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When an athlete gets injured on the field, athletic trainers are often the first healthcare professionals there to help.

For Alex’a Hill, that first response is now part of her daily work as an outpatient athletic trainer with ’s outreach sports medicine program. Hill works at a high school, where she cares for student-athletes, evaluates injuries, provides treatment and helps athletes prepare to return to competition.

“My role is providing student-athletes [with] care and being that first aid person that they’re able to go to as well. We’re the first people on the scene with sports injuries,” Hill said.

Her work also extends beyond the high school. Hill spends her mornings at Cleveland Clinic’s concussion clinic, where she sees student-athletes before heading to the high school in the afternoon.

“After school, they can come in and get evaluated, taped, do any type of treatment, as well as seek any type of pregame prep before we head to the field,” she said.

Hill’s path into athletic training began in high school, when she took a sports medicine class. As an athlete herself, she was drawn to the career.

“I was trying to figure out how can I be an athlete, but also help athletes,” she said. “That drove me to working with student-athletes.”

Hill ultimately chose Kent 91��Ƭ�� after visiting campus and getting a feel for the university and its athletic training program.

“I liked the diversity, and everyone was very nice,” she said. “The facilities were great, and they raved about their athletic training program. I was excited to work with Division I athletes as a student.”

That hands-on experience became one of the most important parts of Hill’s Kent 91��Ƭ�� education. As an athletic training student, she worked with athletes at practices and games while also gaining experience in other environments, including physical therapy clinics and high schools.

The variety helped Hill understand the different paths available to her within athletic training.

“I got to ask myself, what type of athletic trainer can I be after finishing the program?” she said.

That preparation has carried directly into her work at Cleveland Clinic.

“I feel Kent 91��Ƭ�� prepared me for the work that I do now,” Hill said. “They put us in different scenarios, like going out to a high school, working with a high school population, going to a physical therapy clinic, working with old, young and student-athletes, as well as working with D-I athletes.”

That exposure, she said, gave her the ability to adapt to different patients and healthcare environments.

“You got to experience a lot before actually picking what you wanted to do,” Hill said. “I definitely feel like without Kent 91��Ƭ�� doing that, I wouldn’t have been able to fully function and communicate with different people and know the different environments.”

For Hill, athletic training is about more than treating physical injuries. Working with high school athletes also means helping young people navigate the challenges of growing up.

“What I enjoy most about working with athletes is the different personalities,” Hill said. “At a high school level, they’re still trying to figure out who they are as a person.”

That can make athletic trainers an important source of support for student-athletes.

Hill graduated from Kent 91��Ƭ�� in 2022, among the final students to complete the university’s four-year undergraduate athletic training program before it transitioned to its current two-year graduate structure.

She said the experience she received through that program continues to shape her work today.

Hill has also found a connection with other Kent 91��Ƭ�� alumni working at Cleveland Clinic. When alumni from the athletic training program get together, she said, their shared experience creates an immediate bond.

“When we do get together for our staff meetings, it’s great to know people and be in a group where we were in the same athletic training class,” Hill said. “We graduated together, and now we’re here at Cleveland Clinic still working together.”

Today, Hill encourages students who are considering healthcare to explore the profession before deciding on a career path.

“What I would say to an athlete that is interested in healthcare would be to just go shadow,” she said. “Go to Cleveland Clinic, find somebody. Or ask me; I can find you somebody.”

For Hill, seeing the profession firsthand can help students determine whether healthcare is right for them – and then find the education that will prepare them for it.

“Just go and shadow and see if you want to do this,” she said. “And then let's talk about who has the best programs and how my experience was in the program. Let’s talk about it.”