Maryville College’s Dr. Katie Stephenson develops concussion education initiative for East Tennessee athletic trainers
Dec. 16, 2025
Maryville College Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Dr. Katie Stephenson is developing a concussion education project that will provide free continuing education units (CEUs, which are a way to measure participation in non-credit, non-degree programs) to athletic trainers working in public schools across East Tennessee.
Certified athletic trainers are medical professionals who must complete 50 CEUs every two years to maintain a license in Tennessee, according to Stephenson.
“Athletic trainers in public schools often have small budgets and must pay out of pocket for their CEUs,” Stephenson said. “They are the front-line workers who treat athletes at all levels, from youth to professional sports. They are often the first to identify a concussion and the main point of contact for medical care for many underprivileged students, especially in rural areas.”
Stephenson’s concussion research background began in June 2016, during her Master of Science in Kinesiology program at the University of Arkansas, which she completed in 2018.
“After my doctorate, I received a postdoctoral research fellowship with dual appointments at the University of New England in Portland, Maine, and Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts,” she said. “This experience allowed me to contribute to concussion research at both a leading medical school and work with the Maine Concussion Management Initiative.”
Now, with nearly a decade of concussion research under her belt, Stephenson, a professor in the MC Division of Health Sciences and Outdoor Studies, has seen firsthand how rapidly concussion science evolves and how challenging it can be for practicing clinicians to stay current on changing practices and protocols.
“Multiple studies have documented gaps in concussion knowledge among healthcare providers, with some clinicians relying on outdated information,” Stephenson said. “Meanwhile, athletic trainers in rural East Tennessee face unique challenges: They serve underprivileged student populations who may have limited access to specialized medical care due to cost or geography, yet these certified athletic trainers often face issues with constrained school budgets to pay for updated education and resources.”
These athletic trainers are likely to be the first to examine a young athlete after injury, which is why it’s imperative they stay up to date on their medical education, according to Stephenson.
“I hope to offer an update on the current concussion knowledge, including information about the diagnosis, management and treatment options of concussion,” Stephenson said. “We also have two team physicians from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, who will be going through case studies from a clinician’s perspective.”
The project will include a one-day conference featuring six hours of educational presentations combined with two hours of case study discussions, totaling eight CEUs, according to Stephenson. The conference is still in the planning stages and is set to take place on May 2, 2026, at the Maryville College Downtown Center. Registration for the conference will be active by March 2026 at the latest, Stephenson added, and will be found online through the College’s calendar-of-events page.
“The format will balance evidence-based lectures on current concussion science with interactive case studies that allow participants to apply concepts to real-world scenarios they encounter in their school settings and ask questions,” Stephenson said. “This practical component is important because we want attendees to leave with immediately applicable knowledge for their daily work with student-athletes.”
— Written by McKenna Marr ’28