Posts: 60
Joined: 6/9/2018
Location: Laceys Spring, AL USA
I am a nursing student and would like to work in the sport. Obviously it’s next to impossible to get on the asterisk medical team, but what are other options. Do the race teams keep medical staff? Big facilities like club mx? There has to be some kind of niche opportunity for a nurse who isn’t afraid to spin a wrench or help out somewhere else and loves moto.
Posts: 55
Joined: 4/28/2016
Location: Saint George, UT USA
I don't know about Moto Teams having a medical staff but I used to go to Kerlan Jobe sports medicine clinic in SoCal when I had to have surgeries. They might know something. https://kerlanjobe.org/services/sports-medicine/
Or the guys at http://www.motorcycleindustryjobs.com/ They seem to have a lot of good stuff. Good Luck! Hope you can find that rad dream job!
Posts: 4234
Joined: 9/21/2011
Location: Sacramento, CA USA
Still reach out to the groups you mentioned. Could even make it a project as part of your current studies. Get in front of them face to face or at least over the phone. Inquire about an Internship program with them or create one for yourself..paid or unpaid.. At the very least, if there's nothing for you at this time, pick their brain on their path. It might take some time (years), but if you know where you want to end up, you'll get there.
As mentioned above, look into the local scene as well. Any experience to help build that resume is good experience. Local professional teams (soccer, baseball, etc.) for real world sports related experience. Your willingness to keep your options open will only benefit your desired long term goal.
Posts: 2211
Joined: 8/7/2009
Location: NM, USA
Posts: 6915
Joined: 11/16/2011
Location: Menifee, CA USA
Someone has to work for Asterisk; it may as well be you. Go to the races and talk to Doc Bodnar. Make yourself familiar to him as much as you can and stick with it. You may not get a job immediately (or ever,) but I bet your chances will get a lot better if you make yourself known.
If you have the qualifications, all it takes is time and persistence.
Braaapin' aint easy.
Posts: 811
Joined: 6/12/2018
Location: OR, USA
Dear nursing student: apply your training and expertise somewhere you will likely be paid a salary that is commensurate with your training. The motocross industry is not that place.
Posts: 60
Joined: 6/9/2018
Location: Laceys Spring, AL USA
I have sent Instagram messages trying to contact many of the bigger facilities like club mx and mtf. My dream job (I think) would be to work with a factory team and just be around the same riders every week and on weekends. Obviously this wouldn’t allow me to ride near as much myself as if I worked at a riding facility where I could probably ride pretty often when people aren’t training, however the lifestyle of following a pro series with a team seems awesome and is something I’d love to experience.
Posts: 324
Joined: 8/23/2008
Location: Guilford, CT USA
As someone who got a job in the sport with zero connections in the sport, instagram isn't going to do it for ya. Gotta jam your foot in the door face to face. You aren't gonna get a job on a factory team. They don't need nurses.
That being said, here's my feedback:
- Get a nursing job at a hospital that pays well. Work 3 12's and have 4 days off per week to ride. This all assumes you are getting a BSN or equivalent. You will have better experience for your future. You will have health insurance. You will have overtime. You will likely get a retirement account that is partially funded by the hospital that you work for.
- DON'T WORK IN MX! MX is your passion. It is a s**t career for someone who has the ability to get a much better job (aka you).
- If you want to be around the sport, offer to volunteer with the Asterisk medical crew. Offer in person, in the morning, well before the racing begins, at an MX or SX event when you can get face to face with the Asterisk medical crew. Do you have any ER experience? Any paramedic experience? These will be the most important bits of your background to them.
Posts: 60
Joined: 6/9/2018
Location: Laceys Spring, AL USA
I don’t have experience now as I’m still in school. My current plan is to do crna but I’d be willing to go back for NP instead if I thought it would get me more opportunities with MX. Why do you say not to go into mx if it is my passion, do you not consider it be your passion although you work in the field? What do you do if you don’t mine me asking?
Posts: 811
Joined: 6/12/2018
Location: OR, USA
Edited Date/Time:
Instragram, email and social media are not how you should be contacting potential employers. If I have one bit of advice for today's youth - quit the goddamn internet and social media. It's destroying any chance you have at a decent life. The fact you think reaching out to companies via Instagram is a pretty good example of that. Delete your account today. Your life will be better for it.
CRNA jobs pay very, very well but you will never find a nursing job in the motocross industry. Never. Don't take that as a challenge. Take it as grown up advice and a cold dose of reality. You would literally be taking your nursing degree, wadding it up into a ball and throwing it in the trash.
There are no careers in motocross. Keep is a hobby.
Posts: 59
Joined: 11/6/2008
Location: Casa Grande, AZ USA
I grew up racing mx/sx (scored a few points in sx, and have made alot of connections along the way) and recently graduated PT school. I have a strong orthopedic background and my passion is manual therapy/ exercise phys. ( lines up with mx athletes well). I am now a licensed physical therapist and it seems to be hard to get your foot in the door still!
With that being said,
A nurse might not be what the professional teams or organizations are looking for but it is worth a shot if this is your passion and you are dead set on this route!!!
Best of luck to you!
Instagram & Twitter @Rhett_Urseth
Posts: 1034
Joined: 9/1/2012
Location: Not California, CA USA
Edited Date/Time:
@ shirey
Zookie offers solid advice.
I might offer the idea of volunteer now...while you're in school. I'd also go to a race, stop by the rig and introduce yourself. Ask how what you need to do to volunteer and what qualifications are they looking for. BOOM...you just got on their radar.
Get a full-time job that pays well, and then volunteer for ALPINESTARS MOBILE MEDICAL UNIT (Not Asterisk anymore)
All the guys that work for the AMMU have full-time jobs. This is a side deal and their passion.
Make the money so you can help out in the sport you love.
MX is still very behind when it come to employing on-staff medical the way professional stick and ball sports do. This is due in part to the lack of money teams actually have to spend.
I know you think you would love to work in the industry. My advice is make your money where the pay is good and keep one foot in the industry so it stays fun. Don't make your escape from reality your career. Because no job is perfect and it will still be your job.
Save loads of money while you're young and then when you get older and more independent, start doing more and more in the industry...on your terms. By volunteering, you'll make those connections and from there you'll be good to go.
We all know you're going to ignore this good advice and that's ok as long as you're ok not getting paid what you could make in the traditional medical field.
Far be it from me to stop you from chasing your dream.
Good luck kid...
Posts: 7961
Joined: 3/4/2012
Location: OH, USA
Edited Date/Time:
Quit nursing school. Get a mechanical engineering degree. And just bust your ass as a mechanic and maybe one day roger decoster will hire you.
I’m a nurse, it sucks. Dead end job. get out while you can. Nursing is not a billable service. It’s an expense to the hospital. You’ll always be the first to get cuts in the name of the budget.
...great profession for a woman though. Mega flexibility with hours etc to raise kids. If you’re trying to make money as a head of household look into something else....or marry a surgeon.
GP740
Since 1987
Posts: 633
Joined: 3/17/2017
Location: IN, USA
shirey wrote:I am a nursing student and would like to work in the sport. Obviously it’s next to impossible to get on the asterisk medical ...more
GeorgiePorgie wrote:Quit nursing school. Get a mechanical engineering degree. And just bust your ass as a mechanic and maybe one day roger ...more
I hope this was sarcastic? My wife is a nurse and there is no way it is a "Dead end job". You can work at a hospital, nursing home, office, traveling. Nursing is probably the least "dead end job" out there.
Posts: 1552
Joined: 11/27/2015
Location: TX, USA
Most well run tracks have a paramedic at the track during scheduled practices and races. As a way to get your foot in the door you can volunteer or do it at a lower price. That'll get you experience and help you build connections in the industry. In the mean time you can get a regular job and make some real money while building your resume, experience and network.
I also wouldn't give up on Asterisk (thought it was Alpinestars now?) medical unit. They might need some local help at a race near where you live.
Posts: 1111
Joined: 4/1/2008
Location: Readstown, WI USA
shirey wrote:I am a nursing student and would like to work in the sport. Obviously it’s next to impossible to get on the asterisk medical ...more
GeorgiePorgie wrote:Quit nursing school. Get a mechanical engineering degree. And just bust your ass as a mechanic and maybe one day roger ...more
I have to agree with kNewc. Nurses are part of the billable structure. I'm an IT Manager at a hospital and it's really hard to find nurses. They get paid well and can pretty much pick up as many hours as they want. Next to the providers, they are the bread and butter of the Healthcare world and one of the last to get cut in budget crunches.
Georgie, if it wan't sarcastic, you are a nurse, and this is what your world is like, you need to find somewhere else to work.
Posts: 1774
Joined: 4/5/2016
Location: Morrison, CO USA
If you are ok with being overqualified and underpaid then give Joel at Colorado Motocross Medics a call. Great little team.
Posts: 7961
Joined: 3/4/2012
Location: OH, USA
Edited Date/Time:
GeorgiePorgie wrote:Quit nursing school. Get a mechanical engineering degree. And just bust your ass as a mechanic and maybe one day roger ...more
Nursing is an expense. There’s no way to bill for nursing services. They’re an hourly expense on the hospital.
A billable service is antthing at the provider level.
Great profession for non head of household. Aka wife.....
If you wanna work a lot, they run you off the clock. No opportunity for overtime. Been in the game for about 10 years....it’s flooded with inexperienced candidates. And once nurses get the experience they need, they leave the profession.
Nursing units are a revolving door. Every 1-2 years a whole new batch of faces will be taking care of you. In the worlds most “prestigious” hospitals....it’s just how it is. Honestly great profession for women. They eat each other and throw everyone under busses. I don’t wanna get in argument about it though. I’m sure there are some nurses that really love what they’re doing. But for me it sucks every part of me being nice out. And then I get angry and take it out on vital. But as a patient you’d never know I was pissed off.....you’d think I love my job.
This Kid is young and passionate about mx...if I was 19 again I woulda went into the trades or engineer route. Hopefully whatever he does he becomes a master of his craft whether he loves it or hates it!
GP740
Since 1987
Posts: 860
Joined: 9/7/2017
Location: Palm Coast, FL USA
It may not be moto but the group I ride with FTR (Florida Trail Riders) have medics attend all the Hare Scramble races and they are on bikes and can get anywhere on the course fast. Most are pretty damn good riders as well as being top flight medical professionals. I myself do not know of any other organization that has a dedicated crew like that. You could lead the charge and start a crew with your local club.
If your heart is set on moto find out what club handles flagging duties for the closest supercross to you and join up. Bring your bag on race day and make sure you run into someone from Asterisk and tell them your qualifications before hand. You may get a chance to help a downed rider (as long as your area is flagged properly lol)
Posts: 827
Joined: 6/1/2014
Location: MI, USA
GeorgiePorgie wrote:Nursing is an expense. There’s no way to bill for nursing services. They’re an hourly expense on the hospital.
A billable ...more
You sound pretty jaded bro. I know, I've been there (I'm not in nursing). Have you jumped around at all to find any new perspectives?
If I remember correct you have a mil background. Go get that federal prison RN job and jump on that pension train. If you're having a bad day you can be mean to the patients and you won't get in trouble either.
Posts: 811
Joined: 6/12/2018
Location: OR, USA
Edited Date/Time:
They are volunteers. No one is paying doctors to provide medical services during club rides or organized events.
No motorcycle organization on this planet, except maybe some high dollar MotoGP team, is going to employ a full-time medical staff. It makes absolutely no economic sense. There is no money in motocross. They can barely afford to pay the professional racers, let alone a bunch of expensive overhead resources the would barely use.
The best way to work in the moto industry is to become filthy rich so you can start your own team and throw your own money down the drain just like anyone else trying to be involved in this industry.
There is no money in motocross. Period.
Posts: 1552
Joined: 11/27/2015
Location: TX, USA
Seems like half the podium thanks Doc G. Why don't you spend another couple years becoming a chiropractor, then start going to races and hand out a few sessions for free then start charging the racers directly. Setup a shop in So Cal and your good to go.
I'm sure it's that easy.
Posts: 744
Joined: 8/10/2008
Location: Mission Viejo, CA USA
Edited Date/Time:
Don't ever give up on your dreams and aspirations.....EVER. You will be happier if you tried and failed than if you never tried. Regret is a bitter pill to swallow.
Bret Bonham
Posts: 258
Joined: 10/28/2006
Location: Boise, ID USA
Edited Date/Time:
I bet most of you telling him not to chase his passion are working for the man and miserable..
You can carve your own lane in any industry doing anything that suits your skills...Anybody who says else has never started a business or pursued their dreams..
Like mentioned above, go after the Alpinestars unit. Try to contact them and offer your services for free or even just observing for an SX Race that’s local to you.
Don’t ever give up on your passion, most of these sour asses responding are punching a time clock everyday.
Then to see somebody say don’t use social media or email for jobs? Are you insane? It isn’t 1980 brah... Social media is the giant you need to learn to navigate in today’s society. It is a double-edged sword though.
Posts: 60
Joined: 6/9/2018
Location: Laceys Spring, AL USA
Thanks for all the help guys. When it all comes down to it I really don’t think the job I want is there under current rules now that I think about it more. With the regulations on riders about being able to take IV’s I don’t think there is much reason for a team to employ a nurse but I would definitely love to volunteer at a sx or a moto race. Atlanta is close to me as is muddy creek so I could give both of those a shot next year.
Posts: 427
Joined: 7/6/2018
Location: Newport News, VA USA
Edited Date/Time:
FHKRacingZ wrote:I bet most of you telling him not to chase his passion are working for the man and miserable..
You can carve your own lane in ...more
Lol I’m 100% with you on this. The “stay away from social media” really was the kicker. I understand and respect people’s opinions. I understand that older people might not like it and such, and I respect that. BUT, don’t sit here and spread BS to people like that. Telling people to spend less time on social media and technology is literally telling people to LOSE. The fact is they don’t realize they are being left behind, and the less time you spend learning social media, content creation, branding yourself, the worse you will be if you ever want to not work for “the man.”
Do these people not realize what these applications have done for so many people’s lives? Ridiculous. Rant done 
Posts: 143
Joined: 6/13/2009
Location: Chandler, AZ USA
Edited Date/Time:
Even if you are able to join a team or a rider's entourage, you may not even get a credential to go to the races. Just ask JS7's nurse!
edit: spelling
Posts: 1097
Joined: 8/16/2006
Location: Orange County, CA USA
Posts: 1097
Joined: 8/16/2006
Location: Orange County, CA USA
FHKRacingZ wrote:I bet most of you telling him not to chase his passion are working for the man and miserable..
You can carve your own lane in ...more
It was probably more of a "get off my yard" or "todays music sucks" kind of moment but I cant speak for him. Good and bad in everything and some like to concentrate only on the negatives. Sucks to be them.
Posts: 1
Joined: 3/1/2019
Location: CAN
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