Meet HOI’s Athletic Trainer Program Manager: Kayla Colborn, MA, ATC

In 2021, Hoag Orthopedic Institute expanded its sports medicine program to include a new role to support community initiatives and the medical professionals who support local athletes. Kayla Colborn, MA, ATC, joined HOI as the ATC Program Manager, a role that will support all HOI Sports Medicine initiatives including partnerships with local organizations’ athletic trainers.

“As an athletic trainer myself, I believe that ATCs have a unique and vital role as the first on the field helping athletes identify and treat injuries,” Kayla shared. “The support we at HOI are able to provide local athletic trainers allows them to focus on what they do best: the elite level of care for the whole athlete.”

In her role, Kayla will continue to support local community athletes through partnerships involving Irvine Public Schools Foundation, the Trinity League and others with the goal of connecting athletes of all abilities to leading Sports Medicine care in order to fulfill HOI’s promise of “We Get You Back To You.”

“It is important to me to advocate and support Athletic Trainers as they are always the ones helping others just like so many in the healthcare industry,” Kayla shared. “They are a vital piece of the healthcare chain as they can be first on the scene of an injury and fulfill a role outside of a traditional healthcare setting that would otherwise be missing a direct healthcare provider.”

Kayla shares that the most rewarding part of being an athletic trainer is “The success of those I have been able to help. I have seen my athletes become professional athletes, join the military, overcome personal battles, & even become athletic trainers themselves.”

Prior to her role at HOI, Kayla worked as the Elite Care Coordinator at Newport Orthopedic Institute, a prominent orthopedic practice whose doctors are affiliated with HOI. Before working in in orthopedics, Kayla worked as a high school Athletic Trainer in Orange County after attending Chapman University. She said it was at Chapman where she discovered my passion in supporting athletic trainers and desire to advance the profession through community involvement and healthcare advocation.

Fast Facts About Athletic Trainers:

1. Athletic Trainers are often the first present for an injury and the one that advocates for their patient through the injury cycle.
2. Athletic Trainers can be found providing health care in various industries: primary & secondary schools, hospitals & clinics, occupational health, public safety & armed forces, performing arts. Oftentimes you won’t know they are present as they work behind the scenes to make sure everyone is safe and healthy.
3. Athletic Trainers are certified healthcare professionals trained in emergency care, the prevention, treatment & rehabilitation of injuries/illness & medical conditions. They work with physicians, physical & occupational therapists, & EMT/EMS for the betterment of the health of their patients.