Rocky Mountain Therapy Services, Aug. 30, 2021 in W. Jordan, Utah.

Name: Wayne O Cook

Nickname: Wayne O

Alma Mater: University of Utah

What’s your current gig: AT in an Outpatient Physical Therapy Setting

Most Important Thing in Your Bag: A wide variety of tape and my Leatherman Raptor

What is the Weirdest / Wildest / Most Interesting / Out there AT job you’ve ever worked:
The most interesting Job, I’ve worked so far is covering the USA Judo Competition. It was a sport I had not worked with at that point. It was a fun experience to work with them. There were multiple ATs helping cover the tournament. As we were watching the matches, we would have conversations trying to understand and grasp the sport of Judo.

Share your best Moment / Story / Anecdote as an AT:
One of my best memories is from working as the head AT for a high school. The relationship that is formed with your athletes is truly different that only ATs would understand. This was my first and only year to date working in a high school setting. I had a few athletes that had chronic issues. The trust they had in me allowed me to treat them and help to full RTP status without having the constant pain they had been dealing with. I’m thankful for the opportunity I had, and hope one day I will be back in a high school setting.

Quote/Lyric/Line that sums up Athletic Training For You:
“If you look good, you feel good, you play good”

What does your day to day look like?
Rehabilitating injured patients, educating/teaching body mechanics, proper form. Creating HEPs, dealing with worker comp adjustors, etc.

What has been the biggest change in the year of the pandemic?
Meetings going from in person to zoom meetings, relationships/friendships have struggled due to not socializing. Being in healthcare, you have to make the decision to not attend certain gatherings to protect you, so you can be there for your athletes/patients.

When you’re not on a sideline, where can we find you?
Home working in my garden, building furniture, camping on my family property in southern Utah, cooking, reading, attending local festivals, road trips.

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