Athletic Training Spotlight

Meet Dr. Nate Newman, Program Director and Associate Professor of Athletic Training for Drake’s Master of Athletic Training (MAT) program.

As an educator, Dr. Newman is passionate about teaching, learning and student success, and loves helping students grow in their professional aspirations.

Name: Nathan Newman

Job/Position: Program Director and Associate Professor of Athletic Training

Organization: Drake University

Location: Des Moines, IA

Position Type: Education and Research

Nathan Newman is the Director of the Master of Athletic Training (MAT) program at Drake University and will teach emergency care and seminar courses within the program. He came to Drake in 2017 to start the MAT program after spending 6 years as a Director and Assistant Professor in a Bachelor’s level Athletic Training Program. Prior to working in education, he worked as an athletic trainer, primarily with track, soccer, and football athletes at Western Illinois University and Loras College. He also had an internship with the Los Angeles (St. Louis) Rams. In his spare time he enjoys running (ran 6 marathons) and anticipating the next Marvel comic movie that is being released.

As an educator, what role do you play in the health/well-being of people? How do you contribute to the health care team or to health care in general?

I enjoy my position because I get the opportunity to prepare my students to play a large role in preventing, diagnosing, and treating injuries. The students will do this in a large number of settings, so this allows me to have an indirect impact on many people and settings.

What attracted you to athletic training and what led you to working in education?

While I was an athletic trainer at another institution, I had the chance to teach a few classes as an adjunct instructor. Through this experience, I learned how much I enjoyed the classroom setting and the challenge of providing the perfect environment through which students are able to channel their passion for learning into acquiring, synthesizing, and putting into practice theoretical and clinical knowledge. Their enthusiasm to learn, develop, and become competent clinicians is one of the major reasons I became a professor and will always be what drives me to improve my abilities as an educator.

What are some of your responsibilities? What does a typical day/week look like for you?

I love my job because no day is the same. I am responsible for making sure the athletic training program at Drake is running smoothly. This includes everything from helping recruit students, to mentoring and advising students, to teaching classes, to developing clinical sites for our students to learn at. In addition to this, I keep up on my research goals. This includes collecting data for a study I am working on, or writing an article for publication.

What do you love about your job? What is your favorite part about being a professor?

Interacting with students and seeing them develop. Some of my favorite students are the ones that struggled a little at the beginning but grew into outstanding athletic trainers by the time they graduated. Seeing their hard work pay off is rewarding. I also love having advising conversations with students. Getting the chance to discuss future goals and provide some input and suggestions on how to get to where they want to be is a lot of fun for me.

What is one piece of advice you would give to a student who is interested in becoming a professor?

I didn't know I wanted to be a professor when I first started out in athletic training. I was a little intimidated at first about earning my doctorate. However, don't let that deter you from pursuing this. If you really enjoy teaching and also want to explore unanswered questions, this is a good area to pursue.