Career Interview

Name of Person Interviewed: Jesse Purcell, MS, ATC

Job Title: Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer
Company Name: University of California, San Diego
Company Address: UC San Diego Intercollegiate Athletics, 9500 Gilman Drive, RIMAC 4th
floor, La Jolla, CA 92093-0531
Company Phone Number: (858) 822-2572
1. Q: What type of education and training prepared you to become an athletic trainer?
A: There are two routes to becoming a certified athletic trainer, and both involve
attending CAATE accredited schools. The first route is through an undergraduate
program, and the second is an entry-level graduate program. Once you complete either
program, you will have to sit for the Board of Certification exam, which is a nationally
recognized standardized test which everyone must pass to become a certified athletic
trainer.

2. Q: What steps should someone take to become an athletic trainer?

A: First of all, an interest in health and wellness is necessary. Then, they should decide
which of the two routes work best for them. From there, it is all about completing the
requirements from either route.

3. Q: What inspired you to pursue this career?

A: The human body and mind fascinate me. Athletic training allows me to work with and
treat the whole body while being able to work outside and watch sports.

4. Q: What other duties do you perform other than training?

A: An average day for me is working in the athletic training clinic, seeing student-athletes
for rehab, and doing evaluations on new injuries. In addition to patient interactions, I also
have administrative duties which involve making sure they have the appropriate
paperwork filled out to be able to participate, documenting injuries and patient
interactions/rehabs, and communicating with doctors/other medical staff and the coaching
staff. UCSD is also a clinical site for the SDSU athletic training program, so I am a
preceptor for athletic training students who come to UCSD for their clinical experience.

5. Q: Do you work with teams or individual clients?

A: I am primarily responsible for three intercollegiate athletic (ICA) teams: mens water
polo, fencing, and softball. I work with them before and after practice for treatments and
rehab. However, I can work with any of the other ICA student-athletes if needed, for
rehab or evaluations, and will communicate to their athletic trainer what we worked on.

6. Q: What is the experience like working one on one (training) with clients compared to
doing medical appointments and regular checkups?
A: All of my work is one-on-one with patients. Other than pre and post-practice
treatments, like taping and stretching, all student-athletes sign up for appointments. This
is so they can be seen for rehab or injury evaluations in the athletic training room.

7. Q: Which qualities or characteristics should someone have in order to be a successful

Athletic Trainer?
A: Qualities important for an athletic trainer include: excellent communication skills,
confidence, empathy, patience, the ability to motivate, working well under pressure, and
flexibility.

8. Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of the job?

A: The most rewarding part of my job is working with a student-athlete through day one
of an injury and seeing them progress back to full participation.

9. Q: How do you respond when there is a major injury or other significant problem?
A: Quickly and calmly. I follow our emergency action protocols and request help when I
need it from athletic training students, coaches, and emergency medical services.

10. Q: How much does an athletic trainer travel with the teams they work for? How much
time is divided between working practice hours and travel for games?

A: Because UCSD only has three full time and four part-time certified athletic trainers,
we cannot travel with every team, so each staff member travels with one sports team that
is identified as high impact. I travel with softball in the spring. The fall is primarily spent
in the clinic working with student-athletes and covering home games for my other two
teams. In the spring, I spend half of my week traveling and working softball games and
the other half in the clinic working with all of my student-athletes.

11. Q: Did you have to start as an assistant or intern before you became a certified athletic
trainer?
A: Interns and graduate assistant athletic trainers are certified, but these are the first steps
to becoming a full time assistant or head athletic trainer. Depending on the job, employers
generally look for 2-3 years of experience before hiring full time ATCs.

12. Q: Do you work with multiple teams when they are not currently in season?
A: Yes, I work with all three teams year-round. The team that is currently in-season or
who makes it to post-season takes priority for treatments.