College Student-Athlete Preferences for the Gender Identity, Race, and Ethnicity of Their Athletic Trainers and Team Physicians

OBJECTIVE: Investigate student-athlete (SA) preference for gender identity, race, and ethnicity of their athletic trainers (ATs) and team physicians and understand reasons for these preferences. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Online survey. PARTICIPANTS: National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) SAs. INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: SAs gender, race, and ethnicity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: SA preference for gender, race, and ethnicity of ATs and team physicians. RESULTSATOTALOF: 212 NCAA SAs completed the study. Those of minority gender (female), ethnicity (Hispanic), and race (non-white) were more likely to prefer ATs with concordant characteristics and this was significant for gender (odds ratio [OR] for ATs 8.81; OR for team physicians 4.41; both P < 0.01) and race (OR for ATs 12.25; OR for team physicians 10.22; both P ≤ 0.01) but not statistically significant for ethnicity (OR for ATs and team physicians 4.25; both P = 0.9). SAs cited the importance of professional competence, comfort during physical treatment, and empathy and relatability as reasons for their preferences. CONCLUSION: NCAA SAs who identify as female or non-white race significantly prefer ATs and team physicians with concordant demographic characteristics. Understanding these preferences when building medical teams may help SAs feel safe and valued by their medical providers.