Meet Dylan Bradley, Kent State Online Ed.D. Doctoral Candidate and 2022 Secondary School Athletic Trainer of the Year!

October 25, 2022

Meet Dylan!

Congrats to Dylan for being named St. Luke’s Sports Medicine’s 2022 Secondary School Athletic Trainer of the Year, Dylan Bradley, MS, LAT, ATC, CCHW!

Dylan is currently working on his doctorate in Kent State Online’s Ed.D. in Interprofessional Leadership program with a specialty in athletic training. In his dissertation, he studies the levels of confidence and clinical reasoning among early professional athletic trainers. Dylan is also a graduate assistant in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services at Kent State University.

Dylan goes above and beyond for his school community at Panther Valley High School, taking the time to connect and build relationships with all of his athletes, staff, coaches, and parents. He is a top-notch clinician who has created a positive, welcoming, and rewarding atmosphere where his athletes can recover and succeed.

Dylan has arranged education for his school athletics department related to sports nutrition, distracted driving, mental health, healthy lifestyle choices, and more. He assists with his district’s community health fair, CPR certifications for nurses, teachers, and students, and acquired Stop the Bleed kits for the entire district. He recently became a certified Community Health Worker, which he exemplifies in actions such as helping to lay mulch, repaint baseball, and softball dugouts and get new scorer’s tables. Within the department, Dylan is heavily involved with many initiatives, most notably the New Hire Onboarding and Transition to Practice Program, EPIC Service Team, Mental Health Service Team, Education Service Committee, and Secondary School Action Team.

Read on for a short interview with Dylan.

Tell us about yourself and your work at Kent State University.

I completed my undergraduate degree at East Stroudsburg University in athletic training. I then went to Kent State University, where I served as a teaching assistant in the athletic training program while pursuing my master’s in exercise physiology with a concentration in athletic training. After completing my master’s, I returned home to Pennsylvania, where I became the athletic trainer at a local high school through SLUHN. After a year, I decided to ‘go back’ to KSU for my Doctor of Education while working as a secondary school athletic trainer.

How is your education preparing you for your career?

The Doctor of Education program at Kent State has been extremely empowering for my career because of its rich underpinnings within education. This program has challenged me to become a better leader within the field while developing the knowledge and expertise to advance the profession of athletic training further.

What made you specialize in athletic training?

The profession of athletic training is extremely unique and rewarding! The ability to influence student-athletes and provide comprehensive healthcare to students while doing something that they love is extremely fulfilling. It is incredible to work alongside these individuals and be able to care for and support them.

What is your current role at Kent State University?

My current role at Kent State University consists of serving as a graduate assistant in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services. I assist with marketing, social media, and administrative duties for online programming.

What advice do you have for someone interested in this field?

If you are considering a hands-on, allied health profession that allows for the unique opportunity to work alongside athletes of all backgrounds, this is the profession for you! This profession encompasses emergency care, clinical evaluation and diagnosis, injury prevention and therapeutic rehabilitation, and healthcare administration. The profession of athletic training is continuing to grow and advance into new, diverse opportunities, which is exciting.

Why should prospective students choose Kent State for their Ed.D?

Kent State’s Ed.D program is one of a kind. This program provides the rigor of a terminal degree with real-world application of athletic training leadership and education to address professional practice problems in the field.

Learn more about Kent State Online.

Kent State University’s Online Doctor of Education in Interprofessional Leadership

The online Doctor of Education degree in Interprofessional Leadership promotes the study of leadership from an interprofessional perspective. Our approach is framed around questions of equity, ethics, and social justice and focuses on developing solutions to complex practice problems. The program prepares leaders who can construct and apply knowledge to make a positive difference in the lives of individuals, families, organizations, and communities.

The Ed.D. degree in Interprofessional Leadership is cohort-based, starting in the summer term, with students taking three to five years to complete the degree. Students apply to a concentration for specialized study. Examples of cognates include special education, educational technology, curriculum and instruction, athletic training education, and cultural foundations of education.

Athletic Training Concentration
This cognate area provides graduate students the opportunity to prepare for the rigors of academic positions in a college or university by blending discipline-specific theory and practice strategies related to athletic training education. This degree program will provide the student with an opportunity to gain extensive knowledge in higher education while developing the critical skills necessary to establish a strong foundation in athletic training and educational leadership. A comprehensive project related to athletic training education will allow the student to address a contemporary issue in the profession through purposeful research strategies to generate educational change within the discipline.

For more information on Kent State’s online Doctor of Education in Interprofessional Leadership degree, visit https://onlinedegrees.kent.edu/degrees/doctor-of-education-interprofessional-leadership.

100% Online Degrees through the College of Education, Health, and Human Services

Kent State University’s College of Education, Health, and Human Services (EHHS) offers a portfolio of 100% online graduate degrees. With the working professional in mind, the college is dedicated to providing quality education on an online platform.

Degrees include:

Learn more about all of the 100% online EHHS degrees.