Trinity Sports Medicine in Minot, ND focuses on the prevention, evaluation, and treatment of injuries related to sports, exercise, and physical activity. Maci Severson, ATC works at Trinity Health Sports Medicine and is contracted through Minot State University, and has served as a primary athletic trainer for a rural high school about 30 minutes outside of Minot, ND. She has eight years of service as a certified athletic trainer, and looks forward to year nine!
An Unconventional Beginning
Maci's journey to becoming an athletic trainer was not a conventional one. According to Severson, "Honestly, being an athletic trainer was originally never part of my plans for university." Her journey began on the path to becoming an elementary school teacher. "I started university as an elementary education major," added Severson.
Her desire to stick close to athletics never left as she coached volleyball and basketball throughout her first year. "I was no longer an athlete, but felt the extreme need to be around athletics," added Severson. "This world had been my entire life up until that point."
Photo courtesy of Maci Severson, Trinity Health Sports Medicine |
A Turning Point
Aside from coaching and taking classes, Severson also worked at the cafeteria at the hospital. It was there that she gained some advice that changed the trajectory of her career.
"My high school athletic trainer came through every so often," explained Severson. "I asked her about the profession. I knew I wanted to be around athletics, and I needed a career that helped people. She advised me to take her introduction to athletic training class and I signed up the following semester. The rest is history."
Learning Curve
"My first couple of years as a certified athletic trainer, I had a lot of growing pains. I had been introduced to many injuries or incidents that I did not encounter in my entirety of four years in undergrad. This profession requires experienced learning. You can learn all of the emergency actions, plan with preparedness, and read a million scenarios in a textbook, but until you’ve worked few a through, that is when real knowledge is gained. Luckily, I had some of the best instructors and have the best co-workers to get through it all. This is a learn-as-you-go and learn-for-life career."
Photo courtesy of Maci Severson, Trinity Health Sports Medicine |
Challenges & Rewards
According to Severson, some of her daily challenges include "scheduling student athletes for adequate time and appropriate resources in the training room; our space is often limited as well as equipment. ATs are constantly thinking out of the box and quickly adapt to our surroundings and availability to resources."
On the other side of the coin, Severson identifies the most rewarding part of being an athletic trainer as, "Getting an athlete back to the sport they love and seeing the look on their face when they’ve crushed their goals after returning from injury."
Image courtesy of Maci Severson, Trinity Health Sports Medicine |
"I am passionate about helping athletes get back to the sport they love and helping others to be their very best every day."
--Maci Severson, ATC
Trinity Health Sports Medicine Program 
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