Athletic training students' engagement in interprofessional education in the classroom and during clinical education.

Interprofessional education is an area of emphasis within healthcare. Little is known regarding what other healthcare professions athletic training students engage with during interprofessional education. Therefore, our purpose was to identify the healthcare students that athletic training students engage with in the classroom/laboratory and during clinical education.

Perceived frequency of peer-assisted learning in the laboratory and collegiate clinical settings.

Context: Peer-assisted learning (PAL) has been recommended as an educational strategy to improve students' skill acquisition and supplement the role of the clinical instructor (CI). How frequently students actually engage in PAL in different settings is unknown.

Objective: To determine the perceived frequency of planned and unplanned PAL (peer modeling, peer feedback and assessment, peer mentoring) in different settings.

Preferences for and barriers to formal and informal athletic training continuing education activities.

Context: Our previous research determined the frequency of participation and perceived effect of formal and informal continuing education (CE) activities. However, actual preferences for and barriers to CE must be characterized.

Objective: To determine the types of formal and informal CE activities preferred by athletic trainers (ATs) and barriers to their participation in these activities.

Formal and informal continuing education activities and athletic training professional practice.

Context: Continuing education (CE) is intended to promote professional growth and, ultimately, to enhance professional practice.

Objective: To determine certified athletic trainers' participation in formal (ie, approved for CE credit) and informal (ie, not approved for CE credit) CE activities and the perceived effect these activities have on professional practice with regard to improving knowledge, clinical skills and abilities, attitudes toward patient care, and patient care itself.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Athletic training approved clinical instructors' reports of real-time opportunities for evaluating clinical proficiencies.

Context: Appropriate methods for evaluating clinical proficiencies are essential to ensuring entry-level competence in athletic training.

Objective: To identify the methods Approved Clinical Instructors (ACIs) use to evaluate student performance of clinical proficiencies.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Evaluation of athletic training students' clinical proficiencies.

Context: Appropriate methods for evaluating clinical proficiencies are essential in ensuring entry-level competence.

Objective: To investigate the common methods athletic training education programs use to evaluate student performance of clinical proficiencies.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Role strain in collegiate athletic training approved clinical instructors.

Context: Certified athletic trainers who serve as Approved Clinical Instructors (ACIs) in the collegiate setting are balancing various roles (eg, patient care and related administrative tasks, clinical education). Whether this balancing act is associated with role strain in athletic trainers has not been examined.

Objective: To examine the degree of, and contributing factors (eg, socialization experiences, professional and employment demographics, job congruency) to, role strain in collegiate ACIs.

Peer-assisted learning and orthopaedic evaluation psychomotor skills.

Context: Athletic training educators often anecdotally suggest that athletic training students enhance their learning by teaching their peers. However, peer-assisted learning (PAL) has not been examined within athletic training education to provide evidence for PAL's current use or for its use as a pedagogic tool.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of intentional, formal PAL on the performance of psychomotor skills and to identify students' perceptions of PAL.

Athletic training students in the college/ university setting and the scope of clinical education.

Context: Athletic training education programs must provide the proper type and amount of clinical supervision in order for athletic training students to obtain appropriate clinical education and to meet Board of Certification examination requirements.

Objective: To assess athletic training students' perceptions of the type and amount of clinical supervision received during clinical education.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Peer-assisted learning in the athletic training clinical setting.

Context: Athletic training educators often anecdotally suggest that athletic training students enhance their learning by teaching their peers. However, peer-assisted learning (PAL) has not been examined within athletic training education in order to provide evidence for its current use or as a pedagogic tool.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of PAL in athletic training clinical education and to identify students' perceptions of PAL.

Importance and applicability of approved clinical instructor standards and criteria to certified athletic trainers in different clinical education settings.

Context: For optimal clinical education of athletic training students, Clinical Instructor Educators and program directors need to proactively select, train, and evaluate their Approved Clinical Instructors (ACIs).

Objective: To assess the relative importance and applicability of ACI standards to certified athletic trainers employed in different athletic training clinical education settings.

Design: Respondents rated and ranked the importance and applicability of the 7 standards presented by Weidner and Henning.

Development of Standards and Criteria for the Selection, Training, and Evaluation of Athletic Training Approved Clinical Instructors.

OBJECTIVE: To develop standards and associated criteria for the selection, training, and evaluation of athletic training approved clinical instructors (ACIs). DESIGN AND SETTING: A previously developed set of 7 physical therapy clinical instructor standards/criteria and 2 additional standards/criteria developed through a review of the literature were systematically adapted, judged, and revised through a Delphi technique. SUBJECTS: Athletic training education experts currently employed as program directors for entry-level Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs-accredited athletic training educational programs and who had the following: a doctoral degree, at least 5 years of supervising athletic training students, and familiarity/experience with clinical instruction in various athletic training clinical education settings.

Clinical-Education-Setting Standards Are Helpful in the Professional Preparation of Employed, Entry-Level Certified Athletic Trainers.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the helpfulness of clinical-education-setting standards in the professional preparation of entry-level certified athletic trainers. DESIGN AND SETTING: We developed a 22-item questionnaire based on the 12 standards presented by Weidner and Laurent. Subjects used a Likert scale (0 = no help, 5 = very helpful) to indicate their perceptions of the helpfulness of each standard in preparing them for their roles and responsibilities as certified athletic trainers.

Clinical Supervision of Athletic Training Students at Colleges and Universities Needs Improvement.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the type and amount of clinical supervision athletic training students received during clinical education. DESIGN AND SETTING: An online survey was conducted with a questionnaire developed specifically for this study. SUBJECTS: Head athletic trainers from National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I (28), Division II (34), and Division III institutions (30).

Historical Perspective of Athletic Training Clinical Education.

OBJECTIVE: To present a historical perspective of the development and evolution of clinical education in the medical and allied health professions, with a special interest in athletic training; to gain a better understanding and appreciation of the depth and breadth of the structured and formal clinical education needed in athletic training, for both the present and the future. DATA SOURCES: Information was drawn from the Educational Resources Information Center (1966-2001), MEDLINE (1966-2001), SPORT Discus (1830-2002), and CINAHL (1982-2002) searches of historical literature relating to the development of medical, allied health, and athletic training clinical education. Key words searched were clinical education, clinical instruction, medical education, allied health education, history of medical education, athletic training education, and history of clerkships.

Selection and Evaluation Guidelines for Clinical Education Settings in Athletic Training.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and test standards and associated criteria for the selection and evaluation of a clinical education setting in athletic training. DESIGN AND SETTING: A previously validated set of 20 standards for physical therapy clinical education settings, the associated criteria, and 2 related evaluation forms were systematically judged, revised, and adapted through a survey process. SUBJECTS: Program directors, clinical instructors, and students involved with athletic training clinical education from 28 athletic training education programs approved by the National Athletic Trainers' Association or accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.

Clinical Instructors' and Student Athletic Trainers' Perceptions of Helpful Clinical Instructor Characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the perceptions of students and clinical instructors regarding helpful clinical instructor characteristics. DESIGN AND SETTING: We developed a questionnaire containing helpful clinical instructor characteristics for facilitating student learning from a review of the medical and allied health clinical education literature. Respondents rated clinical instructor characteristics from 1 (among the least helpful) to 10 (among the most helpful).