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CU-Lock Haven student says her own athletic injury will help her provide better care to her patients as a future athletic trainer

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. (09/12/2025) — In a student's final semester of the Master of Science in Athletic Training program at Commonwealth University-Lock Haven, each student completes a full-immersion clinical experience at a location of their choosing. Madison Wilcox, of Catawissa, chose to work with the NCAA Division III Susquehanna University Riverhawks spring sports, primarily with softball and men's lacrosse.

Wilcox always dreamed of working in the medical field but also had a strong love for sports from a young age. She was introduced to athletic training when she became a student-athlete, as her school supplied an athletic trainer at every sporting event. During her senior year of high school, she shadowed her school's athletic trainer, Tim Jurnak, and made the to pursue a degree in athletic training.

During her time at SU, Wilcox worked under the supervision of Mike Keeney MED, LAT, ATC; Emily Bridy MS, LAT, ATC; Kaitlyn Hager MS, LAT, ATC, PES, CES; and Garrett Becker MS, LAT, ATC. She covered daily practice, home games and occasionally traveled with men's lacrosse for away games. Wilcox also created rehabilitation programs for acute, chronic, pre-surgical and post-surgical injuries for athletes to help them get back to their sports. She also learned other therapeutic modalities such as red-light therapy, blue light therapy and thermostim probe therapy.

"It was a pleasure to have Maddie as our intern this year," Keeney said. "The staff and I always enjoy mentoring future athletic trainers. Maddie was a great addition; she was attentive and always showed up wanting to learn something new every day. She has the desire to be an athletic trainer, which is nice to see."

One of the requirements to graduate from the master program is completing a capstone assignment - either obtaining a certification or writing a research paper. Wilcox chose to get her Orthopedic Physician Extender certification (OPE-C). With this certification, she gained knowledge and skills within orthopedic evidence-based reasoning, musculoskeletal injury/pathology, appropriate fracture immobilization, understanding of musculoskeletal imaging and intervention strategies in orthopedic practice, surgical considerations in clinical practice and knowledge of orthopedic healthcare management.

Wilcox also suffered a sports injury to her shoulder during her clinical experience resulting in surgery. "The hardest body part to understand is the shoulder," Wilcox said. "Almost every shoulder test you do on an athlete elicits pain so you need to go into further detail to figure out what one of the many different diagnoses it could be and then provide a rehabilitation plan. My shoulder injury has helped me provide better care for my athletes because now I better understand their concerns and limitations as well as can encourage them to push past their comfort zone to get better."

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