Athletic Training Education Program Clinical Requirements
The Bethel University Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) leading to eligibility for the Board of Certification Exam consists of the Bachelor of Arts degree in Athletic Training (listed separately) and a 800 hour directed clinical experience. The clinical experience is divided into 5 separate levels. Students who are declared majors in Athletic Training but have not yet been admitted into the ATEP are referred to as Athletic Training Majors (ATM). Students screened and approved for admission into the ATEP are referred to as Athletic Training Students (ATS).
The levels are as follows:
Level I ATM- Athletic Training Majors not yet eligible for admission into the ATEP. These students begin completing their required observations in the spring of their freshman year.
Level II ATM- Athletic Training Majors who are in at least the fall semester of their sophomore year who will be making application to the ATEP. These students must complete their observation requirements prior to applying to the ATEP.
Level II ATS- Students who have been screened and admitted into the ATEP, and are completing their first semester in the program.
Level III ATS- Students who have been admitted into the ATEP, have obtained a minimum of 150 directed clinical hours, and are completing their second and third semesters in the program.
Level IV ATS- Students who have been admitted into the ATEP, have obtained a minimum of 500 directed clinical hours, and are completing their fourth and fifth semesters in the program.
Clinical Competencies
The NATA Role Delineation Study has defined a list of clinical competencies which are necessary to the performance of an athletic trainer. These competencies are met in both the classroom and the clinical experience. To help students develop and demonstrate these clinical skills, the ATEP requires the student athletic trainer to complete modules in the text Clinical Skills Documentation Guide for Athletic Training, Herb Amato, Slack Incorporated, 2006. Each Athletic Training course has a specific list of modules that are required to be completed during the course of the semester. Students not completing these modules will receive an incomplete until the modules have been satisfactorily completed.
Failure to satisfactorily complete these competency/proficiency modules as evaluated by the clinical instructors or program director will result in the student’s inability to progress to the next level and/or disciplinary action.
Important Note: Students should begin work on each of these modules early in the semester to avoid a rush of activity at the end of the semester. No modules will be signed-off after Tuesday of the last week of the semester.
In addition to the modules, students are evaluated by the Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC) at the end of each semester using the ATS Evaluation Form found in Appendix III.
Students completing their off-campus clinical rotations must provide their own transportation to each clinical site.
Documentation of Clinical Hours
It is the responsibility of the ATS to keep track of their clinical hours using the ATS Clinical Hours Form found in Appendix III. At the end of each week, the student must have the form initialed by an ATC on staff. Only those hours spent under the direct supervision of an ATC are acceptable. Hours spent in travel, eating, on-call, etc., cannot be counted toward the 800 hour requirement.