|
Athletic Training education requires
that the accumulation of scientific knowledge be accompanied by
the simultaneous acquisition of skills and professional attitudes
and behavior. The University of Miami School of Education, Department
of Exercise Sports Sciences, awards a Bachelor’s degree (B.S.Ed)
to students who successfully complete the curriculum. Students are
expected to acquire a broad base of knowledge and skills, and competencies
of an entry-level Athletic Trainer as well as meet the expectations
of the program’s accrediting agency, The Commission on Accreditation
of Athletic Training Education (CAATE).
Candidates for the B.S.Ed. degree will be required to acquire the
knowledge and skills to function in a broad variety of clinical
situations and to render a wide spectrum of patient care. In order
to learn the variety of tasks needed to become proficient as an
Athletic Trainer, the student must be able to perform the following
types of tasks, which are all essential requirements of the program:
observation, communication, motor, conceptual (integrative and quantitative),
and behavioral/social.
Observation
The candidate must be able to observe
demonstrations and experiments in basic and applied sciences, including,
but not limited to human anatomy and physiology, neuroscience, as
well as in didactic courses in Athletic Training theory and practice
for normal and pathologic states. A candidate must be able to observe
a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand. Observation
requires the use of common sense, as well as the functional use
of the senses of vision, audition, olfaction, and palpation.
Communication
A candidate must be able to elicit
information from patients, describe the patient’s mood, activity
and posture, and perceive and accurately report nonverbal communications.
A candidate must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively
with coaches, administrators, patients and their families. Communication
includes not only oral, but also reading and writing. The candidate
must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently with all
members of the health care team in both immediate and recorded modes.
Motor
Candidates should have sufficient
motor function to elicit information from patients by palpation,
auscultation, percussion, manual positioning of body segments and
other evaluative procedures. A candidate must be able to do basic
screening and examinations (physiological measures such as BP, HR
and respiration), diagnostic procedures (palpation, manual muscle
testing, goniometry, ligament laxity testing, sensory evaluation,
gait analysis, balance assessment), and review X-rays. A candidate
must be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide
general care and emergency treatment to patients. Examples of emergency
treatment reasonably required of Athletic Training Students are
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, spine stabilization for head or neck
injury and application of pressure to stop bleeding. Additionally,
candidates must be able to perform debridement of wounds and other
physical assessment maneuvers, where such actions require coordination
of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium and functional
use of the senses of touch and vision.
Conceptual-Integrative and Quantitative Analysis
These abilities include measurement,
calculation, reasoning, analysis, synthesis, and retention of complex
information. Problem solving, the critical skill demanded of Athletic
Training practitioners, requires all of these intellectual abilities.
In addition, the candidate should be able to comprehend three-dimensional
relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures.
Behavioral/Social Attitudes
Candidates must possess the emotional
health required for full use of their intellectual abilities, the
exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities
attendant to an evaluation, diagnosis and care of patients, and
be able to develop mature, sensitive and effective relationships
with patients. Candidates must be able to tolerate physically-taxing
workloads and to function effectively under stress. They must be
able to adapt to changing environments both indoor and outdoor,
display flexibility and learn to function in the face of uncertainties
inherent in the clinical problems of many patients. Compassion,
integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest and
motivation are all personal qualities that are assessed during the
admissions and education process.
Completion of the program’s technical standards does not
guarantee a student’s eligibility for the BOC (Board
of Certification) exam.
|
