Greetings,

Forgive me for stepping on my soapbox but I have numerous educational and
professional questions I feel face the profession. These are intended to
evoke discussion and not anger.

Less than 30% of first time BOC Exam participants pass. Compare this to
other allied health care professions of percents in the 80's. It points to a
question of an invalid exam or failure to educate or a disconnection between
the two processes.

50% of ATEP students move on to other fields for all the reasons we are
aware of and I need not list them. If we are losing potentially outstanding
future professionals to age old practices and settings, should we not
consider adjusting these. I don’t have the stats handy but I don’t think 50%
of graduating med students pick a different venue.

As Jim Berry mentioned, I to am a BOC examiner and have been frightened by
what I see. As much as I want to support ATEP directors, etc some students
are not being provided with the knowledge or other skills they will need. If
a student doesn’t know some basic surface anatomy, or taping technique or
cant assess the cranial nerves and they have been cleared to graduate from
an "Accredited" program and sit for the exam.... I worry!

There is also a bit of research out there that assessed the reliability of
site visit teams and inconsistencies between them. This frightens me, there
may be no validity in accreditation. We have more students than we have jobs
or jobs that wont demand the type of things people are leaving the
profession for. Do we need an approved program at all the colleges in the US
or even the number that we have? I think many schools are racing to get an
approved program so they can recruit student assistants (Athletic Training
Students). This is directly contrary to the goal of students not being a
work/labor force. Many liberal arts schools are trying to establish a
program. In doing so they go against their mission statement of "Liberal" or
well rounded and narrow the students focus to one small facet, the area of
AT.

So what is my proposal? Make the entry-level requirement a Masters. Now
before you toss this idea out, read on and I will attempt to defend my
position. Imagine the amount of rigor you could instill in a program with
students a few years more mature. Imagine if they came in to a MS program
with a "liberal" background in science and psychology. They would better
understand patient care and people skills as well as possess a strong grasp
on the sciences (physics/chemistry/A&P) that would permeate in abilities to
understand pharmacological interactions, modalities, etc, etc. You could
have them perform some research and allow them to garner a better
understanding of quality research and less precise research. This improves
the JAT and our education. Remember, the JAT has been denied certain caveats
because of a review of the quality of articles or lack of quality articles
that can be found. The MS degree would limit schools that have or could
house an ATEP. This limits new students and improves the quality of those
graduating. So far so good. Now, for the schools that would be lacking the
number of certified staff to get the job done. HIRE one of the many ATC's
out there that may be looking for a career change. I refuse to accept that
universities cant afford additional staff. Let me remind you to look at the
salaries of head coaches as compared to head ATCs. I see a large discrepancy
and it tells me we need to better sell our selves as vital or important.

This scenario was presented to me during my doctoral comps and it went like
this: We compare out selves to PTs, Chiropractors, MDs, etc. I was asked
what kind of degree do these professions have? Each has a clinical doctoral
degree. The following question was painful to answer. What kind of degree
does an ATC have? I had to say, "A Clinical Bachelors". OUCH! If we have to
go to a congress representative and defend this, we sure did start in a
hole.

Finally, to step off and get back to work, I would like to see the percent
pass rates of candidates from each program. Med schools get ranked by this.
Lets stop protecting institutional autonomy to the level that we are. If I
am working at a high school or college and want to mentor or advise a
future/potential ATC on a great school, I want to know how they are
performing.

Sorry so long but I am passionate about the topic.

Scot

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Scot Raab MS, ATC
Office HPR 225
Office Phone: 601-266-5808
E-Mail: scot.raab@...
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