*NOTE: This is part of a series of stories written by Lock Haven University graduate students about their athletic training full-immersion externships this spring.
The final semester of Lock Haven University's Master of Science in Athletic Training program's focus is for their students to go out into the workforce and gain exposure to athletic training settings outside of LHU.
This year one student had the opportunity to go well outside of her comfort zone. Traveling 2,000 miles to Arizona State University, Angela Napolitano, of Ronkonkoma, New York, became a member of the Sun Devil sports medicine team, primarily working with the women's gymnastics team.
"I was given the opportunity to work with an elite group of athletes and learn the ins and outs of a sport that not many get the chance to be involved with, all while practicing and fine tuning my professional skills," Napolitano said.
As a member of the Sun Devil team, Napolitano was able to gain experience with several sports and athletic training tools and modalities that she would not otherwise have access to at LHU.
Napolitano was able to learn from many members of the athletic training staff, volunteering with other sports on campus, and was able to experience ice hockey, water polo, soccer, track and field, wrestling, and tennis.
"I was very excited to have the chance to work with other members of the staff, meeting members of the athletic training community from many backgrounds that have studied all across the country," she said.
Leaving Lock Haven University's smaller family-style program to join a large PAC 12 team was a big change but Napolitano was able to utilize this opportunity to collaborate with other professionals and really develop as a young athletic trainer.
The Sun Devil athletic department has access to newer technologies that she was able to learn to use on a day-to-day basis. This included altered gravity and underwater treadmills for return to weight-bearing rehabilitations, the use of blood flow restriction in strength and muscle development, as well as different variations of how to use mechanical modalities.
"I observed my preceptor using the electrical stimulation (estim) unit," Napolitano said. "He had one connector on the athlete's upper calf and the other connector strapped to a metal massage tool. He then gave the athlete a message with the metal tool and the athlete explained it as feeling like a tingly massage. Mind blown."
Napolitano was able to experience the profession from the Division I level, work with athletes from all around the world and win a PAC-12 regular season championship along the way.
After graduating in May, Napolitano is now completing an internship providing medical care for the University of Miami with their sports teams.
