Volume 16: Issue 1

Editors and Readers,

Having finished the last weeks of the spring 2020 semester, never in my imagination did I envision having led a department and an athletic training program through a pandemic, a sudden shift to remote teaching and learning, and planning and strategizing for a Fall semester that may continue remotely. Like many readers of the Athletic Training Education Journal, I have been amazed at my students' resilience, have been concerned for the patients, preceptors, and partners in clinical practice that are essential to athletic training education, and have been relying on the innovative offers of support

Context

In today's health care environment, the need to engage personnel in quality improvement to demonstrate value to patient care is vital. Health care executives are responsible for leading within their organizations, and athletic trainers (ATs), similar to other health care executives, have typically risen to positions of authority without leadership training.

Objective

To explore the lived experiences of ATs as health care executives, specific to their path to leadership and their role in leading continuous quality improvement.

Design

Consensual qualitative research.

Setting

Web-based phone interviews.

Patients or Other Participants

A total of 20 participants (age = 41 ± 10 years; experience = 18 ± 10 years) indicated they held a position of authority, had personnel management responsibilities, and had influence over organizational change within their health care systems; however, after completing the interviews, we determined that only 17 participants met the inclusion criteria.

Data Collection and Analysis

The primary investigator completed interviews. We analyzed the data with a 3-person data-analysis team and an internal auditor. Trustworthiness was established through member-checking and multiple-researcher triangulation.

Results

Participants described various forms of preparation including mentors and both self-directed and required resources that assisted in preparing for their management and leadership roles. Participants described how they influenced personnel, including identifying individualized motivators, establishing goals, and building relationships. Participants explained the culture they hoped to establish, characterized by a growth mindset, transparency, and both self-reflective and systems-level improvement practices. Many of the participants depicted characteristics of strong leaders through an individual growth mindset, embodiment of the behaviors they wanted to see in their personnel, and transformational leadership strategies.

Conclusions

Athletic health care executive have the responsibility to lead and transform their organizations. However, few in these positions have had formal training to prepare them for the role. ATs seeking health care executive positions should seek formal training to acquire the skills necessary to create organizational change and serve as transformational leaders.

Context

Athletic training program administrators have identified that it is important to incorporate a scholarship component into professional education curricula.

Objective

Explore the barriers to implementing student scholarship in professional programs and identify resources necessary to overcome the barriers.

Design

Consensual qualitative research.

Setting

Individual teleconference interview.

Patients or Other Participants

A total of 17 program directors of professional programs was interviewed. Programs reported an average of 3 ± 1 core faculty supporting 37 ± 21 students, with 3 ± 2 faculty involved in scholarship activities of their students. Data saturation guided the number of participants.

Data Collection and Analysis

Interviews occurred using a semistructured interview guide. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed by a 3 person research team and coded into themes and categories based on a consensus process. Credibility was established by using multiple researchers, an external auditor, and member checks.

Results

Two major themes emerged from the data: (1) current challenges and shortcomings and (2) resources and strategies needed to achieve scholarship. Participants noted a lack of research or scholarship culture at their current institution and a lack of faculty time and expertise to implement and guide research throughout the curriculum as current challenges. Participants further identified that a lack of clear expectations for how much scholarship was necessary and lack of buy-in from faculty, students, and preceptors made it difficult to implement scholarly projects in the curriculum. Necessary resources to overcome barriers included institutional support in the form of faculty release, support, training, or all of the aforementioned. Participants identified that collaborative research opportunities as well as publicly available examples of completed student scholarly activity would further guide them in overcoming the curricular challenge of implementing scholarship.

Conclusions

Internal institutional support, external peer collaboration, and public examples of success are necessary to overcome barriers to scholarship integration in professional athletic training curricula.

Context

Immersive clinical experiences are critical clinical education components in athletic training. Program directors have indicated potential isolation from peers and faculty, a financial burden, and less engagement in quality learning during immersive clinical experiences.

Objective

To explore athletic training students' perceptions of the immersive clinical experience as it pertains to their development.

Design

Qualitative study.

Setting

Individual virtual interviews.

Patients or Other Participants

A total of 15 athletic training students who participated in the immersive clinical experience in the last 9 months took part in our study (males = 4, females = 11; age = 25 ± 5 years, range = 21–36 years).

Data Collection and Analysis

We conducted interviews and recorded and transcribed them verbatim. We developed a codebook using the consensual qualitative research tradition to identify domains and categories. Trustworthiness was established using member-checking, multiple researchers, and an auditor.

Results

Athletic training student perceptions of the immersive clinical experience revealed 2 domains: exposure and improved preparation for clinical practice. From increased exposure, participants gained additional experience with administrative duties, communication and relationships, interprofessional and collaborative practice, an increased quantity and quality of patient encounters, and preceptor influence on learning opportunities. From improved preparation, participants experienced socialization in which they were more integrated in facility activities, gained a greater appreciation for the value of the profession, had greater autonomy and inclusion, and perceived more value in the immersive clinical experience than in nonimmersive experiences.

Conclusions

Athletic training students who participate in immersive clinical experiences feel that they have increased exposure to athletic training practice and improved preparation for transition to practice.

Reliability and Validity of the Functional Assessment of Neurocognition in Sport (FANS): A Paradigm Shift in Post-Concussion Return-to-Sport Decision-Making

Landon B. LempkePhD, ATC,

Benjamin L. BrettPhD, and

Douglas P. TerryPhD,ABPP