112. Joel Jaucian On Athletic Training, Empathy, And Advocating For Those Experiencing Pain & Injury

08 Mar 112. Joel Jaucian On Athletic Training, Empathy, And Advocating For Those Experiencing Pain & Injury

March is National Athletic Training Month! This episode Andrew welcomes Joel Jaucian, a Certified Athletic Trainer at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu, Hawaii. Joel has so many great experiences that he shares about finding the athletic training major, becoming certified and eventually stepping away from the profession, to returning to the high school setting where he truly enjoys helping young athletes succeed in sports and life. Listen in to this episode to learn about what athletic trainers do and what this profession is about.

Joel shares experiences that most young athletes can relate to, playing through injuries and pushing through the pain without realizing the potential long-term consequences. He suffered a knee injury in high school while playing a fun game of football with his friends at the park. In hindsight, they both highly suspect Joel tore his ACL and it went undiagnosed for years. This led to a gradual decline of knee function and early onset osteoarthritis. He eventually had a total knee arthroplasty (knee replacement) at a young age that did more than just get rid of his knee pain, but may have been the upswing in life that he was hoping for.

Through Joel’s experiences both as a patient and a Certified Athletic Trainer, he has developed empathy when helping athletes and people battling through injuries. He talks about how important it is for athletic trainers to advocate for those that don’t have adequate resources or knowledge when it comes to taking care of injuries. It’s all about caring for people, helping them overcome their pain and injuries, and get them back to living their life. Joel has a great outlook on making a positive impact on those around him and does his part to help improve the quality of people’s lives. For any athletes, parents, healthcare professionals, or future athletic trainers, everyone will find something of value that Joel shares. Lastly, don’t forget to show appreciation to any athletic trainers out there and thank them for all their hard work. Enjoy this episode!