevens Point athletics programs. They are selected for an extremely challenging program that nurtures students into bright careers.
“We’ve had a 100 percent placement rate of our graduates over the past six years,” Schmies said.
The university is grateful to business and community partners who provide priceless mentoring, she said. “The athletic training program is strong and successful thanks to the collaborative efforts of those in the profession.”
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