Clinical Practice Patterns of Interprofessional Collaboration: Considerations for Athletic Training Education

Abstract

Context As required elements of accreditation, interprofessional education (IPE), and interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) are key considerations for athletic training educators, students, and practicing professionals. Objective Despite the emphasis on IPE and IPCP, little information exists regarding which health care professionals athletic trainers should collaborate with outside of physicians. In addition, no study has established which professionals athletic training students should be educated alongside in preparation for future interprofessional collaboration. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting Clinical practice settings. Patients or Other Participants Stratified sample of 105 athletic trainers across various employment settings. Data Collection and Analysis Participants selected the top 5 health care professionals with whom they currently interact, desire to collaborate, and believe students should be learning to interact with during clinical practice. Participants indicated how much time they spent in collaborative practice and the frequency and method of their interactions. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics including means, standard deviations, and frequency counts. Results In addition to physicians, participants identified physical therapists, physician assistants, nurses, and nurse practitioners as the primary professionals with whom they interacted in the past 12 months. Participants identified a desire to collaborate with sport and exercise psychologists, physical therapists, nutritionists, physician assistants, and certified or licensed professional counselors. In addition, participants indicated that athletic training students should learn with physical therapists, paramedics or emergency medical technicians (EMTs), physician assistants, nutritionists, and sport and exercise psychologists in preparation for future clinical practice. Regarding time, the majority (64.7%) of participants interact with other health care professionals multiple times a day or week. Conclusions These results are indicative of the need to prepare athletic training students to engage in collaboration with professionals beyond the naturally occurring partnerships with physicians. Educators could use these findings in the development or modification of IPE experiences, and the results may be considered in the development of continuing education opportunities to enhance practicing athletic trainers’ collaborations.