Redefining Professional Knowledge in Athletic Training: Whose Knowledge Is It Anyway?

Abstract

Context: As athletic training continues to evolve as a profession, several epistemological considerations must be considered. These include how we generate professional knowledge and how we secure and legitimize it in both professional and public spheres.Objective: The purpose of this commentary is to provide an overview of how athletic training has defined its body of knowledge. By contrasting our professional knowledge with recent advancements in medical cognition and epistemology, we aim to provide a more robust definition of professional knowledge for our profession.Background: A profession is defined as an occupation that has a unique knowledge base and skill set that, when wielded, fulfills an ethically founded social contract with the public. One of the greatest challenges for the profession of athletic training as we move into the future is securing a knowledge base that is uniquely our own.

How Many Lives Does a CAT Really Have?

“…The CAT is a vehicle to steer the direction of a profession's body of knowledge. 5 Clinicians take an active role in shaping this body of knowledge by sharing their implementation and evaluation experiences in using the best available external evidence to inform clinical decisions.…”

Letter to the Editor

“…As we discussed, based on a growing evidence base, these collaborative activities can produce a range of benefits for participants (faculty, students, and practitioners) as well as (and most significantly) the recipients of care. Therefore, we hope this letter has provided some more balance in response to the recently published articles 1,2 in relation to the current and future use of IPE and IPCP in the athletic training profession.…”

“I Wanna Go to AT School” (Said No One, Ever)

“…As a professional body, we must continue to articulate, define, and substantiate our professional body of knowledge in order to better illustrate and justify who we are and what we do. 6 Further, we must continue to generate, disseminate, and be guided by relevant evidence regarding best practices in all of our interconnected domains of professional practice (clinical, regulatory, and educational) to better legitimize our professional condition and position in the health care world. 7 Doing so requires ongoing, authentic, and collaborative communication; energy and creativity; and the will to negotiate and challenge the status quo in the name of progressive professional change.…”