The Role of the DAT in the Future of Athletic Training Education

Context While currently there are 2 curriculum route options leading to athletic training certification, the future of athletic training education is being heavily debated. While master's-level professional (MLP) athletic training programs account for less than 8% of all accredited programs, these programs have seen tremendous growth in the past decade. Little is known about the characteristics of these MLP programs or the graduates they produce. Objective To perform exploratory analysis of MLP program history, cohort characteristics, program and graduation requirements, and outcome measures. Design Cross-sectional design involving online survey research. Patients or Other Participants Eleven MLP program directors. Main Outcome Measure(s) Survey data were collected via Formstack.com. Open-ended questions were categorized based on common themes and were coded. Descriptive statistics and correlations were calculated. Results Accreditation of MLP programs was pursued for a variety of reasons. Programs admit an average of 13.5 students per year, and, on average, MLPs have 22 students. Ninety-one percent of students are retained into the second year, and 91% of students graduate. Ninety-one percent of MLP programs require either a thesis or structured research project; 45% require a comprehensive examination. The average 3-year aggregate first-time Board of Certification (BOC) examination pass rate was 91.7%. Pass rate was significantly correlated with thesis/structured research requirements. Ninety-three percent of graduates pursue employment using their Athletic Trainer Certified (ATC) credential. Ninety-one percent of program directors believe that MLP programs better prepare students to pass the BOC exam and better prepare them to practice as athletic trainers and believe the undergraduate route to certification should be eliminated. Conclusions High retention, graduation, first-time BOC pass rates, and employment using the ATC credential of MLP students make a strong case for MLP programs as the future of athletic training education.

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Propelling athletic training education into the future - overcoming barriers to implementation of evidence-based practice concepts

International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare ◽

10.1097/01258363-201109000-00066 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 314

Author(s):

S A Manspeaker

Keyword(s):

Athletic Training ◽

Evidence Based Practice ◽

Athletic Training Education ◽

Evidence Based ◽

The Future ◽

Barriers To Implementation

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Challenges of Fear Conditioning Research in the Age of RDoC

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000303 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 225 (3) ◽

pp. 189-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Tina B. Lonsdorf ◽

Jan Richter

Keyword(s):

Fear Conditioning ◽

Clinical Diagnosis ◽

Research Domain Criteria ◽

Major Focus ◽

The Future ◽

Definition Of ◽

Methodological Considerations ◽

Research Domain

Abstract. As the criticism of the definition of the phenotype (i.e., clinical diagnosis) represents the major focus of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative, it is somewhat surprising that discussions have not yet focused more on specific conceptual and procedural considerations of the suggested RDoC constructs, sub-constructs, and associated paradigms. We argue that we need more precise thinking as well as a conceptual and methodological discussion of RDoC domains and constructs, their interrelationships as well as their experimental operationalization and nomenclature. The present work is intended to start such a debate using fear conditioning as an example. Thereby, we aim to provide thought-provoking impulses on the role of fear conditioning in the age of RDoC as well as conceptual and methodological considerations and suggestions to guide RDoC-based fear conditioning research in the future.

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