bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Three-Question Framework to Facilitate Clinical Decision Making
Authors: Sibold Jeremy 
Published: June 2020

Context: Highly developed critical thinking and the ability to discriminate among many possible therapeutic interventions is a core behavior for the practicing athletic trainer. However, while athletic training students receive a great deal of clinically applicable information, many are not explicitly trained in efficient methods for channeling this great volume of data into sound clinical decisions.
Objective: To propose a simple, three-question framework for prudent clinical decision making in therapeutic modalities and rehabilitation contexts.
Background: Athletic training education occurs in various settings, where students are immersed in basic cognitive and psychomotor proficiencies germane to the prevention, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of injury and illness in the physically active. In clinical practice, the knowledge and demonstration of these proficiencies are vital to the development of sound clinical decision making.
Description: I propose a simple and repeatable three-question decision making scheme that includes questions related to clinical goal(s), target tissue(s), and modality choice(s), as a potential mechanism to improve athletic training students' decision making in the clinical arena.
Clinical Advantage(s): This simple framework is adaptable to many clinical settings and can help cultivate decision making abilities and confidence, especially in the less experienced clinician.
Conclusions: The ability to make sound clinical decisions is fundamental to athletic training. With simple cognitive frameworks, clinical educators can empower students to make sensible decisions in the clinical arena leading to improved student self-confidence and patient outcomes.
Clinical Preceptors' Perspectives on Clinical Education in Post-Professional Athletic Training Education Programs
Authors: Phan Kelvin , McCarty Cailee W. , Mutchler Jessica M , Van Lunen Bonnie 
Published: June 2020

Context: Clinical education is the interaction between a clinical preceptor and student within the clinical setting to help the student progress as a clinician. Post-professional athletic training clinical education is especially important to improve these students' clinical knowledge and skills. However, little research has been conducted to assess the pedagogical principles for clinical education at this level or what factors are necessary to enhance the clinical skills and decision-making abilities of post-professional students. Therefore, exploring the perspectives of clinical preceptors involved in post-professional education will help educators understand what strategies are necessary to improve post-professional athletic training education programs (PPATEPs).
Objective: To qualitatively investigate clinical preceptors' perspectives and experiences regarding clinical education within PPATEPs.
Design: Consensual qualitative research (CQR) with an emergent design.
Setting: Telephone interviews were conducted with all participants.
Patients or Other Participants: Eleven collegiate post-professional clinical preceptors (7 males, 4 females; average age = 38±7.3 years; average years as an athletic trainer = 15±6.6 years) who were affiliated with a PPATEP were interviewed, representing 11 out of 16 PPATEPs.
Data Collection and Analysis: Interview transcripts were coded for themes and categories. Triangulation included a consensus process by the research team and member checking to verify the data.
Results: Data analysis yielded four themes relating to clinical education in PPATEPs: importance of clinical education, clinical preceptor responsibilities, clinical preceptor qualities, and barriers to clinical education. Participants indicated that clinical education was important for students to develop clinical skills and give them opportunities to make patient care decisions, and that several fundamental responsibilities and qualities contribute to being an effective clinical preceptor at the post-professional level.
Conclusions: Post-professional clinical preceptors recognized that an appropriate balance between autonomy and guided practice in clinical experiences fostered an effective learning environment which allowed post-professional students to improve their clinical and decision-making skills beyond their entry-level skill set. Preceptors should also demonstrate attributes of a clinician, educator, and communicator to be an effective mentor.
Strategies for Highly Effective Athletic Training Education Program Directors: A Practical Approach to Interdependence
Authors: Leone James E. , Gray Kimberly A. 
Published: June 2020

Objective: Following Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, this article seeks to communicate effective strategies for athletic training education Program Directors (PDs) to follow. Commentary of Covey's work and practical strategies to integrate them into PD practice and responsibilities are provided.
Background: Due to a lack of professional preparation, Program Directors often relate to what they know best–working long hours to get the job accomplished. It is not uncommon for PDs to mirror the work schedules of clinically practicing certified athletic trainers. With this in mind, we propose approaching the role of PD using Stephen Covey's wisdom from his literary work, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Practical strategies for integrating Covey's work into a PD's daily responsibilities, as well as remaining compliant with CAATE Standard expectations, are discussed.
Clinical Instructor Characteristics, Behaviors and Skills in Allied Health Care Settings: A Literature Review
Authors: Levy Linda S. , Sexton Patrick , Willeford K. Sean , Barnum Mary G. , Guyer M. Susan , Gardner Greg , Fincher A. Louise 
Published: June 2020

The purpose of this literature review is to compare both clinical instructor and student perceptions of helpful and hindering clinical instructor characteristics, behaviors and skills in athletic training and allied health care settings. Clinical education in athletic training is similar to that of other allied health care professions. Clinical education is used to practice didactic information in a hands-on environment, with the goal of integrating theory and practice in a controlled setting. Students are taught skills, behaviors and attitudes required to enter into professional practice. Athletic training clinical education evolved from the medical education model for training physicians and is currently based on the nursing model. Other allied health care professionals employ similar practices.
Objective: To provide an overview of helpful and hindering clinical instructor characteristics, behaviors and skills in athletic training and in other allied health professions.
Data Sources: MEDLINE, Health Source: Nursing/Academic, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Academic Search Premier, ERIC and PsychArticles served as the data sources for the allied health fields that included athletic training, nursing, medicine, optometry, clinical psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language pathology, radiography.
Data Synthesis: Athletic trainer, allied health profession, and student perceptions of clinical instructor characteristics, behaviors and skills were reviewed and summarized.
Conclusions/Recommendations: This review presents literature suggesting that clinical education, regardless of the profession or setting, contains similarities. Clinical instructor characteristics, behaviors and skills are important and need to be the focus of clinical education in order to promote helpful, while minimizing hindering, behaviors. Effective clinical instructors enhance the learning process. Focusing on improved supervisor and supervision services should be employed to teach athletic trainers helpful clinical instructor behaviors.
Issues in Selecting Methods of Evaluating Clinical Competence in the Health Professions: Implications for Athletic Training Education
Authors: Middlemas David A. , Hensal Carleton 
Published: June 2020

Objectives: To examine methods used to evaluate the clinical competence and proficiency of students in medicine and allied health professions. To identify factors that would be valuable to educators in athletic training and other medical and allied health professions in the development and use of clinical assessment methods.
Data Sources: We searched EBSCO Academic, InfoTrac, MEDLINE and PubMed for literature from professional journals related to clinical education, assessing clinical competence, clinical competence, clinical proficiency assessment.
Data Synthesis: Assessment of competence in the clinical setting is an issue for medicine and allied health education programs, including athletic training. Methods used to assess clinical competence included written, objective tests, checklists, oral examinations, patient management problems, simulated patients, observed clinical situations, the Observed Structured Clinical Exam and observation of students. Each method has its advantages and concerns. Psychometric issues relating to reliability, validity and generalizability arise in the development and implementation of clinical assessment instruments. In addition, there are concerns about how faculty expectations relate to student performance and how novices perform in the clinical setting as compared to experienced practitioners.
Conclusions/Recommendations: Although specific outcomes may differ between the medical and allied health professions, athletic training educators can benefit from the lessons learned about methods used to evaluate students in the clinical setting. In an effort to capitalize on the benefits and minimize the problems with the assessment of clinical competence and proficiency, athletic training educators must be aware of the psychometric and outcome-related issues in test development. Attention should be paid to issues of reliability, validity and generalizability when developing tests. Clinical education outcomes must be developed in a manner that addresses the variety of cognitive levels at which clinicians function in professional practice to develop authentic assessments of clinical proficiency.
Athletic Trainers' Perceptions of the Importance, Preparation and Time Spent in the Athletic Training Content Areas
Authors: Donahue Martin 
Published: June 2020

Context: Graduates of professional programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education are expected to be competent and proficient in the athletic training content areas.
Objective: The unique skills and knowledge that an athletic trainer (AT) must possess may have more importance in one clinical setting than in another. The purpose of this study was to determine how ATs in the six largest employment categories perceive the athletic training content areas.
Design: Descriptive, exploratory.
Setting: Survey instrument mailed to ATs practicing in the clinical settings identified by the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) as employing the most ATs.
Patients or other Participants: Participants were ATs assigned to groups based on their current clinical setting.
Intervention(s): Participants were asked to rate the athletic training content areas regarding: importance for successful practice, time on task, importance for patient care, educational preparation, and educational emphasis.
Main Outcome Measures: ANOVA was repeated for the seven groups, each of the 12 content areas and for each of the five research questions, producing 60 analyses. Post hoc analysis was used to determine group differences (p&lt; 0.01).
Results: ATs largely agree on the ratings of the content areas in relation to preparation, patient care, and educational emphasis. Significant differences were related to time, and importance for success.
Conclusions: Findings indicate ATs do not feel well prepared in six (Pharmacology, General Medical Conditions and Disabilities, Nutritional Aspects of Injury and Illness, Psychological Intervention and Referral, Health Care Administration, and Professional Development and Responsibilities) of the twelve content areas.
Incorporating Mobile Learning into Athletic Training Education
Authors: Davie Emily 
Published: June 2020

Objective: To introduce and present techniques for incorporating mobile learning into athletic training education.
Background: The matriculation of digital natives into college has stimulated the identification and development of new teaching and learning strategies. Electronic learning (e-learning), including the use of learning management systems, has been combined with traditional classroom lectures and lab activities to address the needs of these technologically savvy students. Learning management systems offer valuable options to students, but still rely on a computer terminal to interface with the material. Restrictions on when and where a student can “plug-in” to learn places limitations on e-learning. Mobile learning (m-learning) is a sub-set of e-learning that uses hand-held devices to allow flexibility in learning at any time and any place. M-learning involves the use of mobile devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and portable media players for the purposes of acquiring and disseminating knowledge. A variety of methods have been identified for incorporating m-learning into higher education. Articles regarding the use of m-learning, specifically in health care education, are limited.
Description: Descriptions of m-learning applications in higher education are presented. Examples of techniques are offered to aid the athletic training instructor in implementing the m-learning principles into the classroom and clinical settings.
Application: Athletic training education lends itself well to m-learning. Athletic training students can utilize mobile devices to prepare for an upcoming class session, participate during class, review and study course materials, communicate with teachers and peers, enhance clinical education, and document clinical experiences.
Injured Athletes' Perceived Loss of Identity: Educational Implications for Athletic Trainers
Authors: Lockhart Barbara D. 
Published: June 2020

Context: As educators, athletic trainers should familiarize athletes with the concepts of self-acceptance self-esteem and identity to assuage psychological trauma accompanying injury because the more a person identifies with being an athlete, the more difficult it is to deal with athletic injury.
Objective: The objective of this article is to provide practical information to athletic trainers to assist them with their educative role in addressing athletes' identity loss that often accompanies athletic injury.
Background: Measures of psychological trauma accompanying physical trauma show that psychological trauma can be extreme. Furthermore, the loss of identity is a major factor for athletes who are dealing with the psychological trauma of athletic injuries. Athletic trainers who assume responsibility to address issues of psychological loss from athletic injury can be a great benefit to the injured individual.
Description: The use of the Worth Index, which differentiates between self-acceptance self-esteem and achievement self-esteem, demonstrates that it is possible for people to perceive their personal worth and identity as distinct from their behavior. Athletic trainers are in an excellent position to interact with athletes and utilize specific questions to facilitate dialogue related to identity and self-esteem.
Clinical Advantages: In practice, clinical advantages may include improving an athlete's ability to put a physical injury in proper perspective, strengthening their commitment to rehabilitation, and avoiding complications due to emotional trauma.
Conclusions: Athletic trainers must recognize their educative responsibilities and assist injured athletes in addressing issues of identify loss.
Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice Concepts in Undergraduate Athletic Training Education: Experiences of Select Educators
Authors: Manspeaker Sarah A. , Van Lunen Bonnie 
Published: June 2020

Context: Professional athletic training education must transition toward instruction of evidence-based practice in order to maintain progress with other health professions' clinical practices and educational standards.
Objective: To evaluate athletic training educators' experience with implementation of evidence-based practice concepts in CAATE accredited professional athletic training education programs in order to establish the current state of instructional approaches and incorporation of evidence-based practice concepts.
Design and Setting: Interviews of emergent design and modified-grounded theory. Instructors currently teaching at 11 undergraduate institutions were interviewed regarding their experience and perceptions of teaching evidence-based concepts. Participants: Eleven educators (3 males, 8 females; average [SD] years teaching 14.73 [7.06]) were interviewed to evaluate their implementation of evidence-based concepts within their courses.
Measure(s): Instructors' experiences regarding teaching of these concepts was explored qualitatively through coding by the researcher. Established categories were triangulated and member checked to establish trustworthiness of the findings.
Results: The analysis determined that instructors have three primary approaches to evidence-based practice concept implementation within their programs: curricular emphasis, teaching strategies, and student activities. Analysis also revealed that teaching objectives for concept implementation transcended the cognitive levels of Bloom's revised taxonomy.
Conclusions: Athletic training educators should be creative in how they implement EBP within their programs and share their experience with the profession. The teaching objectives, strategies, and activities presented should provide other educators with a foundation to initiate evidence-based instruction. Educating the future of our profession in EBP concepts will promote critical thinking, potential research interest, and further development of the available body of knowledge of our growing clinical practice.
Standardized Patients Provide Realistic and Worthwhile Experiences for Athletic Training Students
Authors: Walker Stacy E. , Weidner Thomas G. 
Published: June 2020

Context: Standardized patients are more prominently used to both teach and evaluate students' clinical skills and abilities.
Objective: To investigate whether athletic training students perceived an encounter with a standardized patient (SP) as realistic and worthwhile and to determine their perceived comfort in future lower extremity evaluations with standardized and actual patients.
Design and setting: Cross-sectional. Athletic Training Research and Education Laboratory, on-campus athletic training room, and Clinical Proficiency Evaluation Room.
Subjects: Twenty-nine undergraduate athletic training students (17 female, 12 male) at a Midwestern CAATE-accredited institution who had completed a lower extremity orthopedic evaluation course in the past 12 months.
Measurements: A Standardized Patient Encounter Feedback Form consisting of 5 Likert scale items (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree) regarding the participants' perceptions of SP encounters with foot/ankle and knee orthopedic cases (eg, worthwhile, realistic, confidence with future SPs and actual patients). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Written comments regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the encounters were analyzed inductively.
Results: The participants indicated (90%–100% of the time) that: they agreed or strongly agreed that the encounters were worthwhile and realistic; the cases presented were appropriate; they were provided with adequate performance feedback by the SPs; and that their lower extremity evaluation skills were helped by the experiences. The participants indicated (86%–93% of the time) that they agreed or strongly agreed that the encounters made them feel more comfortable about future evaluations with standardized and actual patients.
Conclusions: It appears that SPs provide realistic and worthwhile experiences for athletic training students. Thus, cases could be developed to evaluate athletic training clinical proficiencies in the future.
Pedagogical Tools to Address Clinical Anatomy and Athletic Training Student Learning Styles
Authors: Mazerolle Stephanie , Yeargin Susan 
Published: June 2020

Context: A thorough knowledge of anatomy is needed in four of the six domains of athletic training: prevention, injury/condition recognition, immediate care, and treatment/rehabilitation. Students with a solid foundation can achieve competency in these specific domains.
Objective: To provide educators with pedagogical tools to promote a deeper understanding of the human body and its relationship with athletic injuries
Background: Research demonstrates that there is no one dominant learning style among athletic training students, and therefore, educators are encouraged to utilize and expose students to a variety of teaching strategies. Throughout the athletic training literature, there are a host of pedagogic tools that can help encourage independent thinking, cognitive knowledge, and skill application. The same techniques can be tailored to increase human anatomy knowledge and application. Additionally, most curriculums do not have the ability to create a class solely dedicated to human anatomy. Therefore, it is important to incorporate as many learning opportunities within existing curriculums to help student learning.
Description: Discourse, puzzles, open discussion, and simulations are teaching methods that can be utilized in existing curriculums to further facilitate anatomical knowledge.
Clinical Advantages: Students who have a solid background in human anatomy will demonstrate a stronger understanding and apply their knowledge within four of the six domains of athletic training.
Conclusions: Educators can use a variety of teaching techniques in order to develop a student's acquisition and retention of anatomical knowledge. The use of multiple educational techniques can not only address a student's strengths as a learner but also challenge them by impelling them to address their weaknesses as a learner. It will also encourage practical application of anatomy when evaluating and treating athletic injuries.