Students at UW-Madison have the qualifications to compete for some of the top internships across the country. Like their colleagues from across campus, several students with the Department of Kinesiology’s Athletic Training Program used their summer break to gain real-world work experiences – while also having a lot of fun.
Students involved with the AT Program aren’t required to take part in an internship in order to graduate, but it can be an invaluable and eye-opening experience. Colten Seibel, who will be graduating in May from the AT Program, explains how he enjoyed working with the Badgers football team during the 2016 season and was looking to build off that experience.
“So I thought a pro football internship with an NFL team would be the next step up,” says Seibel, who landed an internship this past summer with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. “It was an outstanding opportunity for me to get more experience working in an area that I really enjoyed and that I might consider as a career after I graduate.”
Adds Seibel: “I’d definitely recommend pursuing a summer internship to anyone who is interested.”
Following are a few examples of some of the amazing internships enjoyed by students with the Athletic Training Program.
Rebekah Zerbe
Year in School: Graduating December 2018
Hometown: Madison
Internship: Madison Mallards Northwoods League summer collegiate baseball team
Summary: This unique internship allowed Zerbe to work closely with collegiate baseball players from all over the country. Her responsibilities included: pre-treatment and injury prevention prior to home games with the athletes; attending to on-field injuries; and evaluating and treating injuries throughout the season under the guidance of a certified athletic trainer. Zerbe explains that while all components of the internship were valuable in the expansion of her athletic training education, she really enjoyed the prevention focus of the internship.
Quote/Unquote: “I can apply the principles of prevention I learned with the Madison Mallards to every sport I work with in the future,” says Zerbe. “Summer internships give you the opportunity to experience a new and totally different athletic training setting. Take advantage of them – you might discover the perfect job fit for you.”
Hayato Ikeda
Year in School: Graduating May 2018
Hometown: Madison
Internship: Los Angeles location of EXOS, a sports performance company
Summary: During his time with EXOS, Ikeda was assisting the performance specialists during training sessions by helping coach various drills and exercises, setting up equipment for trainings, and preparing recovery shakes and supplements for the athletes. During the summer, he was able to work with professional soccer, basketball, tennis and football athletes, as well as with the general adult population and youth athletes. Ikeda took part in weekly education sessions to learn EXOS’ research-based training methodology and also participated in practical sessions to learn how to apply the concepts.Ikeda explains how the internship allowed him to gain a better understanding of how individuals should move to avoid injury and how to communicate effectively while teaching exercises via external cues. This knowledge is beneficial from a rehabilitation and return-to-play-standpoint, he notes, adding that he hopes to be able to utilize some of what he learned this summer in the athletic training clinical settings he is involved with.
Quote/Unquote: “A summer internship allows you to build on the experiences you’ve gotten during the academic year on the field and in the classroom,” says Ikeda, who is currently working as a student athletic trainer with the Badgers’ men’s and women’s soccer teams. “If you take the opportunity to learn more during the summer you can use some of that knowledge when you come back to campus and apply that.”
Colten Seibel
Year in School: Graduating May 2018
Hometown: Bloomer, Wisconsin
Internship: Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL
Summary: Seibel spent seven weeks living in Jacksonville, Fla., and working as a student athletic trainer with the Jaguars as they conducted their training camp. Seibel was involved in the treatment, evaluation and rehabilitation of the athletes on the team and their various injuries. His duties also included game and practice coverage, with Siebel providing coverage for each of the team’s home preseason games – as well as for one of the Jaguars’ away games in Atlanta against the Falcons.
Seibel says this past summer was a significant stepping stone for him as a student athletic trainer in terms of furthering his skills and education, as well as opening his eyes to the world of professional sports. Seibel adds that experiencing another realm and potential future employment opportunity the profession has to offer was important as he nears graduation and decides which setting he wants to one day work in.
Quote/Unquote: “Athletic Training is the only program on campus where you learn something in the classroom and later that day you’ll go out and apply it in the field,” says Seibel. “That’s really rewarding to be able to learn something and turn around that quickly and use it to benefit others.”
Madalyn Krenz
Year in School: Graduating December 2017
Hometown: Milwaukee
Internship: UW Health Research Park Clinic
Summary: Krenz spent eight weeks this summer experiencing the role athletic trainers play in a clinic setting. During sports medicine appointments, she acted as a liaison between the patient and doctor in the physician extender role. Krenz evaluated the patient, presented findings to the physician and took part in clinical decision-making. She also gained experience at the rehabilitation center, where Krenz reports she was able to hone in on her manual therapy skills, and therapeutic exercise instruction. One of her favorite parts of this experience was being given the opportunity to evaluate biomechanical flaws during functional movements in the return to activity process.Krenz adds that the internship at UW Health allowed her to practice skills that are translatable into every setting and also provided her with experiences that she wouldn’t normally see at the collegiate level. For example, notes Krenz, she learned more about documentation and was responsible for documenting all of her patient interactions. This not only prepared Krenz for her future as an athletic trainer but also gave her insight on the role insurance plays into each appointment.
Quote/Unquote: “I was able to interact with patients off all ages, and learn the ins and outs of patient-centered care in the clinical setting,” says Krenz. “It was as an amazing way to spend my summer and I already find myself applying the skills I acquired on a daily basis.”
Savannah Borges
Year in School: Graduating December 2017
Hometown: Lomira, Wisconsin
Internship: Pediatric Sports Medicine Athletic Training Internship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio
Summary: Borges explains how the internship provided her with unique opportunities to utilize and expand the athletic training knowledge she has learned during her time on the UW-Madison campus. Borges says she received a good mix of in-clinic experience working closely with sports medicine physicians as a clinical athletic trainer, as well as rehabilitation experience in the functional rehabilitation setting. Borges also was able to collaborate with athletic trainers on a concussion awareness project and helped create a brochure for parents. In addition, she experienced real-life administrative components of being an athletic trainer.Quote/Unquote: “This internship allowed me to create new relationships in the form of networks, colleagues and friends, and to gain knowledge and experience with a unique population,” says Borges. “The UW-Madison Athletic Training Program prepared me well for this internship through its classwork and labs, as well as through the hands-on clinical experiences we receive.”
Tou Vang
Year in School: Graduating May 2018
Hometown: Wausau, Wisconsin
Volunteer Experience: Vietnam Health Project
Summary: Vang didn’t have a traditional internship experience but instead spent the summer volunteering with the Vietnam Health Project (VHP), which aims to fight poverty in Vietnam by focusing on basic education, promoting healthcare and improving living conditions. Through the experience, Vang was able to travel to Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hue. In Ho Chi Minh City, the VHP team worked with Project Sugar to help educate children about the dangers of HIV and AIDS. In Da Nang, the group volunteered at an elderly center, helped prepare meals, aided in daily tasks, and conversed with the residents. VHP also donated an assisted lifting device to the elderly center, which the team assembled and demonstrated for the staff. And in Hue, Vang and his VHP colleagues spent a week helping to manually construct a garden for a local elementary school.Vang notes that although his trip to Vietnam was brief, he gained a wealth of knowledge and a newfound perspective.
Quote/Unquote: “This was my first time abroad as well as being fully immersed into a different culture,” says Vang. “I do not speak Vietnamese, so communication was difficult – but it emphasized the importance of body language and tone. Often times I did not get my message across but the sincerity and intention of my messages seemed well received. I was met with great hospitality and care during my visits. In the areas where we volunteered, there was often a lack of resources. Despite this, it was wonderful to see the joy and smiling faces of the staff and community members.”