Professional Program Preparation, Orientation, and Mentoring Tactics Used to Develop Professional Responsibility in Early-Career Athletic Trainers

Abstract

Context Transition to practice is a pivotal period in an athletic trainer's (AT) career that includes higher-than-average job-related stress due to many changes. Objective To assess how early-career ATs from professional master's athletic training programs (PMATP) developed professional responsibility during their transition to practice. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Web-based survey. Patients or Other Participants A total of 137 participants who graduated from a PMATP and who were board certified from 2016 to 2018 completed the study. Intervention(s) The Web-based survey asked which transition-to-practice tactics were used, if they were helpful, and how they were helpful with respect to preparation (formal coursework and clinical experiences), orientation, and mentorship. Main Outcome Measure(s) We calculated frequencies for each tactic in transition to practice, the tactic's helpfulness, and what the tactic specifically aided during the participant's transition. Results Overall, 78.8% (108/137) of participants perceived their PMATP prepared them to transition to practice. Regarding formal coursework, the majority indicated they discussed professional behaviors (78.1%, 107/137), which was very helpful (43.9%, 47/107) in developing professional communication (70.1%, 96/137). The most frequent tactics in clinical experiences included being encouraged to make patient-care decisions (82.5%, 113/137, extremely helpful = 76.1%, 86/113) and being provided feedback about performance (81.8%, 112/137, extremely helpful = 76.1%, 86/113), which developed confidence (75.9%, 104/137). Few participants (24.1%, 33/137) indicated they were exposed to formal orientation. Almost half reported having informal orientation by learning on the job (39.4%, 54/137). Few participants were assigned a mentor (25.5%, 35/137); those who were indicated that the mentor was extremely helpful (40.0%, 14/35) for understanding the role of an AT. Conclusions Early-career ATs perceived that their PMATP, informal orientation, and unassigned mentors were helpful in developing professional responsibility. Often these tactics were effective at developing confidence, but other tactics may be necessary to assist role understanding, managing patient load and administrative duties, and resolving conflicts.