Descriptive Study of the State of Post-Professional Athletic Training Education Points of Distinctiveness, Specialty Certifications, and Competencies

Context: As post-professional athletic training education programs (PPATEPs) continues to advance, it is crucial that it be studied and evaluated, however current research is limited. Objective: To obtain descriptive information about PPATEPs. Design: Online Survey Instrument Participants: Of the 267 graduates in population, 106 participants submitted the completed survey (39.70% response rate). Main Outcome Measure(s): Data collection occurs over a four-week period during the fall of 2010. The survey instrument was created with lnquisite 9.5 Corporate Survey Builder (Catapult System Corporation, Austin, Texas). Participants answer questions about the program's points of distinctiveness (PODs), specialty certifications, and the new competencies in PPATEPs. Results: Graduates very satisfied (4.36±0.62) with the ability of the program to advance their knowledge and skill in the areas of the PODs. Graduates reported that the program's POD were emphasized strongly across all four mechanism of emphasis (faculty expertise = 70.99%, research emphasis 52.76%, academic courses 50.28%, and clinical experience 45.86%). Graduates also reported that the PODs are related to the new competencies being implemented into graduate education (patient-centered care 255/362, interdisciplinary collaboration 252/362, evidence-based practice 292/362, quality improvement 263/362, healthcare informatics 227/362). The PODs were likely (3.16±0.85) to developed in a specialty certification (SC).Graduates reported that the program's POD were influential (3.56±1.42) on their decision to apply to the program and influential (3.28±0. 97) on which jobs they applied to. Conclusion: While there were many components studied, each component was related to the POD. We have concluded that graduates are satisfied with the advancement of knowledge and skill they attained while at their PPATEP and that these PODs are emphasized strongly across the four mechanisms of emphasis. The graduates also felt that the program's PODs were likely to develop into SC and that the new competencies for PPATEP are related to the program's PODs. Graduates also felt that the program's PODs were influential when applying to the program as well as applying to jobs after graduation.