As a gymnast and diver in her teens, Emma Sterrett, ATC, LAT, dislocated both of her shoulders and tore the labrum in both shoulders. Sterrett injured her right shoulder during recreational gymnastics when she was 14. Two years later, she injured her left shoulder when she came out of a dive awkwardly during a competition for the Danville High School diving team in Danville, Illinois.
Two shoulder surgeries and two rounds of physical therapy drew Sterrett’s interest in physical therapy and athletic training. “I had an outstanding physical therapist who was also an athletic trainer. He got me back to doing everything I wanted to do. That got me interested in wanting to help others get back to their activities,” she says. Now Sterrett’s a certified athletic trainer at Shelbourne Knee Center.
Classroom and Clinical Training
Sterrett earned her BS in athletic training at the University of Indianapolis. The program uses a medical-based education model, with both classroom and clinical settings. As a student athletic trainer, Sterrett worked with certified athletic trainers and sports medicine professionals, gaining experience evaluating and treating injured athletes. She worked with athletes at the University of Indianapolis, several high schools, and one middle school in sports including baseball, basketball, football, softball, track, volleyball and wrestling.
Clinical training also included three clinical rotations. One of these was at Shelbourne Knee Center in the summer before and fall of Sterrett’s senior year.
A Focus on Return to Sport
A few months before graduation, a physical therapist at Shelbourne Knee Center contacted Sterrett about a job opening for an athletic trainer. Sterrett applied and got the job. While many athletic trainers work in high schools and colleges/universities, 17% work in clinics and hospitals, according to National Athletic Trainers Association.
Like the physical therapists at Shelbourne Knee Center, Sterrett helps injured athletes return to sport and patients with arthritis return to their regular activities. As an athletic trainer, she brings extra training on and understanding of the return to sport progression. This enables her to communicate easily with injured athletes and athletic trainers at high schools and college/universities. “I like working with athletes who are motivated to get back to competitive sport and helping them do this,” she says.
More Is Not Always Better
The simple, research-backed treatment protocols used at Shelbourne Knee Center appeal to Sterrett. “In athletic training, they look at a lot more. Dr. Shelbourne’s protocols are very simple,” she says. “The patient’s knees were equal before the injury or arthritis and they're not equal anymore. If we can make them equal, the patient can get back to sport or activity.” Sterrett’s also learned the importance of good range of motion in the knee.
Seeing patients for research visits 25–30 years after their ACL surgery is one of the things Sterrett likes best about working at Shelbourne Knee Center. “These patients are doing great. I can tell that to a 15-year-old who has torn her ACL and wants to know what her ACL will be like in 30 years.”
For more information about physical therapy at Shelbourne Knee Center, call 888-FIX-KNEE.