2021 Rutgers Making a Champion Guide

ON-SITE MEDICAL CARE What sets the Rutgers APC apart from other collegiate athletic training sites is the integrated medical facilities and the proximity and access to on-site medical professionals. Teams previously had to send Assistant Coaches to remote clinics simply to hold a space in line for members of the team; now, doctors are just steps away. Coach Salim-Beasley lamented how before the APC, “Our [student-]athletes would suffer through a nagging injury because they had to go to another campus or take a bus. Now it’s so much easier for them and they have no excuse.” In addition to sports medicine and a medical clinic, greater access to preventative care has meant fewer injuries—and when injuries do happen, they can be addressed immediately. The effects of this new model are further amplified by the use of technology during practice that enables the monitoring of players to detect irregularities even before the player may be aware of an issue. For example, Assistant Athletic Trainer Richard Campbell shared a story about one basketball player who complained he wasn’t “feeling it” in practice one day. The training staff checked the data from their biometric scanner and, as Campbell described, “found he’d done the effort of two practices in one.” This scan helped flag a developing ankle injury and allowed coaches and trainers to make necessary adjustments to prevent further harm to the student-athlete. “We can apply scientific-based treatments,” explains Campbell, “so they can perform as best as they can.” “There was a vision that student- athletes could take care of all their health needs… Now we have a facility that makes it easier to provide optimal medical care.” Pat Hobbs, Director of Athletics 20 RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center Perkins Eastman