Athletic training students land summer internships with professional sports teams

Jonathan Casero

Chris Olson

Chris Olson, a master’s student in FIU’s Athletic Training Education Program in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, just completed a one-month summer internship with the Texas Rangers Major League baseball team in the Dominican Republic. “It was an amazing experience,” he said. “I can’t put into words how awesome it was.”

Olson is one of 28 students enrolled in the university’s two-year Athletic Training Education Program, which is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. The program teaches students the knowledge and skills required to be successful in the athletic training profession through classroom and clinical experiences.

During his internship with the Texas Rangers, 23-year old Olson rose every morning at 4:30 a.m. and opened up the athletic training room at the team’s summer camp. From 6-6:30 a.m., he worked with the players, treating their musculoskeletal injuries and performing rehabilitation exercises.

Olson observed the players during their daily activities and weight-lifting sessions to make sure they didn’t get hurt and helped team physicians treat minor injuries. At the end of the day, he’d work with the players again, administering treatments such as ice or electrical stimulation.

“My greatest concern in the beginning was my confidence in my ability to be able to say about an injury, ‘this is what it is,’” he recalled. “But by the end of the internship, I was able to do that and come up with new ideas about treatments and rehab exercises. My confidence skyrocketed out of the roof.”

The experience was filled with challenges of all kinds. “I speak Spanish, and that helped a lot,” Olson said. “But the way they practice medicine in the Dominican Republic is very different than in the U.S. It was also hard getting used to the food. You definitely learn to appreciate the little things you have in this country, like being able to get in a car and drive and not worry about hitting a cow.”

Jonathan Casero, 25, also a master’s student in FIU’s Athletic Training Program, received a National Football League-PFATS (Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society) Minority Scholarship, which are competitive national scholarships awarded to minority athletic training students. This scholarship includes $1,000 to assist with educational expenses and a summer internship with an NFL team. In July, he will begin a summer athletic training internship with the Miami Dolphins, joining other FIU students who have previously earned an internship with an NFL team.

In the meantime, Casero has been volunteering at different Miami Dolphins minicamps for pre-season activities. “I’ve been a Dolphins fans since I was a kid, so when the team’s athletic trainers called and invited me to volunteer, I jumped at the opportunity,” he said.

Working with a group of interns over the Memorial Day weekend at the team’s veterans minicamp, Casero had a busy schedule. “In the morning, I’d set up the equipment to get ready for practice, get the water pumpers ready, and set up the Gatorade coolers,” he said. “As soon as we were finished with that, we’d come inside the athletic training room and do treatments and rehabilitation exercises on the athletes for their injuries.”

Casero said it was “unreal” working with Dolphins players.

“Sometimes I just thought, ‘Wow, I’m actually working here,’” he said. “But all of the players were very nice and humble. They asked me what my name was and treated me with respect as a member of the athletic training staff. In the world of sports medicine, athletic trainers and players have a very special bond.”

He is excited about the upcoming summer internship with the Miami Dolphins. “I’m very thrilled and looking forward to it big-time,” he said.

— Susan Feinberg

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