Evaluation of Athletic Training Competencies and Clinical Proficiencies

Clinical proficiencies and psychomotor competencies will be instructed in a formal manner during the lecture course and once a week by the instructor of that particular Athletic Training Practicum course. The Athletic Training Practicum courses will meet every week for formal instruction, practice, and approval of Athletic Training clinical proficiencies and psychomotor competencies. In addition, each student is assigned to a Clinical Instructor for his or her related clinical and field experience. Student Athletic Trainers will utilize the clinical experiences as an opportunity to practice and apply the skills relating to the didactic course work as well as specific clinical proficiencies assigned during the practicum course. Students will not only receive instruction from the weekly formal instruction session but also informally from their respective Clinical Instructor during the supervised clinical and field experience.

Competencies and clinical proficiencies will be assessed weekly during the formal instruction session as well as scheduled times throughout the semester with their Clinical Instructor. Students are to practice the related skills among each other and with Senior mentor students, Certified Graduate Assistants, and/or Clinical Supervisors. Once they feel competent in a particular skill they may schedule competency checks with their Approved Clinical Instructor (ACI). Students will demonstrate mastery of the related skill and receive approval from their ACI to begin applying that skill in their clinical field experience. Due dates for competency checks and modules will be set in class to keep students on pace with accomplishing the related clinical skills. Students will keep the packet as a portfolio of accomplished work that can be used as a study guide for the BOC Certification Examination. Evaluations of student performance will be done on a monthly basis evaluating the student’s performance in their respective clinical experience. In addition, an oral/practical examination will be given at the end of the semester evaluating once again the competence of the student in the course related clinical proficiencies. Once a student becomes proficient in a particular skill and has been approved by their respective ACI, they may begin using that skill while being supervised in the field experience.

In addition to the individual skill competency demonstrations, students will be responsible for demonstrating proficiency of the “complete skill” during the following semester’s field experience. Individual skill competencies will be evaluated by your ACI during the respective semester in which they were learned. The following semester, students must be evaluated for clinical proficiency through the Learning Over Time (LOT) . This evaluation will assess the students’ capability in the synthesis and application of individual skills into a greater skill outcome. Essentially, you are being evaluated on how well you can piece together the information from the previous semester into a meaningful athletic training related skill. Students will be evaluated twice per semester on the overall Clinical Proficiencies. One evaluation will take place at or before the midterm, and the last will take place before the end of the course. The LOT are meant to assess the student during the field experience. The student is responsible for applying the skills of the previous semester in the field experience, while being evaluated by his/her ACI. Do not wait until the last day, or due date, to complete the clinical proficiencies. These are meant to be completed on an ongoing basis throughout your field experience, thus creating a “learning over time” concept.