Four-Corner Model for Curricular Development in Athletic Training Education

Objective: To present a model for an educational continuum that identifies entry-level to advance practice competencies and content for athletic training education.

Background: Specific degree-level purposes within the context of higher education, in conjunction with professional needs should be addressed in athletic training education. Post-certification (graduate) programs in athletic training should offer increased depth of knowledge and prepare students as clinical experts, scholars, and leaders. To this end, curricular content, based on the athletic training job analysis (i.e., Role Delineation Study), institutional missions, and degree-level specific purposes need to be considered.

Description: Graduate athletic training education programs are primarily left to the purview of individual institutions. Using existing curricular development models (i.e., DACUM model and participatory approach) and predictive methods (i.e., Delphi Technique) within the context of higher education, athletic training educators can identify specific competencies and associated content. Then educators can determine the levels of importance of those competencies and content according to the types of athletic training education.

Clinical advantages: The proposed framework does not violate institutional and faculty autonomy, but helps to delineate important content for development in graduate athletic training education.