Context: Employers note that new athletic training graduates are not able to effectively communicate. To date no studies have determined what topics new graduates need to be able to communicate. Objective: To explore the opinions of athletic training preceptors as to what topics need to be communicated with a variety of stakeholders. Specifically, we wanted to explore what topics are communicated, what barriers exist to getting students involved in professional communication, and what strategies could be used to overcome those barriers. Design and Setting: A qualitative design involving in-depth focus-group interviews. Interviews were conducted in a controlled environment. Patients or Other Participants: Athletic trainers from 3 work settings were included: high school (3 male and 3 female; average age 32.5 ± 6.1 years), college/university/junior college (5 male and 1 female; average age 34.5 ± 6.8 years), and clinic/emerging practices (1 male and 4 female; average age 27.4 ± 2.8 years). Main Outcome Measure(s): Focus-group interviews were audiotaped and then transcribed verbatim and analyzed deductively. Peer debriefing and member checks were used to ensure trustworthiness. Results: The most often-cited topics to communicate were related to prognosis of the injury with limitations and return to play. The most often-cited barrier to getting students involved was related to interpersonal relationships, with participants noting that it was their role to lead the communication. The most often-cited strategy for getting students involved was challenging the student to do something he had not done before. Conclusions: It is not realistic to expect new graduates to be proficient at communication if they are not given opportunities while enrolled as students. Preceptors should consider utilizing strategies to overcome barriers and get students more involved. Furthermore, it is important that employers anticipate these deficiencies and mentor new employees appropriately.

Context The Fifth Edition of the National Athletic Trainers' Association Athletic Training Education Competencies includes the significant addition of competencies covering evidence-based practice (EBP). While the concept of EBP is not new, the terminology in the Competencies may be new to clinical practitioners who did not receive the same educational experiences. Objective The objective was to explore the understanding, comfort, and use related to EBP competencies by preceptors. Specifically, we explored the efficacy of an educational intervention designed to increase preceptors' understanding of, comfort with, and use of the EBP competencies. Design Participants were assigned to an experimental or control group. A pretest and posttest design was used to measure understanding, comfort, and use. An educational intervention designed to increase understanding, comfort, and use of the EBP competencies was used with the experimental group. The education intervention was a combination of presentations, student-led article reviews, and a student-led project. Setting The study was completed at a large state-affiliated Midwest university. Patients or Other Participants Nineteen preceptors from the collegiate and high school setting (12 men and 7 women, average age = 32 ± 8.3 years, average experience = 8.1 ± 8.8 years). Main Outcome Measures A survey instrument (EBP Preceptor Survey) was designed and tested for reliability (α = .979). All participants completed the EBP Preceptor Survey before and then after the intervention. Experimental preceptors completed the education intervention. Repeated-measures analysis of covariance was used to detect pretest to posttest differences at the P ≤ .01 significance level. Results Statistically significant results indicate that after the intervention the experimental preceptors increased understanding for 4 of the 14 competencies, comfort for 9 of the 14 competencies, and use for 1 of the 14 competencies. Conclusions A focused education intervention may increase understanding and comfort but might not increase use of EBP concepts.