Athletic training program in place

By Megan Quinlan
Staff Writer

The Athletic Training Education Program received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) in August 2007.

The Athletic Training Education Program is a health program which prepares students to take a national certification exam to become a certified athletic trainer (ATC).

The certified athletic trainer is an allied health professional specializing in health care for the physically active.

“The ATC oversees the total healthcare of the athlete from the time of an injury to the full return to play,” according to athletic training coordinator Susan Edkins.

“This program is similar to the Nursing program because our students have lecture classes, lab classes and clinical rotations where they are able to put what they have learned in the classroom into practice,” she continued.

The accreditation process took four years because all required classes must have been taught at least once before being able to have the site visited for the final decision on accreditation, she said.

“The Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) is a five-semester program that students must apply for and be accepted into before they can begin the program,” Edkins said.

“There are eight pre-requisite courses that students must take, and make a C or better, prior to applying for the program,” she continued.

Students are also required to observe a Certified Athletic Trainer for at least 50 hours prior to being admitted to the ATEP.
ATEP is a combination of lecture classes, lab classes and clinical rotations, she said.

“Students are not permitted to perform any skills on a patient unless they have been taught how to do the skill and have had the opportunity to demonstrate that they are proficient in the skill,” she said.

Each semester in the program, students are required to complete clinical rotations.

The clinical rotations occur both on and off campus, according to Edkins.

Off-campus rotations include a general medical rotation in physician’s office, an orthopedic rotation in an orthopedist’s office and surgical observations, a physical therapy clinic and a high school rotation, she said.

On-campus rotations are completed with certified athletic trainers assigned to varsity sports at UNCP.

The students are required to have a variety of sport experiences, including both male and female sports, contact and non-contact sports, and sports such as football that are equipment intensive, Edkins said.

We do have several athletic training students who are also student-athletes, but because of the clinical rotation component of the program, it is more difficult for students to do both, she said.

Students are only permitted to compete in one sport while in the ATEP.

The students in the ATEP program must complete their clinical rotations during the non-competitive season which means that they are often not able to participate in off-season training with their teammates, Edkins said.