1. Sophomore professional athletic training students will interact with ATC’s as well as other health care professionals through their on and off-campus clinical experience rotations.
2. All professional athletic training students will interact with the Franklin College team physician through off-campus clinical experience rotations, surgical cases, and during on-campus injury checks.
3. All professional athletic training students will be exposed to a variety of health-care professionals in the classroom as guest speakers, lecturers, and visiting professionals.
4. All professional athletic training students are required to complete a professional development internship experience as part of the AT major. Each student will be exposed to a variety of healthcare professionals depending on the site chosen. These experiences can be completed during any semester senior year or in the fall if going a ninth semester, as deemed by the student’s schedule and desire.
4. Clinical Education Terminology/Definitions
a. Able to intervene - Preceptor is in the immediate physical vicinity and interacts with the ATS regularly and consistently to provide direction and correct inappropriate actions. Same as being physically present.” b. AT Program or Program - The Franklin College AT Program is an accredited curriculum program through
CAATE. It is a six semester program with an elective admission process that includes formal didactic and clinical education components. Clinical education begins one semester prior to entry into the formal program with student enrollment in ATR 182: Clinical Experiences in Athletic Training I.
c. AT Program Candidate - Students who plan to apply to the AT Program for entry into the program the following fall semester. Successful completion of required classes and other prerequisites are considered during the formal application process.
d. AT Program Faculty and Staff - The AT Program faculty consists of 5 full-time certified athletic trainers, two whose primary responsibility is to teach athletic training classes and three who are primarily responsible for working with the Franklin College student athletes and athletic teams but also teach classes within the program. All five ATC’s are also Preceptors for the AT Program and work with all AT Program candidates and professional athletic training students.
e. Athletic Training Professional Student – An athletic training/professional student (ATS) is a student who has been accepted into and is enrolled in a CAATE accredited entry-level athletic training education program who is participating in AT Program clinical education experiences. To differentiate from AT Program candidates, athletic training students may also be referred to as professional students. These professional students are preparing, through rigorous academic preparation, to become professionals who offer their athletic training services to the physically active population. It is required that all professional students complete all the required courses in the Athletic Training Major as well as the associated Clinical Integrate Proficiencies and clinical experiences. Completion of these requirements allows students to be eligible for the BOC examination. It is HIGHLY recommended that students are a member of the NATA for at least one year prior to taking the BOC exam. f. Clinical Education– The application of athletic training knowledge, skills, and clinical abilities on an actual
patient base that is evaluated and feedback provided by a preceptor.
g. Clinical Education Coordinator (CEC) - An individual that the AT Program designates as having the primary responsibilities for coordination of the clinical experience activities associated with the AT Program.
h. Clinical Education Experience - Clinical experiences provide an opportunity for integration of competencies, clinical integration proficiencies, and foundational behaviors within the context of direct patient care. Clinical experiences are those that involve patient care and the application of athletic training skills under the supervision of a qualified instructor. The primary settings for clinical experiences must include athletic training facilities, athletic practices, and competitive events with opportunities to work with both genders.
i. Clinical Instructor Educator (CIE) - A Clinical Instructor Educator (CIE) is a Board of Certification, Inc. (BOC) Certified Athletic Trainer or physician (MD or DO) who attends the NATA CIE Seminar and is subsequently qualified to conduct a Preceptor training workshop. The CIE is expected to have a minimum of three years of work experience as an athletic trainer or physician. The CIE may or may not be the Director of the Athletic Training Education Program. The CIE assists in developing, implementing, and evaluating the clinical education program at the academic institution. This includes assisting in coordinating clinical experiences in accordance with the clinical education objectives of the Program and facilitating the development of the clinical education setting(s) and the Preceptors.
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j. Clinical Integration Proficiencies - The entry-level athletic training clinical proficiencies define the common set of skills that entry-level athletic trainers should possess and redefine the structure of clinical education from a quantitative approach to an outcomes-based qualitative system.
k. Clinical Setting - A clinical setting is a clinical environment where health care services are provided. The clinical setting shall include the athletic training facility, athletic practices, and competitive events. Students must complete clinical experiences in these settings for a minimum of one of the two academic years of clinical education under the supervision of a BOC Certified Athletic Trainer. The athletic training facility is considered to be a designated physical facility located within the sponsoring institution or within an acceptable affiliated clinical setting in which comprehensive athletic health care services are provided. Comprehensive health care services include practice and game preparation, injury/illness evaluation, first aid and emergency care, follow-up care, rehabilitation, and related services. Additional clinical experience settings may be utilized and may include sports medicine clinics, physical therapy sites, and/or rehabilitation clinics, college or university health centers, hospital emergency rooms, physician's offices, or other appropriate health care settings. The student must be supervised by an appropriate Preceptor in these settings.
l. Communicable disease - A contagion that may be directly transmitted from person-to-person or by a person from an inert surface.
m. Direct Supervision -Supervision of the AT student during clinical experiences. The Preceptor must be physically present and have the ability to intervene on behalf of the athletic training student and patient.
n. Directed Observation Athletic Training Student - A student who may be present in an athletic training facility, but not necessarily enrolled in the athletic training major, who is required to observe the practices of a Certified Athletic Trainer. This student may not provide direct patient care.
o. Educational Competencies - The educational content required of entry-level athletic training programs. These competencies should be used to develop the curriculum and educational experiences of students enrolled in CAATE-accredited entry-level athletic training education programs.
p. Preceptor– An appropriately credentialed professional identified and trained by the program CEC to provide instruction and evaluation of the Athletic Training Educational Competencies and/or Clinical Integration Proficiencies. The Preceptor may not be a current student within the AT Program. A Preceptor provides formal instruction and evaluation of clinical integration proficiencies in classroom, laboratory, and/or in clinical education experiences through direct supervision of athletic training students.
q. Pre-professional student - A student who has not yet been admitted formally into the AT Program. May be also be considered a Directed Observation Athletic Training Student.
r. Standards and Guidelines - The Standards are the minimum standards of quality used to accredit programs that prepare individuals to enter Athletic Training. The Standards constitute the minimum requirements to which an accredited program is held accountable. The Guidelines provide examples to assist in interpreting the Standards.
5. Athletic Training Competencies
The Athletic Training Education Competencies provides Athletic Training Program (AT Program) personnel with the knowledge, skills, and clinical abilities to be mastered by students enrolled in an AT Program. Mastery of these
Competencies provides the entry–level athletic trainer with the capacity to provide athletic training services to patients of varying ages, lifestyles, and needs. The Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) requires that the Competencies be instructed and evaluated in each accredited AT Program. The Competencies are the minimum requirements for a student’s professional education. AT Program’s are encouraged to exceed these minimums to provide their students with the highest quality education possible by employing innovative, student-centered teaching and learning methodologies to connect the classroom, laboratory and clinical settings whenever possible.
Practicing concepts through clinical experiences and real life situations allows students to demonstrate decision-making and skill integration abilities. Clinical Integrated Proficiencies (CIPs) are designed to measure such real life
application. Ideally, students should be assessed in their performance of CIPs on actual patients. If this is not possible, standardized/simulated patients or scenarios should be used to measure student proficiency.
The foundational Behaviors of Professional Practice (Behaviors) comprise the application of common values in the athletic training profession and should permeate every aspect of professional practice. These Behaviors should be infused into every aspect of a students’ education in order to prepare them legally, culturally, ethically, and professionally. These Behaviors will either be demonstrated in the clinical setting by a Preceptor or in the classroom by educators. As a student progresses through the AT Program, he or she should apply these Behaviors during clinical experiences with patients he or she is working with while under the supervision of a Preceptor. The ultimate goal is to achieve these Behaviors after a student becomes certified as an athletic trainer and has been practicing for some time.