A Report from the Athletic Training Clinical Education Network on Scholarship Requirements in Professional Athletic Training Programs

Abstract

Context Scholarship is a required element of the 2020 curricular content standards in professional athletic training education. Objective To explore the perceptions and experiences of implementing student scholarship within a professional program. Design Consensual qualitative research. Setting Individual phone interview. Patients or Other Participants Seventeen program directors of professional programs (professional bachelor's program = 12, 70.6%; professional master's program = 3, 17.6%; both = 2, 11.8%). Programs reported an average of 3 ± 1 core faculty (range, 1–5 faculty) supporting 37 ± 21 students (range, 3–96 students), with 3 ± 2 faculty (range, 1–8 faculty) involved in scholarship activities of their students. Data saturation guided the number of participants. Data Collection and Analysis Interviews occurred via phone using a semistructured interview guide. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed by a 3-person research team and coded into themes and categories based on a consensus process. Credibility was established by utilizing multiple researchers, an external auditor, and member checks. Results Two major themes emerged from the data: perceptions and mechanisms of scholarship. Student engagement in scholarship was perceived as valuable, but it was challenging to develop buy-in from students and preceptors. Participants felt that the term research carried a stigma, making it difficult to cultivate the value of scholarly clinical practice. When institutional culture embraced scholarship, participants indicated it was easier to integrate scholarly activities into the program. Participants reported students engaged in a variety of scholarly activities, including traditional research and evidence-based practice. Some scholarship experiences were singular, occurring once in the curriculum, while others were purposeful, sequenced, and integrated throughout the curriculum. Future scholarship endeavors included traditional theses and experimental research as well as practice-based, point-of-care research that might better integrate clinical practice and scholarship. Conclusions Participants perceived scholarship as important to professional preparation and required intentional action to integrate throughout the curriculum.

Barriers to Scholarship Integration in Professional Athletic Training Programs and Resources Needed to Overcome Barriers: A Report from the Association for Athletic Training Education Research Network

“…Additional characteristics of each program director and his or her respective institution have been previously published. 5 To minimize bias for this qualitative study, we intentionally did not collect information about the formal preparation (ie, highest degree earned) among our participants or the core faculty of the respective programs. Historically, the research doctorate (ie, PhD) had been obtained by scholars wishing to become stewards of the discipline.…”

“…4 However, athletic training educators have identified the transition of the professional degree to the graduate level as an opportunity to reimagine the scholarly activities in which students have the opportunity to participate. 5 Students in graduate professional athletic training programs must now minimally be able to search, interpret, critically appraise, and apply the findings of the available body of evidence to meet requirements for evidence-based practice and health care informatics, but program administrators are hoping to exceed those minimum requirements by including more research opportunities in their respective curricula. 1,5 Athletic training educators have expressed a desire to incorporate a meaningful form of scholarship into their professional athletic training program and have indicated specific mechanisms to do so.…”

“…5 Students in graduate professional athletic training programs must now minimally be able to search, interpret, critically appraise, and apply the findings of the available body of evidence to meet requirements for evidence-based practice and health care informatics, but program administrators are hoping to exceed those minimum requirements by including more research opportunities in their respective curricula. 1,5 Athletic training educators have expressed a desire to incorporate a meaningful form of scholarship into their professional athletic training program and have indicated specific mechanisms to do so. 5 In addition to creating learners that are consumers and appraisers of evidence, educators hope to develop meaningful experiences in their graduate programs that might include traditional theses, group-based original research projects, and practice-based point-of-care research.…”

“…1,5 Athletic training educators have expressed a desire to incorporate a meaningful form of scholarship into their professional athletic training program and have indicated specific mechanisms to do so. 5 In addition to creating learners that are consumers and appraisers of evidence, educators hope to develop meaningful experiences in their graduate programs that might include traditional theses, group-based original research projects, and practice-based point-of-care research. 5 Peer professions that have previously included research opportunities in didactic programming have cited a lack of available, qualified mentors, a lack of available time and funding, a lack of available courses to support and train students through the process, and students' lack of ability to translate research into meaningful decisions as barriers to incorporating research and scholarship into their curricula.…”

“…5 In addition to creating learners that are consumers and appraisers of evidence, educators hope to develop meaningful experiences in their graduate programs that might include traditional theses, group-based original research projects, and practice-based point-of-care research. 5 Peer professions that have previously included research opportunities in didactic programming have cited a lack of available, qualified mentors, a lack of available time and funding, a lack of available courses to support and train students through the process, and students' lack of ability to translate research into meaningful decisions as barriers to incorporating research and scholarship into their curricula. [6][7][8] Many transitioning athletic training programs that are seizing the opportunity to reinvent the inclusion of scholarship or research in professional curricula will face similar challenges and require additional resources and strategies to adequately implement scholarship into a master's level professional athletic training curriculum.…”