Athletic trainers are industry recognized health care professionals who collaborate with sports medicine physicians to maximize patient and client activity and participation in athletics and daily life routines. According to the NATA, the practice of athletic training encompasses the prevention, examination and diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of emergent, acute, subacute, chronic neuro-musculoskeletal conditions and certain medical conditions in order to minimize subsequent impairments, functional limitations, disability, and societal limitations.  Athletic trainers’ work in a variety of exciting and face-paced settings which can include high schools, colleges, universities, professional sports teams, hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, physicians’ offices, corporate and industrial institutions, the military, and the performing arts Athletic trainers participate in continuing education as part of professional practice requirements.  Athletic trainers may also sit on industry boards, serve as guest speakers and consultants, and may even decide to conduct research, gather statistics and publish findings and relevant literature. Athletic trainers are educated and trained in injury and illness prevention strategies that focus on optimizing health to improve an individual’s quality of life. Athletic trainers are the only health care professionals whose expertise in prevention ranges from minor sprains to catastrophic head and neck injuries, and from minor illnesses to exertional heat syndrome. Nutrition and wellness also play an integral role in the athletic trainers’ work in preventing injury and illness.