Doctoral Candidate Brochure: Fabrizio Apodaca
Doctoral Dissertation Defense
of
Fabrizio Apodaca
For the Degree of
Doctor of Education
Interprofessional Leadership
Designed to Strain: How Secondary School Athletic Healthcare Systems Maintain Function
June 22, 2026
10 a.m.
Via Microsoft Teams
Meeting ID: 276 103 902 811 697
Passcode: aw2qN9FP
Designed to Strain: How Secondary School Athletic Healthcare Systems Maintain Function
The purpose of the study was to understand perceptions and experiences of athletic trainers, athletic directors, and coaches regarding the sufficiency of athletic healthcare in secondary schools within the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s Great Lakes region. A convergent mixed-methods design was used in the study, specifically, cohort-level participant interviews and surveys.
Participants reported several difficulties and barriers to delivering athletic healthcare in secondary schools, including high care demands, varying structural characteristics, and staffing struggles. Despite this, the findings indicate that stakeholders perceive athletic healthcare as sufficient. However, this perception is maintained by a Compensatory Athletic Healthcare Model, in which athletic trainers’ self-sacrifice, adapt informally, and overextend themselves to keep the athletic healthcare system functioning. These findings suggest that apparent system sufficiency may depend less on optimized healthcare structures and more on the sustained compensatory efforts of athletic trainers.
About the Candidate
Fabrizio Apodaca
M.S.A.T, Master of Science in Athletic Training
Ohio University, 2014
B.S., Athletic Training
California State University, Northridge, 2012
Fabrizio is a certified athletic trainer with over 13 years of experience in secondary school athletics and currently serves in a hospital outreach model supporting high school student-athletes. In addition to clinical practice, Fabrizio serves as an adjunct faculty member and mentors future athletic trainers through teaching, clinical education, and professional development. Following graduation, he plans to continue advancing research and policy initiatives that strengthen secondary school athletic healthcare while pursuing leadership and faculty roles in higher education.
Doctoral Dissertation Committee
Co-Directors
Jeffery L. Huston
Professor
Athletic Training
College of Public Health and Health Sciences
Kimberly S. Peer
Professor
Athletic Training
College of Public Health and Health Sciences
Members
Lynette Philips
Professor
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
College of Public Health and Health Sciences
Natasha Levinson
Associate Professor
Cultural Foundations and Education
College of Education and Human Services
Graduate Faculty Representative
Hannah Harnar
Assistant Professor
Athletic Training
College of Public Health and Health Sciences