I believe that this kind of dual-program is really the wrong signal to send. We
are essentially saying that our professional (entry-level) preparation program
is good pre-professional training for those interested in pursuing other
professions. That is very
dangerous. There is no way that any other professional health care program
would allow this to occur within their profession. Try to imagine a PT, PA, or
OT program allowing someone to take all of their didactic training, but avoid
the clinical training. It just would
not happen.

Plus, how would these non-AT students, who are not completing the clinical
training, be able to contribute in a meaningful way to course dialogue? The
discussions that occur in courses should engage students to draw upon their
concurrent clinical experiences?
Otherwise the clinical and didactic components are completely disjointed. How
do you reinforce clinical concepts presented in the classroom to students with
no experiental training?

Furthermore, we should not be teaching the knowledge and skills of athletic
training to people with no intentions of entering our profession. I assume
these non-AT students complete lab courses? So, we are saying that anyone can
learn our knowledge and skills
regardless of intent to enter our profession. This is highly troublesome and
contributes to the misperceptions about the quality of our education. Imagine
the students that pursue other health professions degrees and say, 'I know
everything an athletic trainer knows, I just never did the clinical education to
sit for the exam'.

I understand institutional autonomy, but I believe that this scenario is bad for
our profession. I would hope that accreditation standards and guidelines for
our health professions programs would expressly prohibit this kind of thing from
happening.


Eric L. Sauers, PhD, ATC
Chair, NATA Post-Professional Education Committee

Associate Professor & Director, Sports Health Care Program
Chair, Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences
Arizona School of Health Sciences
A. T. Still University
5850 E. Still Circle
Mesa, AZ 85206
Office: (480) 219-6031
Fax: (480) 219-6100
E-mail: esauers@...
Internet: www.ashs.edu