Spirituality is an important component of holistic health care. While attitudes of athletic training program directors and clinicians toward spirituality are documented, the attitudes and practices of athletic training students are unknown. To describe the beliefs and behaviors of athletic training students regarding spirituality and spiritual care. Repeated measures cohort. Online survey. All athletic training students (n = 33) enrolled in an accredited athletic training program at a private religiously affiliated university were invited to participate. The response rate was 78.8% (males = 7, females = 19, age = 20.3 ± 2.1). An email invitation to complete the online survey was sent in September and April of the same academic year. The online survey included demographic data, the Spiritual Perspectives Scale (SPS), modified Spiritual Care Perspectives Scale (mSCPS), and modified Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale (mSCTS). Level of agreement on the mSCPS items and therapeutic action frequency on the mSCTS were recorded and compared between fall and spring using paired t tests. For both scales, all item averages were organized from lowest to highest. SPS summary score was calculated. The mSCPS items with the highest and lowest agreement, respectively, were “Relationships with others are important to patient's spiritual health” and “Spiritual care is only for religious persons.” The mSCTS items with the highest and lowest frequencies, respectively, were “After completing a task, remained present just to show caring” and “Offered to pray with a patient.” Only 3 mSCPS items changed significantly over time, whereas 8 mSCTS items changed significantly (all P < .05). The SPS did not change over time (P = .848; fall = 4.74 ± 0.96, spring = 4.73 ± 0.87). Athletic training students in this pilot study believe that spirituality is an important part of health care; however, athletic training students preferred items in which patients took the lead in raising spiritual issues. Therapeutic actions that support a patient's spiritual well-being without being openly religious were preferred.Context
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Continuing education (CE) is a form of professional development intended to improve knowledge and skill beyond entry-level practice; however, we lack data to understand how athletic trainers (ATs) choose to implement CE experiences into clinical practice. To explore ATs' motivators for pursuing professional development through CE and how they choose to implement CE experiences in clinical practice. Qualitative study. Individual telephone interviews. Fourteen ATs (5 male, 9 female; age = 33 ± 11 years, experience = 11 ± 11 years) participated voluntarily. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim, redacting all personal information. After transcription, 2 members of the research team used a consensual qualitative research approach to analyze data. Both members were engaged in constant discussions to ensure consistency in analysis. A third member served as an external reviewer to ensure accuracy in coding and confirm data saturation. We identified 4 major themes regarding ATs' motivation and implementation of CE: (1) perceived benefits of CE, (2) factors influencing CE selection, (3) improving CE, and (4) implementation of CE learning into clinical practice. Among perceived benefits of CE, participants discussed maintenance of evidence-based practice and lifelong learning. Participants were motivated to choose CE sessions based on patient population, perceived need for CE, or area of interest, whereas they chose conferences based on travel distance and cost. Participants provided a variety of suggestions for CE improvement including handouts, discussion of barriers, and more hands-on sessions. Within implementation, participants discussed barriers, their confidence in integrating skills, and their patients' responses. Although ATs are completing required CE, how they choose opportunities and subsequently how they implement learning is limited. We must consider an alternative mechanism for identifying CE needs to improve patient care focused on patient needs and outcomes, while still considering the financial and time barriers to attendance.Context
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The role of a faculty member in higher education includes engaging in the 3 facets of research, service, and teaching. Allied health faculty members face additional responsibilities such as administration, patient care, and addressing external accreditation. It is not understood how junior faculty members balance these multiple roles. Gain an understanding of athletic training and physical therapy junior faculty members' ability to find and maintain role balance. Qualitative phenomenology. Accredited athletic training and physical therapy programs. Twenty-six participants—13 physical therapists (7 male, 6 female) and 13 athletic trainers (4 male, 9 female)—completed interviews. All participants held academic terminal degrees (21 doctor of philosophy, 5 doctor of education). Data were collected using a one-on-one semistructured phone interview, which was digitally recorded and professionally transcribed. Following saturation, data were analyzed using the interpretive phenomenological analysis method. Trustworthiness was ensured through peer review, multiple analyst triangulation, and member checking. Two primary themes were identified: role overload and strategies. Role overload describes overwhelming responsibilities placed on junior faculty and the conflict they face when attempting to balance each of these responsibilities. Strategies articulate the participants' reliance on time management, scheduling and planning, and keeping work and home lives separate. Junior faculty members are overloaded by the plethora of responsibilities they must assume, causing role strain. The time-management techniques of scheduling and planning allow junior faculty members to attempt to balance their roles by designating chunks of time for each responsibility. They also keep their work and home lives separate to buffer the strain. Though faculty members have developed adaptations, the primary way to reduce role overload is to decrease the number of duties for which they are responsible.Context
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Athletic training educators incorporate various educational strategies to teach and assess a student's clinical skill competency. These strategies vary and include simulations and standardized patients (SPs). There is currently a lack of information about the ways in which simulations and SPs are used in athletic training education and the perceptions that faculty of athletic training programs have about their use within their curricula. The purpose of this study was to explore how athletic training educators are using simulations, including SPs, and their associated perceptions regarding the use of these strategies. Qualitative focus groups. Semicircular table facing research team in a conference room at a regional educators' conference. Twenty-one athletic training educators (6 males and 15 females, 39.4 ± 7.96 years) who currently used simulations in the education of their students participated. Semistructured focus group interviews, lasting 45 to 60 minutes, were used with a general inductive approach to analyze the data. Trustworthiness of the data was established via member checking, peer debriefing, and multiple-analyst triangulation. Four themes emerged from the interviews: (1) SPs, (2) simulations, (3) valued educational experiences, and (4) barriers. From these overarching themes, subthemes were also identified for each. This article will focus on the first 3 themes. Simulation includes the subthemes of group encounters, individual encounters, and feedback. Valued educational experiences include the subthemes of acute care and nonorthopaedic, orthopaedic evaluation, and communication. Six of the 21 participants were using SPs in the education of their students, while all participants were using some form of simulations. Both simulations and SP encounters were identified as valuable educational experiences. Simulations and SP encounters were most often used in instruction or assessment of acute care or nonorthopaedic cases, orthopaedic cases, or to provide opportunities to enhance communication skills of student learners.Context
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Simulations and standardized patients (SPs) are currently being used by athletic training educators to teach and evaluate students. There is currently a lack of information about the ways in which simulations and SPs are used in athletic training education. Understanding their use and any barriers to their use could assist with development of future resources for faculty. The purpose of this study was to explore how athletic training educators are using simulations, including SPs, and their associated perceptions of the barriers to the use of these strategies. Qualitative. Conference room with table and chairs. Twenty-one athletic training educators (6 males and 15 females, 39.4 ± 7.96 years) participated who currently used SPs and/or simulations in the education of their students. Semistructured focus group interviews, lasting 45 to 50 minutes, were conducted, and a general inductive approach was used to analyze the data. Trustworthiness was established via member checking, peer debriefing, and multiple-analyst triangulation. Four themes emerged: (1) standardized patient encounters, (2) simulations, (3) valued educational experiences, and (4) barriers. This article will focus on the theme of barriers. Six of the 21 participants were using SPs in the education of their students, while all participants were using some form of simulations. The overarching theme of barriers was further divided into the subthemes of faculty time, access to resources, and financial cost. Barriers exist regarding the implementation of simulations and/or SP use in athletic training educational curricula. These barriers place restraints on faculty time and institutional resources. Institutional and program access to resources as well as the financial cost associated with the use of SPs and/or simulations are concerns that should be discussed when considering the use of these educational strategies within a program.Context
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Postprofessional Learners' Reflections After a Standardized Patient Encounter and Debriefing Session
Simulations are commonly used in medical education to facilitate instructional and assessment experiences for learners. Standardized patients (SPs) are a form of simulation with actors trained to present conditions that occur in health care. The most important feature in simulation-based education is feedback; one form of group feedback is debriefing, intended to improve learning, future performance, and patient outcomes. To explore reflections on learning after an SP encounter and debriefing session. Action research design with consensual qualitative research tradition. One Midwestern University. Seventeen postprofessional doctor of athletic training students with no previous experience with SPs (age = 25 ± 4 years; male = 5, 29.4%, female = 12, 70.6%; highest degree earned professional bachelor's = 12, 70.6% and postprofessional master's = 5, 29.4%, experience = 24.8 ± 30.5 months). Participants completed 1 of 3 SP encounters and the following day engaged in a diamond-debriefing session. After both the SP encounter and debriefing session, participants completed a 5-item open-ended questionnaire. The open-ended questions asked participants to self-reflect on what they learned after the SP encounter and the debriefing session. The questions were evaluated by a panel of qualitative researchers for content and face validity. Consensual qualitative research data analysis approach was used to analyze all open-ended responses. Our qualitative analysis revealed that reflections after both the SP encounter and debriefing session revolved around 3 overarching themes: organization of clinical exam, vulnerability, and patient-centered care. The SP encounter and diamond-debriefing technique did facilitate self-reflection and inform and motivate learners to alter their future approach to patient-centered care. Future research could explore if reflection would differ if it occurred immediately after an SP encounter or 1 day after SP encounter.Context
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Though commonplace in medical education, standardized patients (SPs) have only recently been introduced into athletic training curricula. Limited research exists on students' perceptions of SPs as an evaluative and learning tool. To determine how students interact with SPs within their curricula and to explore students' perceptions of SP experiences. Consensual qualitative research. Individual phone interviews. Nine athletic training students (5 professional baccalaureate, 4 professional postbaccalaureate; 8 females, 1 male; age = 23.89 ± 3.33 years) enrolled in the final semester of their program. Semistructured interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded into themes and categories. To ensure trustworthiness, we used member checks and multiple analyst triangulation. Two themes emerged regarding the perceptions of the SP experiences: (1) encounter characteristics and (2) perceived value. Participants described typical SP encounter characteristics, including the environment where they occurred and the format and content of the encounter. Standardized patients were used to provide exposure to orthopaedic evaluation, general medical conditions, and emergency situations. Students felt SPs were valuable for improving both clinical and soft skills. Most participants felt the encounters were authentic and that they were able to transfer skills learned into their clinical practice. Students expressed desire for more SP encounters throughout their curriculum to increase preparedness for clinical practice. Challenges associated with SP experiences included difficulty interacting with peers in group encounters and limitations in the accuracy of the portrayals. Overall, participants perceived SP encounters to be positive and worthwhile experiences. Programs should ensure that SP experiences are authentic, applicable, and emphasize the development of soft skills, such as communication. Based on the demonstrated benefits of SP encounters for students, athletic training faculty should consider exploring ways to incorporate SPs into their curricula.Context
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Athletic training programs are required to incorporate the development of many foundational skills and behaviors into the curriculum. Athletic training students must develop soft skills such as effective communication, exhibiting empathy, dependability, and integrity, which are all associated with quality athletic trainers. To describe a novel approach to promoting the awareness of values and development of the characteristics and soft skills associated with being a successful student and health care professional for students before they enter their clinical experiences. Graduate and undergraduate programs typically offer an introductory course to students before their first clinical assignment. The main emphasis of introductory courses is often on learning foundational knowledge and technical skills. However, early adoption of professional values and development of soft skills may benefit students as they start their clinical experiences. A course was designed using 11 main themes to guide student learning in values and behaviors important to academics and a career in health care. This article describes how the 11 themes were selected and developed, how the course was delivered, and how various pedagogical strategies were incorporated. Development of soft skills may benefit athletic training students as they enter the professional phase of an athletic training program. As athletic training education shifts to the master's level, fostering soft skills and necessary preclinical skills for students from varied backgrounds is becoming ever more important so students are all equitably prepared for their first clinical experiences.Context
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The accuracy of summative assessment scoring and discriminating the level of knowledge in subject matter is critical in fairness to learners in health care professional programs and to ensure stakeholders of competent providers. An evidence-based approach to determine examination quality for the assessment of applied knowledge is imperative. To present a written assessment question format that is simple to construct, can be scored electronically, and will accurately assess the application of knowledge in examinations during the classroom curriculum and for high-stakes examinations. Traditionally, free-response written assessments have been administered to assess the application of knowledge, for example, short answer or essay questions. Selected-response questions such as a carefully constructed multiple-choice questions or extended-matching questions (EMQ) are reliable and valid options to assess the depth of understanding in subject matter. Extended matching is a selected-response question format used to assess the application of knowledge. It consists of items consistent with a common theme and a large list of homogenous options providing distractors and a correct answer. Extended-matching questions have demonstrated good psychomotor measures and can assess the application of knowledge over a large number of themes in 1 examination. They are simple to create, minimize cueing, and are scored objectively. Both well-written multiple-choice questions and EMQs can be used to assess the application of knowledge level of cognition. The EMQ is easier to write with less chance of cueing or guessing the correct option and is optimal for evaluation and treatment scenario type questions.Context
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Reliability and Validity of the Functional Assessment of Neurocognition in Sport (FANS): A Paradigm Shift in Post-Concussion Return-to-Sport Decision-Making
Driving After Concussion: Clinical Measures Associated with Post-concussion
The role of shoulder posture in pitching mechanics and injury risk in high school baseball pitchers
Corticospinal Excitability during Standing and Its Association with Postural Control Following Acute Lateral Ankle Sprain.
The socio-economic cost of anterior cruciate ligament injuries and lateral ankle sprains in amateur football and basketball.
JAT eISSN: 1938-162X
JAT ISSN: 1062-6050
ATEJ ISSN: 1947-380X