Former Athlete now serves as Athletic Trainer with ThedaCare
Cassie Glodowski enjoys being back at her old alma mater, Waupaca High School.
But instead of hanging out as a teenager, she is the school’s athletic trainer, employed by ThedaCare Medical Center-Waupaca. “It’s awesome,” said Glodowski, 25. “It was one of my goals from the beginning to work in the sports medicine program.”
When she was in school, there was an athletic trainer but only part-time, she said. Now she serves the students full-time.
Glodowski became interested in the field when she was 16 and tore her ACL playing soccer. “I just started spending more time in the world of rehabilitative medicine,” she said, noting she had worked with a physical therapist. She was hooked. “He would explain everything we were doing instead of telling me to do it,” she said. “It made it so much more interesting.”
Also, in college, she worked in production at the foundry in Waupaca, where dad and many family members also worked. But she saw why her father suffered from aches, pains and injuries and knew rehabilitation medicine could help. “I wanted to help these people,” she said. “That was what drove me further into it.”
Glodowski attended the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and earned her Bachelor’s of Science in applied health science with certificates in fitness management and coaching. She achieved her Master’s Degree in athletic training at Weber State in Utah. After her Master’s, she returned to Waupaca and worked at the foundry a few more months before taking a part-time job as an athletic trainer at St. Mary Catholic High School. She also worked briefly at Appleton West High School before joining Waupaca in 2015.
At Waupaca her duties include teaching exercises and stretches, taping, evaluating injuries and referring students out if needed. “Sometimes it’s letting them talk and listening to them,” she said.
She is excited about growing the rehabilitation department to serve the athletes. “I bring a passion and an excitement for what we are doing and what we are trying to build,” she said.
For more than 100 years, ThedaCare™ has been committed to finding a better way to deliver serious and complex healthcare to patients throughout Northeast Wisconsin. The organization serves over 200,000 patients annually and employs more than 6,800 healthcare professionals throughout the region. ThedaCare has seven hospitals located in Appleton, Neenah, Berlin, Waupaca, Shawano, New London and Wild Rose as well as 34 clinics in 14 counties. ThedaCare is the first in Wisconsin to be a Mayo Clinic Care Network Member, giving our specialists the ability to consult with Mayo Clinic experts on a patient’s care. ThedaCare is a non-profit healthcare organization with a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs as well as a foundation dedicated to community service. Construction of ThedaCare Regional Cancer Center in Appleton was completed in February. For more information, visit www.thedacare.org or follow ThedaCare on Facebook and Twitter.
