The academic environment for athletic training is changing following the degree recommendations for professional education programs. To provide historical context by presenting definitions and information on doctoral degree programs in other health professions. The National Athletic Trainers' Association called for a detailed analysis on doctoral education, and a workgroup was appointed by the Post-Professional Education Committee to fulfill this charge. Expert panel consensus. Data were extracted from a search of 38 databases in the University of Washington library, limiting results to full-text articles published in English between the years 2006 and 2016. Various supporting sources, including professional organizations, accrediting-body Web sites, and the US Department of Labor database, were used for regulatory and professional practice data. Two historical references were used to clarify definitions and provide context. Many health professions began with apprenticeship or certificate models, professional growth led to progressive degree designations such that the majority have now adopted a professional doctorate educational model wherein the professional degree is the terminal degree for professional advancement. Some health professions use residency training as the graduate education equivalent for advanced-practice education, whereas others do not. Only nursing continues to offer professional education at the baccalaureate level. There is a growing need for research to further understand best practices in doctoral education and the educational routes athletic trainers pursue. Collection and analysis of new data and examination of past and present doctoral education programs will facilitate recommendations for the future of doctoral education in athletic training. Various postprofessional educational models exist among health professions, with different impacts on professional roles, clinical opportunities, student interest, research productivity, and faculty recruitment and retention. The recently created doctor of athletic training programs may be considered a hybrid model providing advanced training in both clinical and research skills.Context:
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As health care education evolves, so do the required educational degree levels. In athletic training, the master's degree has traditionally represented the advanced degree option, but clinical doctoral education is relatively new and not well understood. To explore stakeholders' perceptions of the postprofessional clinical doctorate in athletic training (DAT). Population survey. Survey participants included 254 faculty members, 150 administrators, 334 clinicians, and 131 employers. Four surveys designed to gauge perceptions of the DAT. Descriptive statistics were calculated to describe perceptions. Qualitative data from open-ended questions were analyzed inductively and organized into themes. Faculty and administrators were more familiar with various degrees (71.8%–82.3%), whereas clinicians and employers indicated no or little (52.5%–58.0%) familiarity with clinical doctoral degrees. There was discord between faculty and administrators regarding the viability of the DAT as an alternative to the postprofessional master's degree. Faculty believed the DAT would help advance knowledge and clinical skills among practitioners. Administrators believed in increased education and clinical expertise of faculty, increased productivity, and an alternative avenue for hiring faculty for those with a DAT. Hiring concerns, research productivity, friction among degree holders, program expense, and lack of understanding of the degree were negative implications reported by administrators. Clinician interest in pursuing a DAT was divided (47.5% interested, 52.5% not interested). Reasons for pursuing the DAT included increased clinical ability, desire to transition to a faculty role, and advancement. Employers were divided as to whether they would hire a DAT. Employer concerns included lack of adequate compensation and lack of significant difference in clinician skills. Support for the DAT by all stakeholders exists. However, there are concerns and a general lack of understanding about the degree that should be addressed among all stakeholder groups.Context:
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Current practice in management of the spine-injured athletes appears to be inconsistent with literature. Moreover, evidence expands faster than integration into instruction, practice, and evaluation, likely leading to an overall lack of knowledge, both perceived and actual. The primary purpose was to evaluate athletic trainers' (ATs), paramedics', emergency medical technicians' (EMTs), and dual-credentialed personnel's actual and perceived knowledge regarding management of the spine-injured athlete. Cross-sectional. Web-based knowledge assessment We recruited participants (N = 1305) from the National Athletic Trainers' Association, Facebook, and Twitter. Only those participants (N = 785, 60.2% completion rate) who completed the actual knowledge assessment were used in analysis (age = 35.5 ± 10.8 years, male = 378 [48.2%], female = 375 [47.8%], sex not indicated = 32 [4.1%], ATs = 726, emergency personnel = 30, dual credentialed = 29). We measured perceived and actual knowledge (10 items, 9 scored) among participants and compared subgroups (ATs, emergency personnel [paramedics and EMTs], and dual credentialed [AT and either paramedic or EMT]). Participants performed poorly on the actual knowledge assessment (5.5 ± 1.2, 60.8% ± 13.5%). Participants had limited change between preassessment perceived knowledge (5.0 ± 0.7) and postassessment perceived knowledge (4.7 ± 0.8). We identified that participants performed poorly on the actual knowledge assessment, indicating the need for more preparation and continued training in managing spine-injured athletes. Interprofessional practice and education may improve knowledge and behavioral skills, given that diverse training and increased exposure to spine boarding likely contributed to higher performance. A lack of actual knowledge, particularly regarding life-preserving skills for spine-injury management, has potentially serious consequences for patients.Context:
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The professional preparation of newly credentialed athletic trainers (ATs) has been passionately debated. Understanding how newly credentialed ATs feel they are prepared will help enhance professional preparation. Explore newly credentialed ATs' perceptions of their professional preparation for their role. Phenomenological qualitative. Phone interviews with graduate assistant ATs in the collegiate setting. Nineteen collegiate graduate assistants (15 female, 4 male; average age = 23 ± 0.15 years; National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I: 13, II: 3, III: 2, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics: 2; postprofessional athletic training program: 6). Participants were recruited via an e-mail from the National Athletic Trainers' Association database sent to all certified students. Data were collected via phone interviews, which were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Interviews were conducted until data saturation occurred. Data were analyzed through phenomenological reduction, with data coded for common themes and subthemes. Credibility was established via member checks and peer debriefing. Two themes emerged: facilitators and barriers. Overall, participants felt academically prepared for their role, but preparedness was often dependent on the facilitators of academic rigor, hands-on opportunities in clinical education, and their preceptor. Barriers included a lack of rigor in the academic setting, lack of active opportunities in clinical education, the culture of clinical experiences, and incongruence. Incongruence existed when students were exposed to all the competencies during didactic education, but never gained experience with some skills (eg, rehabilitation, documentation, communication) if situations never arose or they were not actively involved clinically. Athletic training students are being exposed to a variety of learning experiences academically, but often do not gain clinical experience if situations do not arise or preceptors do not allow active participation. To ensure new ATs are prepared, academic programs need to ensure rigor and place students with preceptors who provide active learning opportunities.Context:
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To maintain certification, athletic trainers (ATs) are required to obtain continuing education units (CEUs) in the area of evidence-based practice (EBP). Longitudinal analysis of outcomes after attending a Board of Certification–approved Foundations of EBP course is lacking. To evaluate ATs' knowledge retention of and confidence in EBP concepts 12 months after a Foundations of EBP course. A secondary aim was to determine ATs' perceptions regarding barriers to, use of, and resources for EBP. Repeated measures within-subjects survey. Online survey. Twenty-seven respondents (22% response rate) from a convenience sample of 123 ATs. Board of Certification–approved Foundations of EBP category workshop. The survey instrument, Evidence-Based Concepts: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Use (EBCKAU), ascertained ATs' perceived EBP knowledge over a 12-month period. Descriptive statistics and correlations were calculated; repeated measures analysis of variance determined differences between scores. Responses to open-ended questions were catalogued according to themes and coded. For the knowledge score, a statistically significant increase in perceived knowledge (F2.0,52.0 = 18.91, P < .001) from preworkshop (6.40 ± 1.77) to immediately postworkshop (8.15 ± 1.51) and from before to 12 months after workshop (7.30 ± 1.64) was noted. Confidence in knowledge was statistically significantly different over time (z = −4.55, P < .001). Both before and since the workshop, ATs reported low levels of incorporating patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) and were equally likely to use compilation research findings in their clinical practice. Barriers of time and available resources were identified, and patient care was reported as the primary area in which ATs envision future use of EBP. Athletic trainers improved immediate perceived knowledge and retained knowledge of EBP concepts over time; however, confidence in knowledge decreased over time. ATs did not implement the workshop concepts into their daily clinical practice.Context:
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Women are largely underrepresented in science fields in academe, and most often issues with motherhood and career-life balancing are identified as reasons. In athletic training, career-life balancing has become the dominant factor in women leaving the field, as they feel they cannot fulfill the roles of mother, spouse, and athletic trainer adequately. To better understand the perceptions of women athletic training faculty members regarding balancing their roles in higher education and those outside of the workplace. Interpretative phenomenological analysis study, with semistructured interviews. Higher education institutions sponsoring Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education–accredited athletic training programs. Sixteen (8 with children, 8 without children) women athletic training faculty participated. Ten were married at the time of the interview, 3 were single, 2 were engaged, and 1 was in the process of getting a divorce. Each participant completed a one-on-one interview with a researcher and all data were coded following interpretative phenomenological analysis. Data saturation was attained. We completed member checks, peer review, and researcher triangulation for credibility. We found that motherhood was perceived to be a challenge and balancing the role of motherhood created conflict. Despite concerns for motherhood and balancing faculty roles, higher education was perceived to provide flexibility. Support networks and individual strategies were common to manage the responsibilities of faculty as well as nonfaculty roles. Our results demonstrated that higher education cultivates a climate of balance through flexible workplace arrangements and that support networks are necessary to create role balancing in and out of the workplace. Finally, time management and organization are necessary for women to establish balance, regardless of roles outside of the workplace (eg, spouse, mother, friend).Context:
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Mentorship has been identified as a key aspect to the transition into higher education for the junior faculty member, as it is an effective organizational socializing agent. The literature, however, often examines mentorship as a derivative of the socialization process, rather than as the primary focus of investigation. Explore the perceptions of mentorship for the athletic training faculty member on professional development and transition into a new faculty role, specifically looking at mentorship through a role transition and inductance lens for the junior faculty member. Phenomenology. Higher education institutions. Twenty junior athletic training faculty members (14 women, 6 men) who met our inclusion criteria. All participants were in positions leading to promotion or tenure. Saturation was met with our 20 participants. Semistructured phone interviews were conducted and transcribed verbatim afterward. Using a phenomenological approach, we analyzed the data. Credibility of the data was confirmed with peer review and researcher triangulation. Mentoring relationships were determined to be internal and external to the athletic training faculty member's institutions. Relationships were classified as informal, regardless of the location of the mentor. Internal mentoring relationships were informal and navigated by the faculty member with individuals the faculty member believed to have valued experiences and knowledge regarding the institution's culture and expectations for role performance and promotion. External mentors, mostly doctoral advisors, were individuals who could continue to support professional development and the specific tenets of higher education independently of institutional expectations. Our findings suggest that mentoring is done by a constellation of individuals, as each mentoring relationship fulfills a particular need of the junior faculty member and one mentor may not provide or possess all the necessary experiences to support the transition.Context:
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Evidence suggests that doctoral education is incongruent with faculty positions, but this has yet to be specifically examined in athletic training. To gain understanding of the alignment of doctoral education and faculty workload, including institutional characteristics, from the perspectives of junior faculty members. Qualitative, phenomenological research. Higher education institutions with Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education–accredited programs. Twenty athletic training faculty members (14 women and 6 men) who were 32 ± 3 years of age and averaged 10 ± 4 years of experience as athletic trainers and 2 ± 2 years as a full-time faculty member. We developed, peer-reviewed, and piloted 2 semistructured interview guides to obtain participants' perspectives on their doctoral preparation, entrance into higher education, and faculty workload. We completed telephone interviews with each participant over the course of 4 months. Transcribed interviews were analyzed by 2 investigators using a phenomenological approach, then reviewed by 2 additional qualitative researchers. Mechanisms of trustworthiness included member-checking, multianalyst triangulation, and peer review. Two themes emerged from this study: (1) workload and (2) congruency. Faculty workload was dominated by teaching, but faculty had several demands on their time, including administration, service, and research. Most faculty positions focused on teaching, whereas their doctoral education was more focused on research, possibly because of a lack of congruency between doctoral education and faculty position institution types. Although mismatches occurred between doctoral education and faculty workload, participants were often aware of these differences and selected faculty positions aligned with their career goals. Faculty workload is generally teaching-focused and contains additional demands that are often not included in doctoral education programs. Doctoral advisors should promote adequate socialization to these characteristics of faculty positions, and doctoral students should consider their interests and faculty workload when searching for faculty positions.Context:
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Health care education needs to include methods of teaching and evaluation that are realistic and mimic patient care. To follow up on previous research regarding the methods athletic training educators use to evaluate and teach athletic training students' clinical skills during clinical experiences and in the classroom/laboratory. Cross-sectional. Public and private institutions. Program directors of all accredited professional athletic training programs as of November 2015 (N = 372) were asked to participate; a total of 90 participated. The electronic survey consisted of 6 demographic questions, 6 questions regarding methods used to teach and evaluate clinical skills, and 6 items regarding barriers, educational content areas, and practice settings for real-time patient encounters. The Cronbach α determined internal consistency, α = 0.784. Descriptive statistics were computed for all items. An analysis of variance and independent t tests analyzed differences among institutions/programs with different demographic characteristics with regard to methods, barriers, educational content areas, and settings used for teaching and evaluating skills. The α level was set at .05. Simulated patients and real-time evaluations were the most prevalent methods of teaching and evaluating clinical skills in the classroom/laboratory and during clinical experiences, respectively. Students' lack of self-confidence (4.10 ± 0.835) was the most common barrier during clinical experiences. The clinical examination and diagnosis (4.54 ± 0.656) and acute care of injury and illness (4.39 ± 0.775) content areas ranked highest for sufficient opportunities for real-time skill evaluation. One-way analysis of variances revealed no significant differences related to institutional/program demographics regarding opportunities for or barriers to teaching and evaluating skills. Ten years after our previous research, athletic training students' skills are still primarily taught and evaluated via simulated patients, with a slight increase in real-time patient encounters. Professional programs should continue using simulations and consider real-time encounters to provide additional patient care experiences.Context:
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Professionalism education is essential for the professional development and workplace readiness of allied health care students across the globe, but it presents a pedagogical challenge for educators. Students' understanding of professionalism varies at different educational stages and across different disciplines. To conceptualize professionalism education, with a particular focus on the sports environment, and to apply pedagogical frameworks to professionalism education in this field. Traditional approaches to teaching professionalism have focused on role models; however, poor role modeling and the “hidden curriculum” present a threat to student professional development. Specific challenges to learning professionalism become apparent in the sports environment where students are exposed to cultures and practices that may be discordant with what is taught in the classroom. The idea of threshold concepts provides a useful pedagogical framework for conceptualizing the challenge of learning professionalism for students and can help to uncover the hidden curriculum. The evolving professional curriculum provides a framework for student professional development, focusing on developing students as reflective practitioners, skilled communicators, and collaborative team members. Students need to learn the skill of reflective practice, which can be facilitated through structured reflective models, reflective journal writing, and critical reflective group discussions. Creating opportunities for authentic reflection and discussion can facilitate students linking theory to real-world practice and help to make sense of their experiences. Pragmatic recommendations for curriculum planning, teaching, and learning activities; stakeholder engagement; and research are proposed to develop professionalism education in the sports environment and to mitigate some risks presented by the hidden curriculum.Context:
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Congratulations to the winners of the 2017 Outstanding Manuscript Awards, as determined by the Editorial Board and the Editors of the Athletic Training Education Journal.
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JAT eISSN: 1938-162X
JAT ISSN: 1062-6050
ATEJ ISSN: 1947-380X