Tools:     Email Page   •     Print Page

Program Description

The course work included in this curriculum not only prepares students for a professional career in the Athletic Training field but also satisfies the required subject matter areas for CAATE accreditation. The 68 hour Athletic Training core curriculum is very comprehensive and includes such subjects as nutrition, exercise physiology and practical applications, biomechanics, first aid, physical fitness training and conditioning, care and prevention of athletic injuries, diseases of the human body, drug use/abuse, sport psychology, testing and data analysis, energy balance, weight management, assessment of musculoskeletal injuries and various illnesses, management and treatment of injuries, rehabilitation and reconditioning of injuries, and organization and administration strategies of Athletic Training. Additionally the core curriculum is supplemented by 58 hours of general education courses that provide additional knowledge that can be applied directly to the field of study. These include courses in the biological sciences (general biology, human anatomy and human physiology), physical sciences (college physics), social sciences and humanities (including a required course in medical ethics), language arts, mathematics, and introductory courses in a sport foundation core. Course work that makes up the major core curriculum as well as general education requirements is provided.

During the clinical portion of the curriculum students will enroll in a series of practicum courses (HSES 581-584) that corresponds with the didactic course on specific Athletic Training topics and techniques. The practicum course is utilized as a method to provide the Athletic Training Student with an opportunity to learn, practice, perfect, and apply the Athletic Training proficiencies in a supervised clinical setting that offers challenges and requires problem solving skills. The clinical portion of the curriculum is initiated early in the student’s program beginning with specific Athletic Training proficiencies being met during the Pre-Professional Phase of the program in courses HSES 350 Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries and HSES 351 Foundations of Athletic Training. Each semester students will participate in a practicum course that is designed to provide the student with sufficient opportunity to develop specific competencies pertaining to the corresponding didactic course work. Each practicum has specific Athletic Training proficiencies and competencies that provide a logical progression of learning throughout the two-year Professional Phase. The curriculum consists of four practicum courses (HSES 581,582, 583, and 584) that are taken each semester throughout the two-year Professional Phase of the program. Specific skills, knowledge and outcomes that are acquired in the HSES Practicum and Athletic Training didactic courses are listed with each course syllabus.

There are four practicum courses and one laboratory provided throughout the curriculum in which Student Athletic Trainers obtain clinical proficiencies. Students in the Pre-Professional Phase of the program (Spring term, Sophomore year) are classified as Level I students and enroll in HSES 350 Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries, which acts as a prerequisite course for admission to the Athletic Training program. Material related to Athletic Training is discussed in an introductory manner and also covers basic Athletic Training clinical proficiencies. The hands-on clinical proficiencies are instructed and practiced in HSES 351 Foundations of Athletic Training. These courses are offered to students who are applying for admission to the Athletic Training program. The laboratory (HSES 351) addresses various Athletic Training proficiencies related to risk management and injury prevention including preventative taping, bracing, wrapping techniques, and acute care of injury and illness. Clinical proficiencies addressed in this course are required to be approved by the Instructor and are also a requirement for admission to the Professional Phase of the education program.

Once students have been accepted to the Athletic Training Education Program they begin the didactic and clinical portion of the Professional Phase of the curriculum. Level II Athletic Training Students enroll in HSES 528 Techniques of Athletic Training I – Lower Extremity and its corresponding internship course HSES 581 Athletic Training practicum I: Recognition and Evaluation Fall term their Junior academic year. The following semester Level II students enroll in HSES 654 Management and Treatment Techniques of Athletic Training, HSES 529 Techniques of Athletic Training II – Upper Extremity and the corresponding internship course, HSES 582 Athletic Training Practicum II: Management and Treatment of Athletic Injuries. The courses offered to Level II students during the first year of the Professional Phase are designed to 1) provide the student with the knowledge and skills necessary to evaluate and assess physically active individuals with injuries and illnesses and 2) identify appropriate management techniques to properly treat and care for the injuries and illness of the physically active. The functions of assessment and management of injuries and illnesses is viewed as a main responsibility of the Certified Athletic Trainer. Thus, the skills related to these functions are introduced early in the Professional Phase of the curriculum to allow Athletic Training Students ample opportunity to utilize the skills in a practical environment throughout their clinical experience in our curriculum.

During the Professional Phase students are also required to participate in an off-campus clinical experience at one of our four affiliated High School clinical sites located in the Lawrence area. Students will spend at least one semester each at one of the affiliate sites experiencing a multitude of high school sports under the direct supervision of a Certified Athletic Trainer. Students are provided this opportunity in the Professional Phase to allow them opportunities to experience different career settings for the Certified Athletic Trainer. Offering the off-campus high school experience in the curriculum allows students time to make decisions about working at specific settings.

Upon successful completion of the requirements from the first year of the Professional Phase, students may then progress to the second year of the Professional Phase as Level III Athletic Training Students. During the Senior year students are exposed to additional Athletic Training proficiencies while continuing to apply past and newly obtained knowledge in a clinical setting. Student Athletic Trainers enroll in HSES 656 Rehabilitation Techniques of Athletic Training and the corresponding practicum course, HSES 583 Athletic Training Practicum III: Rehabilitation Techniques the Fall term their Senior year. Students learn the theory behind therapeutic exercise and how to develop and implement effective and appropriate rehabilitation and reconditioning programs for the benefit of returning physically active individuals back to their activity. Athletic Training Students apply the proficiencies related to therapeutic exercise during the clinical experience assigned to them as a requirement for the HSES 583 practicum course. The placement of these courses in the curriculum fits nicely into the progression of learning in that students first learn how to recognize and assess injuries and illness of the physically active, then learn how to appropriately manage and treat the injuries and illnesses, and now are taught how to rehabilitate/recondition the injuries so the physically active individual may return to his/her activity. At the end of the third semester of clinical instruction Student Athletic Trainers will be prepared to competently manage the health care of physically active individuals.

The last semester of the Professional Phase in the Athletic Training Education Program is designed to allow Student Athletic Trainers the experience of being the “Charge Athletic Training Student” of a specific sport team. During this time Level III Student Athletic Trainers are given an opportunity to administrate and make decisions regarding the health care of a specific team. This segment of the Professional Phase is still supervised by a Certified Athletic Trainer but is meant to give the Senior student more responsibilities and allow them more freedom in decision-making abilities. Students enroll in HSES 658 Organization and Administration Techniques of Athletic Training and the corresponding practicum course HSES 584 Athletic Training Practicum IV: Senior Sport Experience.

Students learn management styles and organization techniques during the didactic portion of this semester and apply them to the clinical experience. At the completion of this semester and the end of the curriculum, Student Athletic Trainers will be have had the clinical experience and instruction necessary to function competently as first responders, and will be completely prepared for the NATABOC Certification Examination.

The clinical portion of the curriculum has been designed so that during the overall clinical experience each student experiences sports that involve specific protective equipment during the field experience. In addition, each student will be exposed to a sport(s) that primarily involve the upper extremity (racquet sports, throwing sports, volleyball, swimming, etc) as well as those that primarily involve the lower extremity (soccer, track, cross-country, basketball, football, etc). Each student will also experience various gender specific sports during their overall clinical experience and will also be exposed to sports involved with high-risk activity and protective athletic equipment. Students will also be exposed to various medical specialties during the clinical assignments. Students will participate in scheduled rotations for the observations and experience working with the Team Physicians and learning about various orthopedic and musculoskeletal injuries and illness that affect the physically active.