Meaning & use
athletic trainer
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A healthcare professional who prevents, diagnoses, and treats muscle and bone injuries, especially in athletes.
Grammar: Countable; use 'an athletic trainer' for one, 'athletic trainers' for more.
Patterns
- work as an athletic trainer
- see an athletic trainer
After hurting her knee, she went to see an athletic trainer.
The team's athletic trainer taped his ankle before the game.
He works as an athletic trainer at a high school.
Word forms
| plural | athletic trainers |
|---|
Common combinations
- certified athletic trainer
- Only a certified athletic trainer can provide certain treatments.
- head athletic trainer
- The head athletic trainer oversees all injury care for the team.
- athletic trainer assistant
- An athletic trainer assistant helps with taping and first aid.
Synonyms and how they differ
- physiotherapist
- A broader term for a professional who treats movement problems; in the US, athletic trainers often do similar work but specialize in sports.
- sports therapist
- Common in British English for someone who treats sports injuries; not always a protected title.
Commonly confused: athletic trainer or personal trainer?
athletic trainer vs personal trainer
A personal trainer helps you exercise and get fit, but does not usually have medical training to treat injuries.
Practice
Who would you most likely see for a sports injury?
Choose one answer.
An athletic trainer is trained to treat sports injuries; the others focus on fitness, not medical care.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “athletic trainer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.