Whether you’re a Bomber athlete or a friend of an athletic training or physical therapy major, it’s nice to know we have one of the best departments in the country to teach students how to heal our nicks and bruises.

But unless you’re in the department or an athlete, there might be some confusion as to what AT and PT majors do — or even what the difference is between the two. Of course, the easiest way to find out is to get yourself injured and seek one out. But who would do a thing like that?

It’s been two years since a freak flag-football injury caused me to feel a sharp pain in my elbow whenever it rests awkwardly on a surface. The occasional pain and the embarrassing backstory was all I needed to seek help and learn just what these kids in the Hill Center do.

I tracked down sophomore Seth Magnani, an athletic training major who taught me my first lesson: The difference between an athletic trainer and a physical therapist is that the former is on the field when an injury occurs, and the latter is there in the days and weeks during recovery.

Second lesson: There’s usually nothing wrong with one side of your body if it feels the same on the other side. Magnani showed me how AT students are taught to go through a series of tests to help determine the specific nature of the injury. But when the tests couldn’t identify my injury, I began to wonder if I was Magnani’s first real patient.

Third lesson: AT majors get plenty of hands-on experience starting their sophomore year when they are assigned to a Bomber team. Magnani worked with the football team, and after a slew of broken bones and concussions, I probably looked like a hypochondriac. He also pointed out that he is just a student.

“People ask me about their injuries all the time,” he said. “I can only give my two cents.”

On that note, I searched out a second opinion from senior physical therapy major Kristy Birtch. That’s where I learned my fourth and most uncomfortable lesson: Athletic trainers and physical therapists sometimes have to induce pain to relieve it. After going through much of the same tests as Magnani, Birtch finally twisted my arm until my elbow hurt where I had injured it — except this seemed more painful.

Though she wanted to do more tests, the agony was too much. Birtch took an educated guess at what the ailment is. Something- itis, she told me. It sure sounded complicated. I couldn’t spell it if I tried. At least the experience shed some light on the physical therapy department — and assured me my elbow injury isn’t just in my head.