The purpose was to describe the demographics of current National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) fellows and determine if a relationship between time to receive a fellowship and demographics existed. In this cross-sectional study, we used an online survey of the first 15 cohorts of NATA fellows (completion rate: 65.2%; n = 47/72) self-reporting their demographics and academic appointment milestones. Demographics collected included age, race or ethnicity, sex, year of degree completion, and familial status. The sample was mostly men (74.5%; n = 35), self-identified as White (93.6%; n = 44), and married (93.6%; n = 44). Birth or adoption of children occurred before fellowship application (80.9%; n = 38), with 83.0% (n = 39) having active coparents. A relationship existed between the child-to-fellowship time frame and the terminal degree-to-fellowship time frame (r = .728, P ≤ .001). Many demographics are underrepresented in the fellowship cohorts, and familial variables may affect time to achieve the award.

Context

Providing progressively autonomous experiences that are appropriate for the level of the student has been shown to provide numerous benefits in clinical education. However, little is known about how preceptors learn to offer progressively autonomous clinical experiences.

Objective

Explore the experiences of athletic training preceptors in providing athletic training students with a progressively autonomous clinical experience.

Design

Qualitative study.

Setting

Online interview.

Patient or Other Participants

Nineteen participants (age = 32 ± 5 years, men = 7, women = 12, years of experience = 8 ± 5) with an average of 5 years as a preceptor (range, 1–10 years).

Data Collection and Analysis

We conducted online semistructured interviews (Zoom), which were audio recorded and transcribed. The interview script was designed to investigate preceptor experiences in creating progressively autonomous learning opportunities. A data analysis team of 3 individuals used a multiphase process to create a consensual codebook represented by domains and categories from responses. Trustworthiness and credibility of the consensus codebook were established by member checking, multianalyst triangulation, and auditing.

Results

Two domains emerged regarding preceptor experiences: (1) Preparation and (2) Implementation. Preparation represented data about how preceptors valued the importance of progressively autonomous experiences as well as how they engaged in personal development as a preceptor to create these experiences. All but 1 of the preceptors indicated that educational programs failed to train them to create progressively autonomous practice experiences. The Implementation domain represented how preceptors were providing progressively autonomous clinical experiences to their students, including step-by-step methods, assessment, and evaluation.

Conclusion

Progressively autonomous experiences are critical to the development of autonomous clinicians in athletic training practice. Properly providing progressively autonomous clinical experiences prepares students to transition into practice as certified athletic trainers. Preceptors in our study described limited training on creating progressively autonomous experiences with athletic training students.