Arguably the best 3-point shooter in NBA history, it’s hard to imagine basketball without Golden State Warriors’ star Stephen Curry. But when the Warriors extended his rookie contract in 2012, it was considered a risky move. The main reason was his injury-prone ankles, which caused Curry to miss dozens of games in prior seasons.
After getting ankle surgery that year, Curry and his trainers worked to mitigate that issue with targeted exercises. The treatment drastically reduced his number of injuries and kept him on the path to stardom. His experience shows the importance of athletic trainers in sports.
Athletic trainers work with health care teams to prevent, treat and rehabilitate injuries and other medical conditions. They often work under or alongside physicians to provide services like wellness education, examination, therapeutic intervention and emergency care.
Despite the name, athletic trainers don’t work exclusively with athletes. They also work with physically active people in commercial settings, performing arts, civil servants and the military.
The profession requires a mixture of specialized health care, therapeutic and human body knowledge. You need to complete an accredited master’s degree and pass a national exam to become a certified athletic trainer.
You can see the importance of athletic trainers in Bureau of Labor Statistics data: it projects a 13% increase in employment by 2033. That’s more than triple the average employment increase, which sits around 4%.
Being an athletic trainer isn’t just about working in an expanding field. It’s about helping people. Aron West, who earned an athletic training master’s degree from University of the Pacific, says that’s why he does it.
“I went to a small high school. So, when I got injured during team sports, I had no one to advise me or even let me know what was wrong with my body,” West says. “One of those instances caused me to almost lose my leg. If I had an athletic trainer, I would have been hurt two weeks instead of months and would not have needed three surgeries.”
Here’s what you need to know about becoming an athletic trainer.
What does an athletic trainer do?
A key part of an athletic trainer’s job is to prevent injuries, whether they happen in practice, during a game or in the workplace. In sports, for example, they conduct physicals, create conditioning programs and educate patients about proper warm-up routines.
Despite this preparation and risk-mitigation, people do still get hurt. Athletic trainers, especially in sports, are trained to assess an injured person and provide immediate first aid. In emergencies, they stabilize the person until more thorough medical care is available.
After an injury, athletic trainers also develop rehabilitation plans to help people heal as quickly and safely as possible. These treatment plans can include exercises, therapeutic intervention and other technologies so the injured person can return to a high level of performance and prevent reinjury.
This work is vital for professional sports leagues, but that’s just part of the story. Many other institutions like universities, hospitals and businesses also rely on these professionals to keep people healthy.
In fact, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association estimates around 50% of all athletic trainers work for universities, colleges, middle- and high schools. Athletic trainers also work in fields you might not expect, like the performing arts, the military, in occupational health departments or in commercial industry.
West works as an injury prevention specialist for Amazon, where he tracks and mitigates occupational health concerns that can result in doctor’s visits and lost worktime.
“It’s just as busy as an athletic training room,” he says. “In this field, people work their body hard and for long hours, just like our athletes, so we refer to them as industrial athletes.
Undergraduate education
While many fields have a “standard” undergraduate degree, like psychology or biological sciences, this is not the case for athletic training. Master’s degree programs in athletic training don’t require a particular degree. They do, however, require coursework in areas like biology, anatomy and physiology.
So, if you want to get a master’s degree, you should research programs you’re interested in and keep their requirements in mind as you choose your classes. Degrees in sports medicine or kinesiology are good options, although they aren’t offered at all universities.
Another good option is a bachelor’s degree in health and exercise sciences. This degree offers an interdisciplinary education to prepare you for careers or advanced study in athletic training, occupational therapy or physical therapy.
Master’s degree programs also require a certain number of clinical observation hours verified by a certified athletic trainer. Many undergraduate programs build internships into the degree, but you can also look for opportunities with athletic trainers in high schools, community colleges or universities.
Graduate school
In a Master of Science in athletic training program, you learn proven techniques to minimize injury risk, handle emergency situations and recover from injuries. When you chose a program, there are a few things to keep in mind.
You should be sure the program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education, also known as CAATE. Only those programs make you eligible to take the Board of Certification test required to become a certified athletic trainer.
One of the measures of a program’s success rate is its first-time BOC exam pass rate. In its most recent review, 86% of Pacific’s graduates passed the exam on their first try.
Your clinical education is one of the most critical parts of your athletic training master’s degree. That’s where you’ll get hands-on opportunities under the supervision of a certified athletic trainer, learn to apply your knowledge and build connections in the industry.
So, when you’re choosing a master’s degree program, look at what kinds of clinical experiences they can offer you. In Pacific’s program, there are extensive opportunities for direct athlete care at the university itself, with other universities and with sports teams like Sacramento Republic FC and the San Jose Sharks
Students in Pacific’s program have also done independent internships with the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“I got to work with hundreds of athletes,” West says. “I worked with multiple D1 teams, best-of-the-best athletes whose bodies went through a lot. I worked in a physical therapy clinic as well, so I saw a variety of injuries and learned so much from different experts in the field.”
Once you’ve finished your master’s program, there is still a major step you need to take before you can start practicing as a certified athletic trainer.
Athletic trainer certification
The Board of Certification for Athletic Trainers, more commonly known as the BOC, sets the standards for athletic training practices, certification and continuing education the U.S. It is the only body in the U.S. where you can get an certification as an athletic trainer.
To get this certification, you need to pass the BOC certification exam. The exam tests you on the five domains of athletic training:
- Risk reduction, wellness and health literacy
- Assessment, evaluation and diagnosis
- Critical incident management
- Therapeutic intervention
- Health care administration and professional responsibility
You can apply to take this exam once you’ve obtained your CAATE-accredited master’s degree or are in your final semester/quarter before graduation. In either case, you will need your program director to confirm that you have earned or will earn your master’s degree.
For more information about applying for the exam, test conditions or the scoring process, check out the 2025-2027 BOC candidate handbook.
Licensing
In most states, once you’ve obtained your BOC certification, the next step is to get licensed. Licensing happens on a state-by-state basis, requiring you to submit an application and get a background check.
There is one notable exception: California. The state of California does not license athletic trainers, although it is illegal to portray yourself as one if you haven’t graduated from a CAATE-certified program or passed the BOC certification exam.
Pathways into athletic training
If you’re interested in the field, chatting with a certified athletic trainer is a great first step. You should also research accredited master’s degree programs with an eye toward the clinical experiences they can offer you, and how they can prepare you for the BOC certification exam.
Learn more about Pacific’s Master of Science in athletic training program. For specific questions, you can also contact a program director at msat@pacific.edu.