Faculty Perceptions of Readiness to Implement Interprofessional Education in Athletic Training

Abstract

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.

Changes of Interprofessional Education in Athletic Training: A 5-Year Follow-up Study

“…The number of students also increased. In 2021-2022, there were approximately 18% more graduates transitioning into AT as a destination profession compared to 2017(National Athletic Trainers' Association, 2023.…”

“…Recently, there has been a call for educators in athletic training (AT) programs to commit to IPE . However, faculty attitudes toward IPE differ based on faculty rank, prior experience, and skill level using IPE (Parry, 2017). Previous research studies have highlighted faculty attitudes toward IPE, perceptions of importance of IPE four competencies, barriers, and opportunities to implementation among faculty in nursing (Curran et al, 2007;Olenick & Allen, 2013) and in several allied health professional programs such as respiratory therapy (Behr et al, 2022;Vernon et al, 2018;Vernon et al, 2017), nutrition (Patton et al, 2018), occupational therapy (Hughes et al, 2019), physical therapy (Ramiscal et al, 2022), dental hygiene (Tolle et al, 2019), medical laboratory science (Bamfield-Cummings et al, 2023), and radiation science (Kindle et al, 2023).…”