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The Behrend Beacon
!Assistant athfetic trainer %athu (Pomichter fixes
fro fen bones through rehahifitation, counseling
by Kate Levdansky Petrikis
assistant sports editor
Kathy Pomichter has been working at Behrend since
August and is currently the assistant athletic trainer, as
well as a lecturer.
Previously, she worked at Fredonia State University
in New York as the assistant athletic trainer. Pomichter
graduated from Mercyhurst College with a sports
medicine degree, and then went to graduate school at
Edinboro University for counseling.
Beacon: What are your duties as the assistant athletic
trainer?
Pomichter: I take care of athletic injuries, provide first
aid, counsel or give advice about injuries and prevention
of injuries. I also work with insurance claims, and travel
with the athletic teams to away contests.
Beacon: Is there a sport you prefer to be involved with?
Pomichter: Not really, I like all of the sports. It is not
really what sport you like so much as the athletes that
you are dealing with. I enjoy working with all of our
different athletes. They all seem to have different points
of view on their sport.
Beacon: What is the most valuable experience you have
had?
Pomichter: It is when you help rehabilitate an athlete
and watch them perform just as well as they did before
they got hurt. It is so satisfying to work with very moti
vated athletes that want to get better. It is even more
enjoyable when they appreciate me working with them.
Beacon: Do you ever plan to be an athletic trainer for a
professional team?
Pomichter: I really have no aspirations in working with
a professional team. I find the college setting to be most
enjoyable and want to stay at that level. I like having
diversity and knowing that I do not work with just one
sports’ team.
Beacon: What professional team would be your dream
to work for?
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Q & A: Who's Behind the Scenes?
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Kathy Pomichter treats a sports injury and offers a little counseling along the way. Watching athletes
perform at their pre-injury level is the most rewarding part of her job, said Pomichter.
SPORTS
Friday, April 19, 2002
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Pomichter: I was in an accredited athletic training cur
riculum for four years, and had to pass a national exam to
become a certified athletic trainer. To work at a college
setting, you have to have your masters and I pursued that
right after I graduated from Mercyhurst College.
392-0444
Pomichter: If I were tochoose a professional team I
think a women’s soccer team. They would be a lot of fun
to work with.
Beacon: What is the worst injury you have ever treated?
Pomichter: There have been a few ugly injuries, but I
think the worst would be a nightstick fracture. A young
man playing soccer landed wrong on his arm and broke
completely through the two bones in his lower arm. He
started vomiting as a result of the severe injury.
Beacon: What made you decide to become an athletic
trainer?
Pomichter: I always enjoyed sports, and 1 played three
sports all through high school. I was also very interested
in medicine and wanted to find a way to incorporate the
two. What better major than athletic training to combine
the two.
Beacon: What education did your job require?
Beacon: Did you have a mentor who helped you pick
this career?
Pomichter: No, I went into it blindly with a lot of mis
conceptions. It worked out, though, because I really en
joyed it all through college.
Beacon: What has made your job at Behrend a good
experience?
Pomichter: The people. There are so many nice ath
letes, coaches, and faculty here at Behrend. Everyone
was so welcoming when I started here and made me feel
accepted. I have a great working relationship with the
Head Athletic Trainer Jeff Webster, and we always re
member how to have fun with our job.
Every week, the Beacon will engage in a little
“ask and respond” with someone
who doesn’t make the headlines.
behrcol!s @ aol.com