DR. DAVID HANNA, PT, DPT, MS, ATC
Dr. David R. Hanna PT, DPT, MS, ATC, a native of Wheeling, W.Va., began his career in athletic training in 1996 at West Liberty State College after earning his master’s degree in athletic training from West Virginia University. He served as assistant athletic trainer for one year at West Liberty, from which he holds a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in biology. The following year he accepted the position of Head Athletic Trainer at West Virginia University Institute of Technology. After serving at WVU Tech for two years, he moved to South Dakota, where he worked as an athletic trainer for Sioux Valley Hospital, Elk Point Jefferson High School, and the University of South Dakota for a short time before returning to the Ohio Valley to assume the dual positions of Head Athletic Trainer for the Wheeling Nailers of the East Coast Hockey League and for the Ohio Valley Greyhounds of the Indoor Football League.
He spent six years in this position before resigning in 2005 to pursue a Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Wheeling Jesuit University. His additional experience includes serving as a clinical athletic trainer for the Wheeling Hospital Physical Therapy Department and working as the head athletic trainer for various local high schools and numerous local summer sports camps. While earning his doctorate, he was instrumental in providing the legwork necessary for the development and approval of the new athletic training major at WJU. He was graduated from the Doctor of Physical Therapy program in August 2007 at which time he was hired as the Department Chair and Program Director for the Department of Athletic Training. Hanna remained in this position through the 2011-12 academic year and successfully oversaw the program through its inaugural accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) in 2010. In addition to his full-time duties as a professor and chair, he also served the university by adjunct instructing in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program.
Hanna’s graduates have found employment in clinics, high schools, and professional sports, as well as gaining successful acceptances into a wide variety of graduate schools in Athletic Training, Physician Assistant, Counseling and Psychology, Physical Therapy, and Medical School.
Hanna returned to the Hilltop in August of 2012 to head the development of the Athletic Training Education Program at West Liberty University. As Program Director/Associate Professor, he is responsible for the curriculum development and overseeing the program through an accreditation process by the CAATE. In addition to these duties, he continues to adjunct in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at WJU; he is an active physical therapist in the West Virginia Birth to Three System (early intervention), where he evaluates and treats children from ages newborn to three years of age. Hanna also works on a casual basis as a physical therapist at the outpatient physical therapy department at Wheeling Hospital.
He resides in Wheeling with his wife Carrie, and their three children, Graceylyn Mae, Lilyan Morgan, and Wilson David.
- Professional Certifications and Licensure
- 2007 – current Licensed Physical Therapist
- 1996 – current National Athletic Trainer’s Association Certified Athletic Trainer
- Current CPR & AED for the Professional Rescuer – American Red Cross
AMBER HELPHENSTINE, ATC
Amber (Herback) Helphenstine, ATC is a 2004 graduate of John Marshall high school in Glen Dale, West Virginia. After high school, Amber pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in Athletic Training from West Virginia University. She completed her degree from WVU in the spring of 2008. While attending West Virginia University, Amber served as the president of the West Virginia University Athletic Trainers’ Association from 2007-2008. During her time as an Athletic Training Student, she had the opportunity to work with the West Virginia University football, cheerleading, women’s tennis, and baseball teams as well as the Fairmont State University football team and Albert Gallatin high school. Amber also provided coverage for various athletic camps offered during the summers at West Virginia University as an Athletic Training student. Upon graduation she moved to Wheeling, WV and began working for various Ohio Valley Athletic Conference athletic events in the area.
In August 2008, she was hired by West Liberty University as an athletic trainer. In addition to her duties as a full-time athletic trainer for West Liberty University, she serves as an adjunct instructor for the College of Education in the Department of Health and Human Performance teaching Care and Prevention for athletic injuries and personal health classes. Amber was also hired as the athletic trainer for Bishop Donahue high school during the 2009 and 2010 football campaigns. In 2009, she received and currently holds her American Red Cross Professional Rescuer Instructor Certification. She has also served as a Preceptor (formerly ACI) for the West Liberty University Athletic Training Education Program.
Amber is an integral part of the athletic training staff at West Liberty University and is actively involved in the coverage and care of all West Liberty University student athletes.
She currently resides in Claysville, PA with her husband Adam and their son Chance Hudson.
JASON COLEMAN, ATC
Jason C. Coleman, MS, ATC, a Wheeling native, graduated from Wheeling Central Catholic High School in the spring of 2005. He attended West Virginia University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in Physical Education/Athletic Training. During his time as an athletic training student at WVU, he gained a wealth of knowledge in both the classroom and the clinic in a variety of sports assignments. They included assisting with in-season/spring football, women’s soccer, swimming and diving, rowing, and spending his senior year working with the 2009-2010 men’s basketball program, which captured its first Big East Tournament Championship in school history and won the East Region en route to the NCAA Final Four. In addition, he was able to work lacrosse and field hockey summer camps at the University of Virginia and volunteer at Healthworks Rehab and Fitness in Morgantown, West Virginia. He received his certification as a licensed athletic trainer in June of 2010.
Soon after graduating from WVU in the spring of 2010, he accepted a graduate assistantship position with the University of Akron, where he oversaw both the men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams. The men’s team won back-to-back indoor and outdoor Mid-American Conference Championships. In addition to his sport assignment, he was a summer athletic training intern for the Baltimore Ravens in 2011. Coleman completed his post-graduate studies from Akron in 2012 where he was graduated with a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology/Adult Fitness.
Jason is currently a staff ATC for all West Liberty University athletic teams although his main duty is football. He also serves as a preceptor in the West Liberty University Athletic Training Education Program. He currently resides in Wheeling, WV.