Bumps, bruises, aches and pains are all common
when playing a varsity sport,
especially with practices, games,
weight training and conditioning drills, which are all parts
of a student-athlete’s collegiate
life. But thanks to the hard work
and devotion of Southern Miss’
Certified Athletic Trainers and
Student Athletic Trainers, Golden
Eagle athletes receive the highest
level of medical care possible in
order to remain on the field of
competition. Southern Miss also
has a quality group of team physicians who meet all of the medical needs of
the 16 athletic teams at the University. The
team physicians are specialized and skilled
in the various types of injuries and Sports
Medicine conditions that can occur in athletic competitions.
• The Sports Medicine Program revolves
around three major aspects – prevention of
athletic injuries, treatment and rehabilitation
of those injuries, and recognition of injuries
and medical conditions that require referral
to appropriate medical personnel.
• The athletic center, constructed in
2002, allowed for an approximately 4,000 square foot state-of-the-art athletic training facility
in which all student athletes
receive pre-practice and pregame preparation, rehabilitation of injuries, and physician
examinations. The athletic training room is an open area where
Assistant Athletic Director/Sports
Medicine Todd McCall and his
staff can view all the aspects
of sports medicine. There are
11 examination tables in the
4,000-square foot room, nine of
which are housed in the main
athletic training room while the
other two are housed in the physician suite examination rooms,
allowing for patient-physician
privacy.
• The facility also houses a
state-of-the-art hydrotherapeutic
swimming pool, which provides
athletes with water resistance to
speed up the rehabilitation pro-
cess, while decreasing stress on
the injured body parts. Along
with the hydrotherapeutic pool, the facility
also benefits student-athletes with an in-
house X-ray unit, which assists the Sports
Medicine Staff and Physicians in diagnosis
of athletic related injuries.
• The direct involvement
of the student athletic trainers
helps make the Sports Medicine
Department a success. The students are enrolled in an accredited five-semester curriculum in
the athletic training education
program at the University and
are the core foundation of the
athletic training department.
• The athletic training educa-
tion program has seen a huge
influx of students in recent
years, and the program’s num-
bers increase each year. Over
the last 17 years, the athletic
training programs’ student staff has grown,
from 25 students in 1989 to approximately
40 in 2009.
• On top of the benefits the student-athletes receive from the facility, the athletic
training staff and the athletic training students also benefit. The facility allows for a
learning-lab environment that helps in the
educational aspects of the athletic training
education program. The facility gives the
athletic training staff more room for storage,
which helps to maintain a better inventory
of supplies used on a daily basis.
