August 16, 2021 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Victoria Williams spent her undergraduate tenure and the following two years zeroing in on exactly what type of work she wanted to do. She had always been interested in how the human body moves, works and heals, so majoring in kinesiology and health at Miami University in her native Ohio was a logical first step in her career path.
I really wanted to work right where the action is, best putting my skills to work.
-Victoria Williams, M.S. in Athletic Training 2021
The hours she spent in research labs and other clinical settings taught Williams that she enjoyed rehabilitation-type work, but she also realized that the faster-paced environments were the best fit for her. Williams became particularly interested in emergency medicine, where no two situations are exactly alike.
“I really wanted to work right where the action is, best putting my skills to work,” she says. “As an athletic trainer, we encompass everything necessary to be able to save someone’s life or limb if the situation ever arose.”
After moving with her husband to South Carolina where he grew up, Williams applied to the Department of Exercise Science’s Master of Science in Athletic Training program. She was hooked by the support, enthusiasm and warm welcome she received from the program director and faculty before she even stepped on campus. During her program, Williams found mentors in clinical assistant professor Justin Goins and clinical education coordinator Amy Hand."
“As stressful and crazy as graduate school can be, Dr. Goins made the program, material, and hours spent inside the classroom enjoyable and memorable, and he is such a down to earth, genuine and relatable person,” she says. “Dr. Hand is the type of person where just being around her will brighten your mood, and I owe a great deal to her with the positive experiences I had at my clinical sites because she helped steer me in the right direction when choosing these.”
Those clinical placements included K-12 and collegiate rotations across various sports and age groups. The athletic training program is known for its extensive network of clinical partnerships that have been developed through years of collaborations with athletic organizations both locally and across the nation.
Seeing a patient through, from immediate injury to getting back to playing their sport, is very fulfilling for me as a clinician.
-Victoria Williams, M.S. in Athletic Training 2021
Williams has also developed a passion for rehabilitation and enjoys researching, creating and implementing new and effective ways to help her patients. “Suffering an injury can be a traumatic time in someone’s life and going to rehab multiple days a week isn’t always the most exciting,” she says. “But if I can make that time of work more rewarding and enjoyable, I will do just that. Seeing a patient through, from immediate injury to getting back to playing their sport, is very fulfilling for me as a clinician.”
After graduating this past May, Williams accepted a position as the head athletic trainer at Ben Lippen School through Drayer Physical Therapy. She applies the lessons she learned from her athletic training courses and clinical experiences every day, including how to adapt to emerging situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Athletic training is an amazing career path due to its exciting nature, expanding fields and relationships you get to build on a daily basis,” Williams says. “My advice for people wanting to pursue this career path is to do everything with intention and passion and never stop learning. This field is largely what you make of it so keep an open mind and experience new things."