PURPOSE As the athletic training profession advances, master's degree accreditation standards aim to position athletic trainers as key players on interprofessional healthcare teams. Interprofessional education standards were recently introduced to academic leaders as key elements in the professional healthcare education of athletic trainers. While the current standards reflect essential skills for entry-level clinicians, faculty instructing these elements may require additional development. METHODS The objective of this study was to explore athletic training educators' perceptions of interprofessional education and to examine perceived barriers related to the implementation of IPE in athletic training curricula. An electronic survey was administered to a stratified, random sample of 1000 athletic training education program faculty from the National Athletic Trainer's Association (NATA) member database. Participating faculty completed the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS) and a set of additional Likert-scale questions regarding barriers to implementation of IPE in athletic training education. RESULTS The results indicated that differences exist in faculty readiness to implement IPE based on faculty rank or role, years of teaching experience, prior experience and skill level using IPE, and geographical location of the athletic training program within the institution. CONCLUSION The results indicated that differences exist in faculty readiness to implement IPE based on faculty rank or role, years of teaching experience, prior experience and skill level using IPE, and geographical location of the athletic training program within the institution. Together, the findings suggest that IPE integration should include initiatives that provide administrative support, delineate leadership roles, offer formal IP development, and aim to create closer physical proximity among healthcare disciplines on campuses.

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As the athletic training profession takes steps towards the next level as an allied health care profession, advocates for the profession are positioning athletic trainers as key players in the interprofessional health care team. Recently, the CAATE has pronounced a move for athletic training education to transition all entry-level education to professional master's degree programs. CAATE is also requesting that athletic training education programs find means to align with other healthcare profession education programs within their institution and actively engage in planned and continuous interprofessional learning activities. This study explored the gap in knowledge regarding athletic training faculty perceptions on their readiness to implement IPE. Data was collected using an electronic survey administered to athletic training program faculty. The objectives of the study were to explore athletic training educators' perceptions of knowledge, beliefs, and barriers related to IPE. The results of this study identified that differences exist in faculty perceptions of IPE based on faculty rank or role, years of teaching experience, skill level using IPE, previous experience with using IPE, and geographical location of ATEPs within the institution. Together, the findings suggest that IPE integration should include initiatives that provide administrative support, delineated leadership roles and efforts for bringing allied health disciplines in closer physical proximity on their campuses.