Professional Master's Athletic Training Programs use Clinical Education to Facilitate Transition to Practice

Abstract

Context: Athletic training students' ability to transition into professional practice is a critical component for the future of the profession. However, research on professional master's students' transition to practice and readiness to provide autonomous care is lacking. Objective: To determine professional master's athletic training students' perceptions regarding how they were prepared to transition to practice as clinicians. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Professional master's athletic training programs. Patients or Other Participants: Sixteen students, 8 program directors, and 5 faculty members from professional master's athletic training programs. Main Outcome Measure(s): An online questionnaire was distributed via Qualtrics and analyzed using an inductive technique. Participants responded to a series of open-ended questions related to the structure and curricular offerings of their respective programs. We secured trustworthiness through multiple analyst triangulation and peer review. Results: We found that both students and faculty identified clinical education as the major facilitator in the socialization process used to prepare students for the transition into clinical practice. Three further subthemes emerged: (1) Both stakeholder groups felt that students gained experience through diverse and immersive clinical education experiences; (2) Preceptors provided mentorship; and (3) Students developed confidence to enter clinical practice as a result of these supported experiences. Conclusions: Professional master's programs provide clinical education experiences designed to help athletic training students gain the skills and confidence necessary to become autonomous practitioners. The diversity and mentorship contained within these experiences facilitates confidence and preparedness.