Our latest Alumni Q&A features 2014 graduate Doven Tack. While at Waynesburg, Doven earned her B.S. in Athletic Training with a minor in Exercise Science.
Q: Where did you grow up and go to high school?
A: I grew up in the northern region of Pennsylvania in Warren County. I attended Eisenhower High School and graduated in 2010.
Q: How did you happen to choose Athletic Training as your major of study? And what about Waynesburg University sold you on coming here as an undergrad?
A: I chose athletic training because when I was an athlete in high school, I sustained multiple injuries and quite frankly, never had an athletic trainer actually diagnose any of my injuries appropriately or treat me for them. I felt that there had to be better care for young athletes. I also loved the idea of not working at a desk and enjoying athletics.
I chose Waynesburg for a lot of reasons. I appreciated the location, wanted to be at a private school, desired a small class size, and knew I would thrive having a significant amount of hands-on work with the athletic training program.
Q: Who/What was the most influential person/experience at Waynesburg University that gave you the confidence and grit to finish strong?
A: Andy Palko and Drue Stapleton both arrived to the athletic training department my senior year at Waynesburg. They both performed a phenomenal job filling in major gaps in the program as a whole. Drue saw it as his personal mission to get a 100% pass rate for the BOC (Board of Certification) exam his first year, and he was successful! Andy, to this day, has always believed in me. I feel that he always saw potential that I didn’t know I had. Andy was the one person that I reached out to at Waynesburg to help me, with just about anything, for the past 10 years. He is the one that put in the extra effort to help me gain my international status.
After graduating from Waynesburg, I earned an M.S. in exercise science from California University of Pennsylvania. I married an F-15E fighter pilot and have had to juggle multiple moves, international relations, and living in areas of poor sports medicine care. I’ve done a lot of work in multiple arenas, such as personal training, athletic training at a high school, and now working with a British MSK Physio company. My “career” has not been solid, but it has taught me how valuable it is to have such a flexible and well-rounded education.
Q: Your background indicates that it is your role as a military spouse that brought you to the United Kingdom and that you were determined to work full time in your field by obtaining a job right away – and working full time. Can you comment on your work with the Rugby team through the British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT) exam? What challenges, if any, did you face while earning that certification? How does it differ from the certification you received from WU?
My husband's job has now brought us to the United Kingdom twice on separate three-year assignments each time. The first time was not long after I had graduated from Waynesburg University, and the U.K. had not yet started the process of allowing American Athletic Trainers to utilize the BASRaT for international participants. This time around, the International Agreement between the American Athletic Training Association and the BASRaT had already started to make serious headway. As soon as we arrived in the U.K. in February 2022 I started the process of being recognized through the International Agreement. What I didn't know at the time was that no other American Athletic Trainer had tried to achieve this in the U.K. at that point.
I was able to immediately obtain a job working for the Allied Health Professionals of Suffolk, a MSK Physio company in County Suffolk. I was hired, at the time, as an “exercise therapist.” Our job title has since changed to “rehabilitation instructor.” The role, essentially, is to go through the rehabilitation of patients that have already had an appointment with a physiotherapist. The company is a social enterprise that is contracted by the British National Health Service (NHS), so it has been quite the experience working for the socialized health care system here and learning about how musculoskeletal conditions are heavily managed through the physio networks compared to the United States. My role, specifically, allowed me to see patients on a very regular basis to progress rehabilitation. The biggest difference was learning about loads of orthopedic conditions that were not necessarily covered through an athletic training degree, such as osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and spinal stenosis.
I started the job with AHP Suffolk in May 2022 and wasn’t able to fully achieve the BASRaT recognition until December 2022, so it was quite a lengthy process. I spent a lot of time gathering all of the necessary paperwork, providing proof that I passed the BOC, proof that I have stayed up-to-date on CEU’s, and even … every single syllabi from both of my degrees. Once the paperwork was in and approved, I got the go-ahead from the BASRaT to take their “board exam.” It was a 100-question test virtually monitored. The honest truth was I did not feel prepared for the exam as the BASRaT does not have any study material for the exam. I was told that I should have learned everything in undergrad, which for me, was nearly 10 years prior. I’m very fortunate to have passed the exam on the first attempt. I’ll be frank and admit that the standards were not nearly as high as the BOC; otherwise, I would not have passed.
Once I passed the BASRaT, I was able to apply for British liability insurance which gave me the legal ability to start helping with the Ipswich Rugby Club in the spring of 2023. The way clubs work in the United Kingdom can be very political and confusing for an outsider. Unfortunately, I was only able to assist with a few matches that spring and a few matches early in the fall before the club wasn't able to maintain the physio demands. After stepping away from the Ipswich Rugby Club, I was able to find work for a British Football (soccer) Club. Starting in October of 2023 I was able to maintain a more solidified position working for the Haverhill Rovers Football Club. Rugby and football are nowhere near the same pace at very different levels of injuries. I had worked some soccer in the United States, but this particular club is semi-professional. The standards were on a fairly different level than what a high schooler would expect in the United States, but overall, the skills I learned in undergrad were absolutely the backbone of the job role: basic injury assessments, … rehab advice, and pre-activity taping and injury prevention work.
Q: When will you be taking off for maternity leave, and what is your plan moving forward?
A: I am due with our first baby in June 2024. In the U.K., maternity leave can be 12 months. Depending on the company you can be paid for six of those months. My husband’s job in the U.K. will come to an end before I am able to fulfill the 12-month maternity leave; therefore, I will stay home until we return to the United States. My husband has already landed a job in Portland, Oregon, starting in February 2025. I'm not sure at this time if athletic training will be my future in the long term. I have loved athletic training and feel that it has been such a valuable [educational track], but being a traditional athletic trainer is not truly conducive to motherhood. I plan to return to school and change career fields.
Personally, I feel that the best thing athletic training degrees do for the students is teach time management and perseverance. No other program, even nursing, at Waynesburg had students doing hands-on clinicals for 20-30 hours a week while maintaining 18-21 credits per semester starting sophomore year. I remember wondering why I couldn't get straight A’s like some of my peers but then realized they had their entire afternoon to study as much as they needed to! Meanwhile, I was on a football field handing out water bottles, managing injuries, stretching legs, carrying ice bags, and stocking tape in a fanny pack.
Q: How would you like to utilize the experiences you gained in the U.K. in your future career endeavors?
A: Working as a foreigner in another country brings a significant amount of cultural challenges. The English don’t speak the same way as Americans and rarely show care and respect the same way we do. It is crucial to learn how to give and earn respect in another culture. I never endeavored to work in the U.K. as a way to fix them. There was nothing really to fix. I had to grow and adapt. I had to change my language, my attitude, and my battles. Sports are a huge part of any culture, but here in the United Kingdom it is not common to have young children playing very competitively. It is a reminder to me that sports aren’t everything and that the American outlook on sports and sports medicine might actually be a bit over-the-top. As awful as that sounds coming from someone that loves sports medicine work, I believe that I will be able to have a fresher outlook on what is important when treating injured individuals.
Q: What is your advice for students today who are pursuing a degree in Athletic Training?
A: My advice for future athletic training students is to endure the athletic training experience with a positive, fresh outlook. Don’t get stuck in the belief that working for schools and professional teams is your only option moving forward in life. There's so much more out there that you can utilize these skills for. Your education in athletic training is by far one of the most diverse educational backgrounds you can get from an undergrad/graduate experience. Be willing to change goals and dreams. Be open to traveling. There’s no better education than diving into another culture. Be open to feeling uncomfortable. Do not tolerate disrespect. Be kind, have fun, and save a life.