With the recent announcement by the AT Strategic Alliance to move the profession to the Master’s degree, we all need to seriously consider exactly what it means to #ELEVATE the degree.  For those of us that hope to continue training future professionals in Athletic Training, we must understand that a substantive change is a considerable adaptation to what and how we deliver professional education.  Simply changing course numbers is not a solution to our perceived and real problems in the profession.

When we think about what a new professional degree, delivered at the Master’s level, should look like, we have a responsibility to consider alternative pedagogical theories.  These practices might include:

1. Clinical immersion – Most of the recent literature has discussed our issues with transition to practice, and some consider the lack of clinical immersion may be one of many culprits.  Immersing our students in structured and supervised clinical practice will likely be less challenging with this change.

2. Measuring quality clinical experiences through patient encounters – In Athletic Training, even after educational reform, some programs continue to measure the quality of clinical experience through the number of hours spent on site.  To the contrary belief of some preceptors, time itself is no measure of the quality of experiences when students fail to have patient interactions focused on proficiency areas.   Broader perspectives on how to create and replicate clinical experiences through measuring patient interactions may be a better way of quantifying these encounters.  

3. Standardized patients and simulations – Although some current literature suggests at least a third of professional programs are using standardized patients and simulations within their programs, it seems that clear understanding of these concepts is lacking.  Medical and health professions have long used compensated and trained standardized patients to provide both formative and summative assessment to help students grow and measure competence.

4. Distance learning – With advancements in technology, distance delivery can effectively engage students in coursework and with one another.  Considering clinical assignments at a distance, while still engaging students in professional courses, is one way to diversify clinical experiences beyond the typical traditional settings and the offerings you may have within your community. 

5. Self-directed learning – It is possible to help students better guide their learning through appropriate self-reflection and critical analysis.  Reflective learners are more often self-directed due to previous academic and personal experiences, a likely byproduct when we #ELEVATE the degree.

6. Curricular and instructional creativity – Program faculty and administrators should consider a variety of course delivery modes as well as course sequencing as they #ELEVATE their programs.  While commitment (both time and effort) to degree content has always been in competition with other demands of a baccalaureate degree, we now face an open canvas to paint the perfect picture of what the degree could look like at each of our own institutions. 

To #ELEVATE means to embrace institutional autonomy now more than ever, highlighting our own strengths, unique experiences, and vision for the future. When we #ELEVATE our education, we #ELEVATE our clinicians; when we #ELEVATE our clinicians we #ELEVATE patient care; when we #ELEVATE patient care we improve patient outcomes; and when we improve patient outcomes we #ELEVATE the Profession.


-Lindsey E. Eberman PhD, LAT, ATC
-Kenneth E. Games PhD, LAT, ATC
-Jessica Edler MS, LAT, ATC

Earlier this month, the Athletic Training Strategic Alliance (a collaboration between the NATA, BOC, CAATE and NATA Foundation), after more than 2 years of analysis and deliberation to established that the professional degree in Athletic Training be at the Master’s level. The report noted that in the current state of higher education and health care, change is not only inevitable, but necessary. The Strategic Alliance has a responsibility to be the visionaries for the growth of the profession. This decision is not about today. It is about the future and longevity of the AT profession.

While this decision to change the professional degree for entry into the Athletic Training profession is met with some reluctance, I embrace the opportunity to elevate the profession and clinicians we produce. As I begin my time at Indiana State University as Professional Athletic Training Program Director, I am excited to lead the current Professional Program (at the undergraduate level) through the transition to the mater’s level. We anticipate that Indiana State will be the first Professional Athletic Training Program in the state of Indiana offered at a public institution. This is yet another example of how ISU continues to lead the way in Athletic Training education.

As Athletic Training continues to diversify practice settings, the demands simultaneously increase for knowledge, skills and professional capacity of practitioners. As educators, we are tasked with fitting more content into already crammed courses, both in the classroom and laboratory. To have a successful transition in degree level, Athletic Training education has to change to ensure continued success for the profession. This will include changing not only what we teach, but also how we teach, and how we relate to our students. As the profession elevates the entry-level degree from the Bachelor’s to Master’s level, new [and exciting] opportunities and challenges enable educators to position our students to be competent health care professionals that can function both independently and collaboratively in a changing patient care environment. Indiana State has a great history and rich tradition of elevating Athletic Training education. I look forward to continuing that tradition of excellence in preparing the next generation of clinicians.

One addition that I am excited to bring to Athletic Training Programs (both Professional and Post-Professional) at Indiana State will include the infusion of standardized patient (SP) encounters into and throughout the curricula. Standardized patients are individuals that are trained to portray a patient with a specific injury, illness, or condition consistently to a student examiner. Encounters with a SP are more than a mock evaluation; the SP has been intentionally trained to have the medical, social, psychological history of the patient he or she is portraying. Students interact with the SP in the same way they interact with a patient in clinical practice. Despite that SPs are fairly new to Athletic Training, there is a plethora of evidence in medical education, nursing, and physical therapy to support their use. I invite you to attend the Evidence-Based Forum that I am co-presenting on Friday, June 26 from 10:30-11:30am at the NATA Annual Meeting, Rom 131 to learn more about SPs.

Throughout his works, educational philosopher John Dewey has repeatedly noted that the process of education is as important as the destination. As an Athletic Training educator, I find this quote both refreshing and inspiring. I believe that Dewey reminds us that we need to teach students to not only focus on the knowledge and skills needed for professional practice, but also the process of synthesizing information effectively to make clinical decisions. I also believe that Dewey also presents a challenge to educators, namely that educators need to enable students to challenge their assumptions and norms. By ensuring that students feel comfortable asking questions about their own assumptions but also the norms of the profession, we can help shape the critical thinking and decision-making skills of the next generation of health care professionals.

The decision to change the professional degree in Athletic Training to the Master’s level is one that was not made in haste. Countless individuals from numerous professional organizations (in and beyond Athletic Training) collected evidence to make an informed decision, with the intent of improving patient outcomes and ensuring sustained success of  the Athletic Training profession. Despite your level of agreement with the decision, join me in supporting our profession through these times of change. I welcome any questions and discussion about how we at Indiana State are transitioning the Professional Athletic Training Program to the Master’s degree level.

 It’s a great time to become a Sycamore!

 Kirk J. Armstrong, EdD, ATC, LAT