Recently, Athletic Training has made the transition from a bachelors program for certification to a professional masters program. This means that now in order to sit for the BOC and become a credentialed athletic trainer (AT) students must first complete pre-requisite courses during their undergraduate years, and complete a caate approved professional masters (PM) program first. Concerns about the understanding of and respect for the role of ATs in health care have been a focal point for the profession and, thus, a reason to transition.(2) Many studies were done to gauge stakeholders ideas on the transition, and the overarching idea discussed is that the transition to a PM program is a way to promote increased respect within the health care community. (2) Such a bi change to a profession, while it has many benefits, is not without its challenges, though. In this blog I am going to briefly outline the major arguments for and against the transition and discuss what implications these may have for the future of the profession.
Benefits:
It appears that there are 2 main benefits that the transition is assumed to bring about:
Better alignment with other healthcare professionals
Increased quality and retainment of students
1. Better alignment with other healthcare professionals:
Athletic training was one of the few healthcare careers that only requires a bachelors to become a certified professional. The idea and the hope is that by increasing the education requirement to a masters, we become better aligned with the educational expectations and degree requirements of our allied healthcare professionals, thus garnering increased respect from them. Understanding and respect of athletic training has been a profession struggle for as long as athletic training has been around, making the transition seem favorable if it leads to better clarity and respect around AT. It is hoped that this transition will add more credibility to the degree earned and send a clear message to other professionals that athletic trainers are well-educated professionals. (2) It has been acknowledged though that, while this may likely be the case, there is no evidence to support the suspected improved reputation or respect. (2)
2. Increased quality and retainment of students:
A major problem the athletic training profession faces is the attrition and burn out rates. Athletic training is not always a glamorous job, its low paying, high hours, hard manual labor and stressful emergency care at times. It takes a specific type of person to be a successful athletic trainer. By transitioning to the PM track, it is hoped that the student retainment rate will be improved. This is done in several ways. For starters, individuals have a much broader range of bachelors they can obtain in more general kinesiology, biology and sports medicine backgrounds. This gives individuals the opportunity to get the pre-requisite courses necessary and the understanding of what athletic training is, without having the athletic training degree and specialization quite yet. Because of this, those who decide athletic training actually isn't for them, hopefully, realizes this before going on to the PM and can still confidently get a job in another field with their bachelors. Similarly, the individuals who are applying to the PM after their bachelors, have had the time to "find themselves" and make solid career decisions, committing whole-heartedly to the profession. This, along with the increased age and maturity of the average students leads to a better quality of athletic training student with more advanced soft skills and a more whole-hearted commitment to the profession.(1)
Challenges:
Change is not without challenges, however. 2 major challenges the transition provides are:
Financial concerns
Lack of evidence to support transitioning
1. Financial concerns
The timeline to become an athletic trainer is now increased 2 years and a few thousand dollars later. Costs of graduate school is also typically higher than at the undergraduate level. (1) When entering a profession that pays the average individual less than 60k, its hard to justify the benefits of the extra cost and time spent. Unless the increase to masters results in higher wages that are competitive and reflective of our peer healthcare professions, students are being asked to carry increased student debt for a considerably longer period of time. (1) This is different from those in a post professional masters program (PPM), like myself, who are usually a part of an assistantship program, getting tuition payment sand stipends for their work as a GA. In the PM, you are an unpaid student aid, working towards gaining clinical hours and emersion experience, while paying tuition out of your own pocket. It may be the case that many opt out of the profession because of the inability to pay for schooling, or due to the lack of incentive given the extremely low salaries typically offered and lack of raise and promotion opportunities in the profession. It's also difficult to justify, when you think about the settings that require an athletic trainer. While some settings, like professional teams, may have the ability to move a few thousand dollars around in their budget to support the necessary pay changes that an advanced degree requires, many clinical site would not be able to. Even now, there are secondary schools who cannot afford an athletic trainer, or even a graduate assistant athletic trainer (~$23,000). There is a huge fight to push for legislature to require Athletic Trainers in secondary schools and other settings, the lack of budget that these sites and the government provide for this requirement does not support the desired salary the profession wants.(2)
2. Lack of Evidence to Support the Transition:
Finally, most of the transition support comes from a white paper that was published with speculative and limited hard evidence. The transition was decided based off of assumed benefits and changes that the profession hopes to see, but is not guaranteed. (2) Many are unclear of the reasoning behind the transition, and there is a mixture of support within the profession, however, what's done is done and all we can do now is fight to make those assumptions reality the best we can.
Over the next few years the major challenges will be clarity between the differences between PM and PPM programs. Understanding that a GA who got a post professional masters, already has 2 years of work experience, and is not the same experience and education level as someone with a professional masters. It will be difficult for those who are grandfathered into the new system (those who already are credentialed through a Bs), to stand separate from the new masters individuals, when non-athletic trainers already don't have a clear understanding on the education requirements and role responsibilities of athletic trainers. Similarly, graduate assistantships will be slowly weened out and internships would need to pay much larger stipends to match the increased degree and financial requirements the new professionals will require. We already struggle with internships, assistantships and other fellowship and residency programs not paying livable wages, now individuals will have obtained a higher degree and much larger debt, so the fight for increased salary will only become more prominent and frustrating. Many schools and programs utilize athletic trainers to help fill in for sports they cannot afford a full time staff member for, so these programs will now need to find money in their budgets to hire full time athletic trainers to fill these roles, or pay their current athletic trainers more to take over some of these responsibilities. This is a task that will take a lot of time, seeing as our salary is not a respectable livable one currently.
Overall, we can only hope that the assumptions that made the transition happen, are accurate and we see the change that was hoped; a profession more understood and respected in the healthcare community, with increased salary and improved quality of student and professional.
(1) Pitney WA. Requiring professional athletic training programs at the post-baccalaureate level: considerations and concerns. Athletic Training Education Journal. 2012;7(1):4-10.
(2) Mazerolle SM, Bowman TG, Pitney WA. Multistakeholder perspectives on the transition to a graduate-level athletic training educational model. Journal of athletic training. 2015;50(9):964-976.
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