Stakeholder Perceptions of Athletic Training Clinical Education

Introduction: Athletic training clinical education is the hands-on application of learned skills and knowledge attained as part of didactic learning. It is a required component of all health care professional programs for its usefulness in the transition of a student to a competent entry-level practitioner. Extensively researched, multiple concepts contribute to effective practice, such as: professional socialization, mentoring, and intergenerational learning differences. Clinical experience structure is an under-researched topic in health care education. Using a two part qualitative methodology, this research attempts to define an immersive clinical experience model in health care education, and identify current perceptions on the clinical education structure and immersion structures within athletic training. Methods: Anonymous survey of health care educators, beginning with definitions of immersion followed by short answer questions. This inquiry was followed by semi-structured individual phone interviews of athletic training educators. Participants: 206 health care educators (10.6% response rate). Participants had an average age of 46.49 (SD: +/-10.83) and represented all solicited professions, with the majority being in athletic training (35.9%). 11 athletic training educators with a variety of demographic characteristics participated in semi structured interviews. Analysis: Data was analyzed using the constant comparative method. Peer debriefing strategies with two other researchers were then used to verify findings and explore additional insights. Results: Health educators identified three necessary pieces that define an immersive model: minimum of 8 weeks in length, minimum of 4 separate rotations, and an average of 40 hours a week. Athletic training educators identified ten themes with multiple subthemes during interviews. 1.) Degree level of the program is related to structure. 2.) Advantages to clinical experience structure. 3.) Disadvantages to clinical experience structure. 4.) Barriers to clinical education. 5.) Assistance to clinical education. 6.) Immersion is a foregone conclusion 7.) The length of immersive experiences 8.) The benefits of immersion 9.) Immersion implementation concerns 10.) Strategies for implementation of immersion. Conclusion: With the identification of necessary criteria of immersion and identified themes regarding the current state of clinical education and the inclusion of immersion, this research provides insight to the current perceptions of athletic training educators on clinical education structure and the inclusion of immersion.