Melissa Stokes MS, ATC, LAT

I think a lot of it comes down to a strong internal drive. I'm very motivated and internally driven to do the best that I can and help people. I just have this kind of innate sense of, like, I want to help people, and that's been really helpful for me throughout my career. But I also have to credit the support system around me. Support from my family has been huge, being able for them to support me going to college and pursuing this career. And support from my fiancé, who probably hears about all the issues at work, has been invaluable as well. That combination of internal motivation and external support has really shaped my success.

I think the biggest piece of advice I would have is: be respectful, but don't back down. There were a lot of times when I was in school, when I was in grad school, and even in my professional life where I saw something and I was like, hey, this isn't right, or there's a better way that we could be doing this. And you know, everyone was like, oh, it's fine, we've been doing this for years, we've been doing it this way. So I have notoriously become the squeaky wheel, and I think that has led to a lot of really good change for the programs that I've been involved in. Don't be afraid to speak up when you see something that needs to change, even if people tell you that's just how it's always been done.

I think as athletic training as a whole, we've been pushing to get ourselves recognized more as professional medical providers, because we are. We take a board certification exam, just like any other doctor, any other nurse, dentist, chiropractor, anything like that. So we are certified medical professionals. But a lot of what people see is, you know, kind of that original collegiate area where we're standing on the sidelines, we're giving people water, we're stretching them. And that doesn't do justice to everything that goes on behind the scenes. So we're trying to push the profession forward to show that we are more than just that - we are full medical providers. Another big challenge is being a female in a male-dominated profession, and also being young. There are a lot of times where I come up against issues that I don't feel like would arise had I have a male counterpart, or if a male were doing this job. So it's about navigating that in the best way we can to also give the people that are coming behind me a better chance to succeed.

I think empathy is a big one for me. Not only empathy for me when I'm caring for other patients, but also empathy from people who understand that I work in a healthcare field and recognize, wow, that's really hard. It's about people understanding the need to take care of those who are taking care of others. I also believe that respect and communication go hand in hand. The deeper I get into being in a leadership role, the more I'm understanding how to communicate with different stakeholders - how to communicate the difference between my subordinates versus my upline, and how to do that effectively. And then I think just passion. I've been told that I'm incredibly passionate about what I do, and I think to work in athletic training and sports medicine, you kind of have to have that, otherwise you burn out really quickly. I always show this passion, this drive to keep learning, keep growing, and keep knowing about things that I don't know already. That continuous pursuit of knowledge and growth is essential to me.