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NATA 1st Team Safe Sport School

“Dorsey High School is honored to receive this 1st Team recognition from NATA, we are only the second high school in LAUSD to receive this prestigious award and one of the 8 high schools in the district to have a Certified Athletic Trainer. We remain committed to keeping our student athletes safe during athletic classes, team practices, and games so they can accomplish their own goals of great competition, winning records, fair sportsmanship, and good health. Our goal is to lead our athletics program to the highest safety standards for our players.”

-Dr. Merriman, DAT, ATC, CES

Dorsey Sports Medicine Program: 

Patient Care Pathway

News and Announcements

1st Annual LAUSD Anatomage Table Competition

Dorsey and our Sports Medicine and Law Magnet hosted the first annual LAUSD Anatomage Competition in February 2020. Students from Banning, Westchester, Roosevelt, Panorama, Chatsworth, and Carson High School came to compete and demonstrate their knowledge and mastery of anatomy using the latest innovative technology with the Anatomage Table.


Congratulations to Banning High School who took 4th place, Roosevelt High School who took 3rd place, Carson High School who took 2nd, and our sports medicine program who took 1st place! 


First Choice Healthcare Education in the CTE Patient Care Pathway


The Dorsey Sports Medicine Program partners with Team HEAL to offer a nonprofit sports medicine program to develop certified athletic trainers for LAUSD high schools, including Dorsey. Our vision is to provide a learning environment for sports medicine students committed to their professional growth and development by creating enthusiasm for scholarship in the area of sports medicine and related fields, stimulating desire to render service in the community, promoting leadership, and fostering the development of character and skills for healthcare professions.


Our mission is to promote the interests and aspirations of students in the broad area of sports medicine by continuing to support and advance the ideas and models of sports medicine while instructing best practices to ensure and promote inter-professionalism. We provide quality educational experiences through which students may receive didactic instruction and obtain the clinical skills necessary for a post-secondary healthcare career. The conceptual work-based learning framework provides the sports medicine students with opportunities to gain and refine industry specific psychomotor skills.

Our Sports Medicine Program


About Our Program Coordinator: 

Dr. Alejandra Merriman, DAT, ATC, CES is a Board Certified Athletic Trainer and holds a CTE HSMT Patient Care Credential. She received her Bachelors of Athletic Training from Loyola Marymount University in 2011, Masters of Rehabilitation Sciences from California University of Pennsylvania in 2013, and more recently graduated from A.T. Still University with her Doctorate in Athletic Training in June 2019. 


She began her teaching career at Dorsey in 2014 where she became apart of the Law and Public Services Magnet, now known as the Sports Medicine and Law Magnet. Since 2014, she has expanded our sports medicine program in the past 5 years by acquiring over half a million dollars in funding, providing the most innovative technology for her sports medicine students and improving the quality of care to her student-athletes. In partnership with the Team HEAL foundation, Dr. Merriman also provides athletic training services to Dorsey’s athletes after teaching during the day. 



CTE Health Science and Medical Technology Sector | Patient Care Pathway

Students interested in the healthcare profession have the opportunity to complete a 3-year course sequence in the patient care pathway. 

  • 10th Grade: Medical Terminology (UC G)
  • 11th Grade: Sports Medicine (UC G)
  • 12th Grade: Physical Therapy or Emergency Medical Technician
Students who complete a 3-year course sequence in our patient care pathway receive industry certifications including but not limited to:
  • AHA Heartsaver CPR, first aid, and AED or AHA BLS
  • OSHA 10-hour General Industry (Healthcare)
  • NFSH Sudden Cardiac Arrest
  • NFHS Heat Illness Prevention
  • NFHS Concussion for Students
  • NFHS Sports Nutrition



CTE/Sports Medicine Program Benefits

The Sports Medicine Program benefits students who are interested in the following careers and healthcare professions:

  • Emergency Medicine Physicians
  • Sports Medicine Physicians
  • Emergency Medical Technicians
  • Athletic Training
  • Physical Therapy
  • Massage Therapy
  • Physicians Assistant
  • Nursing

NHSSM-NHSSMA: Chapter 6

The Dorsey Sports Medicine Program is a member and one of the original 13 colonizing chapters of the National Honor Society of Sports Medicine and The National High School Sports Medicine Association. The goal of NHSSM-NHSSMA is to create enthusiasm for scholarship in the area of sports medicine and related fields, to stimulate desire to render service in the community, to promote leadership, and to foster the development of character.

The Sports Medicine Facility

Welcome To Our Remodeled Athletic Training Facility and New Classroom

Alter-G Anti-Gravity Treadmill

The AlterG® Anti-Gravity Treadmill™ integrates patented, NASA Differential Air Pressure (DAP) technology, a precise air calibration system, and real-time information to change what’s possible in rehab and training. Using a pressurized air chamber to uniformly reduce gravitational load and body weight in precise 1% increments, AlterG enables patients and athletes to move unrestricted and pain-free – restoring and building muscle strength, range of motion, balance, function, and fitness. No other unweighting technology offers as much freedom, control, and versatility. Dorsey Sports Medicine is the only high school in the LA Unified School District and Southern California to house an Alter-G Treadmill. 


Athletic Training Facility

Our newly remodeled athletic training facility expanded with an addition of 200 square feet and new modalities. The athletic training facility provides medical services to about 300 student-athletes with access to the following: 
  • 2 Whirpools
  • NormaTec Recovery Units
  • GameReadys
  • Theragun
  • Hypervolt
  • Electrical Stimulation Units
  • Therapeutic Ultrasound
  • Hand-held Laser Therapy
  • Hawks Tools-Instrument assisted soft tissue massage
  • Cupping
  • C3 Logix Concussion Baseline Testing
  • Telemedicine appointments with team physicians


Innovative Technology

In the classroom, students have access to the most innovative technology to produce a college atmosphere and allow for appropriate learning for all different types of learners. Students in the sports medicine program have access to the following technology:


Therapeutic Rehabilitation 

Student-athletes who participate in athletics  have access to free rehabilitative services through the Team HEAL Foundation. Team HEAL has treated 300+ injuries annually, have provided $800,000+ of free medical services annually, and have performed 25,000 free physicals since 2003.

Students in the Sports Medicine Program learn about physical therapy and therapeutic exercises and rehabilitation. Students and athletes have access to:

  • Full-Time Certified Athletic Trianer
  • Woodway treadmill
  • True Stretch
  • Upper Body Ergometer Bicycle
  • Shuttle MVP leg press
  • Spin Room
  • State of the art weight room facility and more...

Donate to our Program!

Please contribute for the AACI High School Sports Medicine Competition registration, field trips, and uniforms. All proceeds go directly to the sports medicine program and receipts can be emailed or mailed for tax purposes. Thank you and we appreciate your support!

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Dr. Alejandra Merriman, 

DAT, ATC, CES

Certified Athletic Trainer


akj9041@lausd.net

323-298-4132

Akeba Jackson-Boykins

Magnet Coordinator


Lester Malta

Magnet Assistant Principal


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