Clinical Education Policy

The Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) of Augustana College is three-year sequenced didactic and clinical education program. Our program fosters the progression of the NATA Educational Competencies Proficiencies (4th edition). Our Athletic Training Education Program provides the Athletic Training Student (ATS) with an outstanding sequenced synthesis of their cognitive learning and psychomotor skill development over a three-year period of time.

CLINICAL EDUCATION PLAN

The Clinical Education Plan is a document which identifies the clinical proficiencies required of our ATEP for each level of the ATS psychomotor development. This document is used as a template to guide the Approved Clinical Instructors (ACIs) and the ATS with the progression of their clinical knowledge and skills while participating in their required rotations/experiences. The clinical educational proficiencies listed on the Clinical Education Plan are directly correlated with the didactic educational competencies taught within our curriculum. The intent is to provide the ideal educational environment in which the ATS is taught the scientific principles of the educational competencies in a formal didactic classroom setting and then to be allowed to demonstrate and synthesize their cognitive, psychomotor and affective learning in a supervised clinical experience.

AFFILIATED CLINICAL EDUCATION SITES

Our clinical education program provides opportunities for students to gain clinical experiences associated with a variety of different populations including genders, varying levels of risk, protective equipment and general medical conditions that address the continuum of care that would prepare the student to function in a variety of employment settings for a Certified Athletic Trainer. Our program utilizes five clinical sites to enhance the ATS clinical education development. These clinical sites include: Augustana College, Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School, Sanford Wellness Center and Power Center, Van DeMark Orthopedic Building and Sanford Family Practice Physicians South.

CLINICAL EDUCATION SUPERVISION

An Approved Clinical Instructor (ACI) supervises the (ATS) during their clinical education experiences. An ACI is required to participate in an ACI workshop conducted by the Clinical Instructor Educator (CIE) once every three years to keep them abreast of our Clinical Education Plan and their supervisory responsibilities. ACI(s) must provide direct visual and auditory supervision to the ATS at all times during their clinical experiences. Each ACI is assigned a minimum of 1-2 ATS and a maximum of 6-8 ATS to supervise during a clinical rotation. This ratio is required to ensure consistent physical interaction and effective educational development. At no time is an ATS not to be directly supervised by an ACI or to be asked to provide athletic training services without an ACI directly supervising them.

ATS do not participate in clinical experiences during formal academic breaks. This is to include fall break, Thanksgiving Holiday, Christmas break, Interim, spring break, Easter Holiday or formal final examination sessions for both the fall and spring semesters.

CLINICAL EDUCATION PROGRESSION

ATS receive academic credit for their clinical experiences. The academic clinical experience courses (AT 101, 201, 301, 451, and Internships AT 395 and AT 495) serve as the courses in which the ATS receives academic credit for their clinical experiences. Academic credit is required for all the clinical experiences which the ATS participate in for both the fall and spring semesters through each year of our clinical education program. Each ATS is assigned to an ACI for a 3-4 week clinical rotation experience for both the fall and spring semesters of their level one and level two training. The Level 3 ATS are required to participate in one clinical internship experience per semester to foster their learning over time progression. Learning over time is the documented continuous process of skill acquisition, progression and student reflection which involves the demonstration of systematic progression through the cognitive, psychomotor and affective taxonomies within different contextual environments.

LEVEL ONE CLINICAL EDUCATION

LEVEL TWO CLINICAL EDUCATION

LEVEL THREE CLINICAL EDUCATION

CLINICAL EDUCATION EVALUATION

At the conclusion of each clinical experience, the ATS is required to evaluate all aspects of their overall clinical experience and the ACI(s) are required to evaluate the ATS. An evaluation form will be provided. Each of these evaluation forms are to be completed in their entirety and returned to the Program Director within one week of completion of the assigned clinical experience. The Program Director will then summarize the evaluation forms and provide timely feedback to both the ACI(s) and the ATS.

ELECTIVE CLINICAL EDUCATION INTERNSHIPS

ATS are allowed to participate in elective clinical education internships. These may include internships with our team physicians, chiropractors, physical therapy clinics, local semi-professional sports teams and human performance programs.