Clinical Education
No student may begin his or her clinical education without formal admission into the Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP). Once admitted into the Athletic Training Education Program the student will be placed into several different clinical experiences. Alma College is a NCAA Division III institution and a member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The Athletic Training Student (ATS) will gain valuable practical experience in the practice and game coverage of 22 varsity and six junior varsity intercollegiate sports. The Athletic teams include:
| Football (JV) Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Men’s and Women’s Soccer Men’s and Women’s Golf Women’s Volleyball (JV) Women’s Bowling Wrestling Men’s and Women’s Basketball (JV) |
Men’s and Women’s Swimming Softball (JV) Baseball (JV) Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Men’s and Women’s Indoor & Outdoor Track Men’s and Women’s Tennis Competitive Cheer |
Affiliate Sites
Affiliation sites have been developed at:
- Alma High School
- Alma Family Practice
- MidMichigan Medical Center–Gratiot
- Gratiot County Emergency Room
- St. Louis Family Clinic
- Mid Michigan Bone and Joint (Orthopedic Surgeons)
- Highland Physical Therapy
- Ithaca Physical Therapy
- Central Health Improvement Program of Central Michigan University.
These affiliation sites give the students a variety of settings where athletic trainers could potentially work. Affiliation sites allow the students access to different skills such as: rehabilitation for all aged patients, industrial and corporate athletic training, high school sports and orthopedic medicine. Athletic training students also have the opportunity to shadow physicians in both family and private practices and attend lectures at the hospital through the Gratiot Area Physicians and Students Program (GAPS).
Expectations
Each ATS is required to accumulate a minimum of 1,000 clinical experience hours during their clinical experiences. The ATS is required to complete a minimum of four semester-long clinical assignments. Each semester the ATS will be assigned to a Preceptor, not a facility or sport, who will develop a written plan mapping out the objectives for that student during the experience. A copy of the plan is turned in to the ATEP Director by the end of the first week of the experience. This provides the ATS and Preceptor the opportunity to present the expectations and objectives of the semester. At midterm and the end of the clinical assignment the ATS and the Preceptor will complete evaluations of each other and the clinical site.
