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Connor Schaewe
English 1101
Ms. Camargo
November 8, 2012
Kinesiology in a Community
Athletic training, sports medicine, physical therapy, muscular rehabilitation; these are all
examples of kinesiology in the professional world. Each student in the pre-kinesiology major
field aspires to one day become one of these, or use what they have learned in each aspect of
their college career to create a new outlet to help the community. Coming into college, I already
had a solid mind-set about kinesiology and sports medicine in general, so I was interested to
learn more about how writing is used as it pertained to each individual field. I learned that not
only would there be writing in general, but most professors I will come to encounter will use it a
majority of the time to help as a teaching tool. Apart from the reading and writing in college, the
professional field will vary due to the wide range of jobs that athletic training or exercise science
may cover.
As previously stated, there are many different branches of sports medicine-related
practices and jobs. Due to the fact that new information addressing areas related to sports and
human rehabilitation is constantly being discovered, there is an ever-growing need for new
individuals with this new knowledge to join the workforce. Each college student that has spent
time observing, researching, and possibly becoming involved in their interested field will know
that this type of community is very professional. All publications involve a particular format to
enhance the professional aspect of it. The vocabulary and terms used are quite similar, even
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between articles of different areas of kinesiology. Although there may be differences in the
names of the fields, each professional in that field is successful because they can rely on others to
help them, when need be. Because the jargon (terms and abbreviations relative to medical and
anatomical conversation) is so comparable, an athletic trainer, for example, could research a
more specific article published by a physical therapist that gives a more in-depth explanation as
how to rehabilitate a dislocated shoulder or MCL injury after surgery. This route may have been
needed because the injured athlete did not want to, or did not have the funds to see an expert with
further education. Now, this may seem extreme since an injury like an MCL or ACL tear is so
severe, but the ends always justify the means. Most students aspiring to be some kind of athletic
trainer will “…agree that athletic trainers are a key resource in preventing, recognizing and
caring for sports injuries” (Athletic Trainers). A sprained ankle, wrist injury, even a dislocated
shoulder or similar joint separation could be handled by the average high school athletic trainer
and the equipment he possesses in the training room. When it came to broken bones or any kind
of concussion or internal injury, the athletic trainer could be the first to respond on the scene, but
he/she would not be able to fully help the athlete because they do not hold the necessary
information or tools to fully fix the injury. However, since a broken bone is just a broken bone,
and areas on the body are the same between an athletic trainer, EMT or paramedic respondent,
and a surgeon, information and description of the injury can be relayed quite easily.
Not only is the communication between individual fields important, but the writing that
takes place is also a necessity. Each particular field does not necessarily have a lot of writing that
is required on a daily basis. While the jargon used for a pre-kinesiology major and those in the
field may be very close in nature, the writing may vary. While an athletic trainer will have to fill
out an injury report that is laid out in a certain format, a physical therapist needs to map out how
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they plan on healing the injured individual. The difference between the writing in each of these
fields is relevant. Necessities of jobs that are involved in the kinesiology field are ever increasing
because kinesiology in general is “…renowned for being able to uncover and help the underlying
causes of health problems that are difficult to find by any other means” (Kinesiology and EFT).
Not only is the path required to rehabilitating someone important, but they need to also know the
patient’s history and how the incident occurred. Surprisingly, this is all also in writing. Similar to
the relay of information by mouth, facts and data can be passed on and obtained in the form of
writing that can be saved and preserved. By doing this, professionals can continue to look back at
the incident to help them move forward with their particular patient.
In conclusion, the field of sports medicine, physical therapy, athletic training, and any
other kinesiology-related jobs have a lot in common. Their jargon is very similar, and that can be
reflected onto the writing that impacts each of them. By learning about the college experience of
my high school athletic trainer, along with the information and logic I pieced together, writing is
a part of this community. As I continue through my college career and go on along the path
toward becoming a professional in my field, I now know that there are different types of writing
that I will run into in multiple different situations. Kinesiology has a diverse community with
similar standards of communication and writing that brings them together.