PT student joins Oakland Raiders training camp

Shaun Palmer, PT ’10

ASHS student Shaun Palmer, PT ’10, escaped the desert heat when he was given the opportunity to join the Oakland Raiders’ six-week preseason training camp as a medical staff intern July 29 in Napa Valley, Calif.

Historically, NFL teams maintain a relatively small medical staff throughout the regular season. However, during preseason, new draft picks, returning veterans, and new trades can double team sizes before the start of the regular season. The regular medical staff is then faced with a problem of finding preseason help.

ATSU Director of Human Anatomy Sue Hillman helped Palmer land the job. Scott Touchet, the Raiders’ assistant athletic trainer, was a graduate student of Hillman’s at the University of Arizona, and he calls her each year in search of good interns to help with training camp. After interviewing with the Raiders’ lead trainer, Palmer was offered the position and flew to California where he would spend the next month and a half.

A typical work day for Palmer and the other interns was 16 hours with 6 a.m. wake-up calls. On practice days, interns were charged with setting up training rooms, setting up the practice field with Gatorade, water, and medical kits, and even serving as “cramp patrol” during team meetings. On game days, interns arrived with the medical staff five hours prior to game time to set up the field with Gatorade and medical equipment. They then worked in the training room to provide needed treatment, eventually ending up on the field helping players stretch and providing water during pre-game drills. Following the game, they helped tear down the field and provide treatment.

Before his work with the Oakland Raiders, Palmer had always thought he would enjoy a career in Major League Baseball. Yet after training camp, he admits that he would now consider a career in the NFL. “I always thought of football as intimidating because of the number of traumatic injuries, especially spinal cord injuries,” he said. “But working in the NFL was a lot of fun, and it reinforced that I definitely know enough to survive in the sport and be a competent healthcare professional.”

According to Hillman, Shaun has a rare chance that not many PT students get to be a part of. “Shaun had the opportunity to be a medical staff member for an NFL team,” she said. “To some, it is a dream come true. To Shaun, it is part of his total education.”