Educators must transition toward instruction of EBP, regardless of barriers present in their academic programs, in order to maintain progress with other health professions' clinical practices and educational standards. Because today's students are tomorrow's clinicians, we need to include EBP concepts in entry-level education to promote critical thinking, inspire potential research interest, and further develop the available body of knowledge in our growing clinical practice.
Context: Although evidence-based practice (EBP) has become more prevalent, athletic trainers' perceptions of importance and knowledge of these concepts and their confidence in EBP are largely unknown.Objective: To assess perceived importance and knowledge of and confidence in EBP concepts in athletic trainers in various roles and with different degree levels.Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Online survey instrument.Patients or Other Participants: The survey was sent to 6702 athletic training educators, clinicians, and postprofessional students. A total of 1209 completed the survey, for a response rate of 18.04%.Main Outcome Measure(s): Demographic information and perceived importance and knowledge of and confidence in the steps of EBP were obtained. One-way analysis of variance, a Kruskal-Wallis test, and an independent-samples t test were used to determine differences in scores among the demographic variables.Results: Athletic trainers demonstrated low knowledge scores (64.2% 6 1.29%) and mild to moderate confidence (2.71 6 0.55 out of 4.0). They valued EBP as moderately to extremely important (3.49 6 0.41 out of 4.0). Perceived importance scores differed among roles (clinicians unaffiliated with an education program scored lower than postprofessional educators, P ¼ .001) and highest educational degree attained (athletic trainers with terminal degrees scored higher than those with bachelor's or master's degrees, P , .001). Postprofessional athletic training students demonstrated the highest total EBP knowledge scores (4.65 6 0.91), whereas clinicians demonstrated the lowest scores (3.62 6 1.35). Individuals with terminal degrees had higher (P , .001) total knowledge scores (4.31 6 1.24) than those with bachelor's (3.78 6 1.2) or master's degrees (3.76 6 1.35). Postprofessional educators demonstrated greater confidence in knowledge scores (3.36 6 0.40 out of 4.0) than did those in all other athletic training roles (P , .001).Conclusions: Overall knowledge of the basic EBP steps remained low across the various athletic trainers' roles. The higher level of importance indicated that athletic trainers valued EBP, but this value was not reflected in the knowledge of EBP concepts. Individuals with a terminal degree possessed higher knowledge scores than those with other educational preparations; however, EBP knowledge needs to increase across all demographics of the profession.Key Words: athletic training setting, educational preparation, clinical practice Key PointsAthletic trainers valued the concept of evidence-based practice and recognized its importance to the profession. However, their level of knowledge about evidence-based practice and their level of confidence in that knowledge were both low. Evidence-based practice should be taught not only in the educational curricula for athletic training students but also to practicing clinicians.
Context: Health care research evidence suggests that early patient encounters (PEs), as well as the purposeful implementation of professional core competencies (CCs), for athletic training students (ATSs) may be beneficial to their ability to provide care. However, no investigators have related facets of the clinical education experience with CC implementation as a form of summative assessment of the clinical experience.Objective: To determine the relationship between the frequency and length of PEs, as well as the student's role and clinical site during PEs, and the students' perceived CC implementation during these encounters.Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Professional athletic training program, National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institution.Patients or Other Participants: We purposefully recruited 1 athletic training program that used E*Value software; 40 participants (31 females, 9 males) enrolled in the professional phase (12 first year, 14 second year, 14 third year) participated.Intervention(s): Participants viewed a 20-minute recorded CC educational module followed by educational handouts, which were also posted online for reference throughout the semester. The E*Value software was used to track PEs, including the type of encounter (ie, actual patient, practice encounter, didactic practice scenario), the type of site where the encounter occurred (university, high school), and the participant's role (observed, assisted, performed), as well as responses to an added block of questions indicating which, if any, of the CCs were implemented during the PE.Main Outcome Measure(s): Variables per patient were PE length (minutes), participant role, site at which the encounter occurred, and whether any of the 6 CCs were implemented (yes/ no). Variables per participant were average encounter length (minutes), encounter frequency, modal role, clinical site assignment, and the number of times each CC was implemented. Separate 1-way analyses of variance were used to examine the relationships between role or clinical site and implementation of total number of CCs. Multiple linear regressions were used to determine how the average length and frequency of PEs were related to the average and total number of implemented CCs. Binary logistic regression models indicated how the length of each encounter, role of the participant, and type of clinical site related to the implementation of each CC.Results: The roles of participants during PEs were related to their ability to implement the total number of CCs (F ¼ 103.48, P , .001). Those who observed were likely to implement fewer total CCs than those who assisted (M diff ¼ À0.29, P , .001); those who assisted were likely to implement more total CCs than those who performed (M diff ¼ 0.32, P , .001). Frequency of encounters was the only significant variable in the model examining all independent variables with CC implementation (b 4,32 ¼ 3.34, t ¼ 9.46, P , .001).Conclusions: The role of the student, namely assisting during PEs, and the volume of PEs shou...
Context: While evidence-based practice (EBP) concepts are being taught in health profession education programs, models of instruction and effectiveness of these models are not evident in athletic training. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Evidence-Based Teaching Model (EBTM) in increasing student knowledge, attitudes, and use of evidence-based concepts. Design: Within subjects design with pre- and post-test evaluations of students' knowledge, attitudes, and intended use using the researcher-developed Evidence-Based Concepts: Knowledge, Attitudes and Use (EBCKAU) survey. Setting: CAATE-accredited undergraduate programs. Participants: Eighty-two students from a stratified purposeful sample of 9 institutions were enrolled in the study, 78 students (95%) completed the knowledge portion of the survey, while 68 students (83%) fully completed the knowledge, attitudes, and use portions of the survey. Data Collection and Analysis: The EBCKAU survey was used to assess student factors relating to EBP through multiple choice, Likert scale, and open-ended questions. Results: Students significantly increased their knowledge, confidence in knowledge, familiarity with, and confidence in use of EBP skills following the EBTM. Prior to the EBTM, students earned a mean knowledge score of 50%. This improved to 66% post-EBTM. Students' interest and perceived importance scores did not increase. Barriers to student use of EBP included time, available resources, ACI open-mindedness, and experience. Conclusions: The EBTM was effective in improving student factors related to knowledge and use of EBP concepts. To our knowledge, this is the first published teaching model that assessed student outcomes related to EBP in athletic training education.
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