Somehow, someway during my initial years of schooling I developed this idea that the profession of athletic training needed to compete heavily with other professions. I used to think that I needed to boycott the teachings of other professions like physical therapists, strength and conditioning specialists and person trainers. I also had an urge to compete against others within my own profession and try to be most intelligent or most competent clinician/academic. Finishing school and starting my professional career has definitely changed my thought processes.
While some level of competitiveness is necessary in a world
where multiple professions compete for patients or clients from the same pool
of people due to similar skill sets. However, I have begun to realize that this
previous thought process hurt three groups of people. Thinking and behaving the
way I did disadvantaged myself (the clinician), potential patients, and the
different professions.
Recently, I have worked to open myself up to the ideas of
others and other professions. Just think, where would human intelligence even
be now without the collective body of knowledge that is shared between
individuals? We might be able to think the same but the accumulation of
knowledge that is passed around and down through time is what makes it special.
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