ACI Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of the ACI to instruct and evaluate the ATS in clinical proficiencies and psychomotor competencies. Acceptable ACI personnel will include members of the Alma College faculty and Athletic Training Staff, and other Certified Athletic Trainers who have at least one year of professional experience. All eligible candidates must complete an Alma College ACI seminar and be approved by the CIE. The ACI assists the ATEP with provision of formal and informal instruction and evaluation of clinical proficiencies in classroom, laboratory, and/or clinical education experiences through direct supervision of each ATS. The ACI must be familiar with the curriculum and have a high level of understanding of the evaluation guidelines. The ACI will provide instruction and supervision of the ATS. An ACI shall perform psychomotor and/or clinical proficiency instruction and evaluation, as well as professional performance evaluation throughout the educational experience. The ACI shall also be involved with the learning-overtime continuum during the clinical experience. The ACI understands that the student’s role is not to provide cheap labor. Furthermore, the ATS should never be utilized as a replacement for staff or faculty. The ACI will have continual contact with the ATEP to facilitate communication of the student’s progress.
CI Responsibilities
The CI must be an ATC or other qualified health care professional with a minimum of one-year experience in their respective academic or clinical area. CI’s teach, evaluate, and supervise ATSs in the field experiences. A clinical instructor is not charged with the formal evaluation of ATS’s integration of clinical proficiencies.
Each ATS must complete their first two clinical rotations (first two academic semesters) in the Alma College Athletic Training facility that provide coverage to varsity and junior varsity intercollegiate sports. The ATS will be assigned to learn under the guidance of an ACI who will be physically present on-site. It should be emphasized that students are not assigned to facilities or sports. The clinical rotations will occur each semester or when the given season or sport has ended. Each student will have the opportunity to obtain clinical education and field experiences with athletic training care of an upper extremity, lower extremity, general medical and equipment intensive situation. Included is a list of possible clinical experience rotations available to the ATS.
Upper Extremity: M/W Tennis, Women’s Volleyball, Women’s Softball, M/W Golf, Baseball, Clinical Affiliate Sites (CHIP, Alma High School, GHS).
Lower Extremity: Football (High Risk), Cross Country, M/W Basketball, M/W Track and Field, M/W Soccer, Clinical Affiliate Sites (CHIP, Alma High School, GHS).
Equipment Intensive: Football Clinical Affiliate Site (Alma High School) Each ATS must have at least 25% of his or her clinical experience in a high-risk environment.
General Medical: Observation for the practicum courses, in the Wilcox Medical Center, Gratiot County Community Hospital, St. Louis Family Clinic, along with the GAPS program.
General Medical
Level three and four ATS’s must complete required hours observing the team physician and team orthopedic surgeon. The ATS is required to complete a minimum of two observing experiences in the Wilcox Medical Center and at the Gratiot County Community Hospital with the Gratiot Area Physician Program (GAPS). Additional experience in the general medical category involves required observations in each of the practicum courses.
Hour Requirement
Each ATS will complete a minimum of 1000 clinical hours within their three years in the ATEP at Alma College. Hours will be monitored weekly and the yearly time sheets will be located in the Alma College Athletic Training facility. The ATS is required to sign in when arriving and sign out at the completion of each day. Recorded times should be correct to nearest half hour. The supervising ACI or CI must initial the student’s time sheet weekly. The Alma College ATEP Director will continuously monitor the hours submitted and make adjustments when appropriate. The ATEP Director will also record the category of each clinical experience on the ATS Audit form. This form will be utilized to ensure that equal and fair opportunities exist for the ATS.
Additional Clinical Experience Opportunities
There will be options available for interested students to gain experience in an industrial health care facility, a sports medicine rehabilitation clinic or other internship sites. Attempts will be made to accommodate this aspect of the clinical rotation during specific times of the semester. Other sites may be substituted, either in full or part, as they are available, educationally stimulating and approved by the ATEP Director. Formal evaluations of the students’ progress and performance will be performed once in the middle of each semester and once at the end of each semester by the student’s ACI.
Criteria for ATS Progression Through Clinical Experiences
The clinical education is associated with academic credit in the eight Clinical Experience courses: EHS 105, 106, 205, 206, 305, 306, 405 & 406. The ATS must receive a grade of “C” or higher to progress into the next course and clinical experience. Each syllabus will describe the components used to determine the grade, but in general, a student must complete all of the required clinical experience hours and coursework, receive satisfactory performance evaluations from the ACI and CI, and complete the clinical proficiency evaluations required for the respective course to progress to the next practicum course.
Methods for Determining Athletic Training Students Clinical Rotation Assignment
Each ATS will meet with the ATEP Director and the Alma College Athletic Training and discuss their new clinical experience assignment. The assignments will be determined using the following considerations
- Past didactic preparation and performance in the ATEP
- Past clinical experiences in the ATEP (ensuring to fulfill all necessary requirements relating to the four clinical areas)
- Past performance evaluations in the ATEP
- Current certifications
- Maturity and professionalism displayed during clinical experiences in the ATEP
- Professional goals of the ATS
- Personal attributes of the ATS
- Past disciplinary actions
Supervision Guidelines
Level One Student – ACI physically present at all times, no traveling without ACI, no off-campus field experience.
Level Two Student – ACI physically present at all times, no traveling without ACI, no off-campus field experience.
Level Three Student
– ACI/CI physically present at all times, no traveling without an ACI
or CI, permitted to be assigned to an off-campus site with an ACI/CI.
Level Four Student
– ACI/CI physically present at all times, no traveling without ACI or
CI. Permitted to be assigned to an off-campus site with an ACI/CI.
The ACI/CI must be physically present in order to intervene on behalf of the ATS and patient. Field experiences must involve daily personal contact and supervision between the ACI/CI and the student in the same clinical setting. All rotations must involve constant visual and auditory supervision on-site. The ATS must never be utilized in the First Responder role.
Performance Evaluations
Performance evaluations must be completed at mid-term and upon completion of the rotation. There must be an opportunity for the ATS and the ACI/CI to discuss the student’s performance and recommendations for improvement. The evaluations consist of an ATS evaluation completed by ACI or CI, ACI evaluation completed by the ATS, and clinical site/experience evaluation completed by the ATS.
Clinical Rotation
There must be significant exposure to upper extremity, lower extremity, equipment intensive, and general medical experiences of both genders. General medical rotations must consistently involve contact in the athletic training facilities from a licensed medical professional, along with off-site office visits and observations. Each ATS must have at least 25% of his or her clinical experience in a high-risk environment. The clinical rotation plan must document progression criteria and rationale for placement. There will be equal treatment of both sexes, and all races concerning clinical rotation placements. Probationary athletic trainers, student managers, student work-study assistants or any other group of students not officially accepted into the ATEP will not be permitted to decrease opportunities for athletic training students to obtain experience in any area.
