The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 26: Professions and Occupations

Chapter 083: Athletic Trainers

• § 4151. Definitions

  As used in this chapter:

  (1) “Athlete” means any individual participating in fitness training and conditioning, sports, or other athletic competition, practices, or events requiring physical strength, agility, flexibility, range of motion, speed, or stamina.

  (2) “Athletic injury” means a disruption of tissue continuity, physiological function, or neurological function that is sustained by an athlete when that injury:

  (A) results from that individual’s participation in or training for sports, fitness training, or other athletic competition; or

  (B) restricts or prevents that individual from participation in those activities.

  (3) “Athletic training” means the application of principles and methods of conditioning, the prevention, immediate care, recognition, evaluation, assessment, and treatment of athletic and orthopedic injuries within the scope of education and training, the organization and administration of an athletic training program, and the education and counseling of athletes, coaches, family members, medical personnel, communities, and groups in the area of care and prevention of athletic and orthopedic injuries.

  (4) “Licensed athletic trainer” means a person licensed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

  (5) “Conditioning” means programs designed to enhance the following physiological areas: flexibility, muscle strength, muscle endurance, neuromuscular coordination, and cardio-respiratory endurance that will assist in improved athletic performance specific to the sport in which the athlete participates. Conditioning includes programs used before the season, and programs to reestablish performance during the season.

  (6) “Director” means the Director of the Office of Professional Regulation.

  (7) “Disciplinary action” or “disciplinary cases” includes any action taken by the administrative law officer established in 3 V.S.A. § 129 against a licensed athletic trainer or applicant premised upon a finding of wrongdoing or unprofessional conduct. It includes all sanctions of any kind, denying, suspending, or revoking licenses, issuing warnings, and other sanctions.

  (8) “Orthopaedic injury” means a disruption of musculoskeletal tissue continuity that is sustained by a physically active individual. An individual with this type of injury may be treated by an athletic trainer as long as the individual does not have any underlying pathologies that would affect treatment.

  (9) “Physically active individual” means an individual who is well conditioned, healthy, and free from underlying pathology, who participates in athletic or recreational activities that require physical skills and utilize strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, range of motion, or agility.

  (10) “Referral” means sending a determination, recorded in writing, by an allopathic or osteopathic physician, podiatrist, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, physical therapist, naturopath, dentist, or chiropractor, that an athlete or physically active individual should be treated by an athletic trainer, and that such person is free of an underlying pathology that would affect treatment.

  (11) [Repealed.]

  (12) “Underlying pathology” means any disease process, including neuromuscular disease, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, and systemic diseases. (Added 1997, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 1999, No. 133 (Adj. Sess.), § 31; 2003, No. 60, § 23; 2017, No. 48, § 31; 2019, No. 30, § 24.)

• § 4151a. Practice contexts; referral required for clinical care

  (a) A person licensed under this chapter may provide athletic training:

  (1) by formal engagement with a team, school, college, university, league, or other sporting organization, to affiliated athletes participating in organized sports or athletic teams at an interscholastic, intramural, instructional, intercollegiate, amateur, or professional level;

  (2) upon referral of an athlete or physically active individual to an athletic training clinic;

  (3) by engagement with an employer or organization for the purpose of educating groups on the care and prevention of athletic and orthopedic injuries or conditioning appropriate to physical demands upon employees or members; or

  (4) in a bona fide emergency necessitating response care of an injured athlete.

  (b) Practice outside the settings set forth in subsection (a) of this section, including clinical practice without referral, exceeds an athletic trainer’s scope of practice. Such practice is not entitled to the protections of section 4160 of this chapter and may be sanctioned as unprofessional conduct. (Added 2019, No. 30, § 24.)

• § 4152. Prohibition; offenses

  (a) A person shall not use in connection with the person’s name any letters, words, or insignia indicating or implying that the person is a licensed athletic trainer unless the person is licensed in accordance with this chapter.

  (b) A person who violates any of the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be subject to the penalties provided in 3 V.S.A. § 127. (Added 1997, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 2003, No. 60, § 24; 2007, No. 29, § 66; 2019, No. 30, § 24.)

• § 4153. Exemptions

  The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:

  (1) a nonresident athletic trainer who does not otherwise practice in this State and who is employed by an out-of-state educational institution or a professional sports team, provided that the nonresident athletic trainer is certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association;

  (2) [Repealed.]

  (3) a person duly licensed under the laws of this State who is practicing within the scope of the profession for which the person is licensed; or

  (4) the practice of athletic training that is incidental to a program of study by a person enrolled in an athletic training education program approved by the Director, or graduates of an approved athletic training education program working under the direct supervision of a person licensed under this chapter within 90 days following graduation from that program. (Added 1997, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 2003, No. 60, § 25; 2019, No. 30, § 24.)

• § 4154. Office of Professional Regulation

  (a) The Director shall:

  (1) Provide general information to applicants for licensure as athletic trainers.

  (2) Explain appeal procedures to licensed athletic trainers and applicants, and complaint procedures to the public.

  (3) Administer fees as established by law.

  (4) Receive applications for licensure, administer examinations, provide licenses to applicants qualified under this chapter, renew, revoke, and reinstate licenses as ordered by an administrative law officer.

  (5) Refer all disciplinary matters to an administrative law officer.

  (b) The Director may adopt rules necessary to perform his or her duties under this section. (Added 1997, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 2003, No. 60, § 26.)

• § 4155. Advisor appointees

  (a) The Secretary of State shall appoint two athletic trainers as advisors in matters relating to athletic training. The advisors shall be appointed as set forth in 3 V.S.A. § 129b and serve at the pleasure of the Secretary. One of the initial appointments may be for less than a four-year term. Appointees shall have not less than three years’ experience as an athletic trainer immediately preceding appointment and shall be actively engaged in the practice of athletic training in this State during incumbency.

  (b) The Director shall seek the advice of the athletic trainer advisors in carrying out provisions of this chapter. (Added 1997, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 2007, No. 29, § 67.)

• § 4156. Eligibility

  To be eligible for licensure as an athletic trainer, an applicant shall have:

  (1) graduated from an athletic training program that is accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or the Council on Post-Secondary Accreditation; and

  (2) passed an examination approved by the Director. (Added 1997, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 2003, No. 60, § 27.)

• § 4157. Licensure without examination

  The Director may, upon payment of the required fee, grant licensure without examination if the applicant is licensed or certified in good standing to practice athletic training in another jurisdiction with regulatory requirements substantially equivalent to those in this State. (Added 1997, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 2003, No. 60, § 28.)

• §§ 4157a-4159. Repealed. 2019, No. 30, § 24.

• § 4160. Coordination of practice acts

  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the practice of athletic training by a person licensed under this chapter shall not constitute unauthorized practice of any other profession regulated under this title, provided the person is acting within the scope of his or her profession as an athletic trainer and does not hold himself or herself out as a practitioner of a profession for which he or she is not licensed or certified. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent persons licensed as athletic trainers from performing patient care activities under the supervision of licensed health care providers. (Added 1997, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1999; amended 2003, No. 60, § 33.)