{"id":126128,"date":"2020-08-26T15:12:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T21:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=126128"},"modified":"2020-08-26T16:12:53","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:12:53","slug":"merna-adapting-to-learning-athletic-training-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=126128","title":{"rendered":"Merna adapting to learning athletic training during pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Nick<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nick Merna, a master of\nscience in athletic training<\/a> graduate student, is closing in on the finish\nline to graduation. A short time ago, Merna selected the right college program\nto continue his education and reach his career goals, but never thought he\nwould need to consider how a university would respond during a global pandemic\nas one of the contributing factors in selecting a program.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beauty of Colorado Springs and surrounding areas, expediency and cost of the program, and proximity to high level athletics were among the top factors Merna considered when selecting UCCS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe program at UCCS offered me the opportunity to move\nthrough school at a fast pace and in a program I would really enjoy. Being able\nto finish two degrees in the time it takes some people to finish one degree\nmade going to UCCS that much more exciting,\u201d said Merna. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many collegiate students and athletes on all levels, Merna has felt the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on his academics and among the athletic community. The pandemic has not only brought about benefits Merna enjoys, like learning from home, but it has also made it challenging for him to engage in hands-on-learning opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCOVID-19 has really limited my ability to learn athletic\ntraining in the field. With sports being cancelled and at limited capacity,\nthere has been a massive reduction in time to learn from other athletic\ntrainers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the university\u2019s return to campus protocol, many students have been able to continue on-campus learning and labs. However, with many high school, collegiate and professional sports leagues limiting attendees and staff at events and even postponing or cancelling some seasons, students are experiencing limited access to on-field learning opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis means students may have to do more of their\ninstruction via simulation, rather than real life experiences,\u201d said Mandi\nElder<\/a>, associate professor and athletic training program coordinator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She continued, \u201cWithout our primary site of an athletic\ndepartment, we are having to be creative in our approach to clinicals, students\nhave to take every advantage of what is available when it is available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 24, 2020, Centura Health and UCCS, celebrated the grand opening of the William J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about taking advantage of the new Hybl building. Through my limited time in the building, I have seen so much new and innovative technology, and I hope to get the opportunity to become familiar with some of it,\u201d said Merna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driven by a unique\npartnership between Centura Health and UCCS, the Hybl Center represents an\nunprecedented opportunity for patients and students as clinical practice is\njoined with graduate and undergraduate education and research. <\/strong>The Hybl Center is home to\nacademic areas including a 150-person lecture hall, four classrooms, nine\ninstructional laboratories, and seven research laboratories. Merna will be\namong the first students to attend classes and labs at the Hybl Center for the\n2020 fall semester. \n\nBefore heading to campus, Merna selects a red\npineapple cloth face mask. He shares another way COVID-19 has impacted his\ndaily choices and actions, \u201cI make sure I think about my actions and how they\ncould affect all the people around me. If limiting my activity and wearing a\nmask in public can save even one person\u2019s life than it seems worth it to me.\u201d\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nick Merna, a master of science in athletic training graduate student, is closing in on the finish line to graduation. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":126133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,50],"tags":[53,304,190,105,332],"class_list":["post-126128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-health-and-wellness","tag-academic-affairs","tag-department-of-health-sciences","tag-graduate-school","tag-helen-and-arthur-e-johnson-beth-el-college-of-nursing-and-health-sciences","tag-more-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Merna-mask.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-wOk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126128"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126150,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126128\/revisions\/126150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/126133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}