Developing Clinical Proficiency in Athletic Training: A Modular Approach

The fourth edition of Developing Clinical Proficiency in Athletic Training: A Modular Approach takes the skills that athletic training students need and organizes them into a modular system that will help students progressively develop while providing instructors with a systematic means of assessing their students' learning. The manual presents a flexible system consisting of three levels that are broken down into 146 modules used for assessing students' clinical skill development over the course of their athletic training program. The text is presented in such a way that it allows instructors to adjust the order of presentation of the modules while maintaining a complete record of the competencies achieved.

Previously titled Assessing Clinical Proficiencies in Athletic Training, this latest edition guides students and clinical instructors through the maze of educational competencies required of entry-level athletic trainers. All of the current National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Athletic Training Competencies are embedded in the text. Because it covers all the competencies, this workbook can be used in conjunction with any athletic training text. The NATA competencies are noted in each module and are cross-referenced in an appendix. The following are new features of the fourth edition:

-Coathor Dr. Kirk Brumels joins author Ken Knight as a veteran clinic educator and a longtime user of the modular system.

-The 26 new modules enhance the existing modules and improve the coverage of competencies from the previous edition.

-Three new groups of modules are included: Developing Clinical Skill, The Body, and Professional Development.”

-A new module, Foundational Behaviors of Professional Practice, has been added to all three levels to ensure that students and clinical instructors have an ongoing dialogue concerning these behaviors.
In the fourth edition of Developing Clinical Proficiency in Athletic Training, the authors have reduced the number of levels from four to three and increased the number of modules in order to give instructors greater flexibility in adapting the text to their curriculums. They also have included more introductory material to help students and instructors better understand the integrated nature of athletic training education, and they discuss the nature of critical thinking and why it is essential to clinical practice.

The text's unique concept allows for multiple evaluations of proficiencies in the classroom, laboratory, and clinical settings. Through the modules, students are given the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of clinical proficiencies as instructors gauge their competencies across multiple exposures throughout the training experience. This approach ensures that students demonstrate both knowledge and the practical skills they need in order to be successful athletic trainers. As such, it is a great tool for instructors and the jump-start that students need as they prepare to move into their careers as athletic trainers.

Developing Clinical Proficiency in Athletic Training, Fourth Edition, is part of Human Kinetics' Athletic Training Education Series. Featuring the work of respected athletic training authorities, this collection of six outstanding textbooks, each with its own supporting instructional resources, parallels and expounds on the content areas in the accreditation standards of the NATA Educational Council.

Kenneth L. Knight, PhD, is professor of athletic training at Brigham Young University, past chair of the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Education Council, former editor in chief of the Journal of Athletic Training, and founding editor of the Athletic Training Education Journal. He has been involved in athletic training education for over 40 years and practiced athletic training for 25 years at the high school, junior college, and collegiate levels.

Knight has taught more than 2,500 students. He was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 2001, the Utah Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame in 2005. He was also named a Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer in 2000 by the NATA. Knight received the Sayers “Bud” Miller Outstanding Educator Award in 1995 and the Clancy Medal for Outstanding Research in Athletic Training from the NATA in 1995 and 1997.

He also is the author of Cryotherapy: Theory, Technique and Physiology; Cryotherapy in Sport Injury Management; and Therapeutic Modalities: The Art and Science.

Kirk Brumels, PhD, is an associate professor of kinesiology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He has been a practicing athletic trainer for more than 20 years, including 11 years in the National Football League with the New England Patriots where he was a member of the 1997 NFL Athletic Training Staff of the Year. Brumels serves as a clinical athletic trainer, didactic and clinical instructor, and director of the athletic training education program at Hope College.