Clinical education is a critical element of both the pre-professional and professional phases of our new Master of Science in Athletic Training degree program. Our program centers on enhancing clinical competence and capability through progressive and deliberate practice. These opportunities occur on campus working directly with the highly competitive and accomplished Bombers Athletics Program, winners of 15 Division III team National Championships and 30 individual National Champions (earning 46 total titles).
Other locally-based clinical education opportunities include clinical sites at Cornell University, Ithaca High School, Cornell/Gannett Physical Therapy, Cayuga Medical Center, local orthopedic physician offices, the Ithaca College Hammond Health Center, and a nearby hospital-based medical center where numerous professionals are contracted to provide care for high school athletes. There are also opportunities for students to learn from other clinical preceptors in a variety of health care settings based on our extensive interprofessional and alumni networks.
In the 3rd year of the pre-professional phase, you will begin clinical observations through two Pre-Healthcare Clinical Practicum courses. These clinical observations provide the foundation for interprofessional practice across many health care disciplines and prepare you for subsequent clinical education in the professional phase in years 4 and 5.
Clinical education in the professional phase of the program begins with on-campus assignments in conjunction with academic coursework year 4. Within the two-year professional phase (formal graduate degree phase), students complete 12 credits of clinical education coursework across the 5 graduate semesters through our Practicum in Athletic Training sequence. Students will work with preceptors both on and off-campus in order to diversify and enrichen their clinical acumen and capabilities. Practicum in Athletic Training 4 includes a 4-week full time clinical immersion rotation where students will get to experience full time what it means to be an athletic trainer from sunup, to sundown.
Throughout the clinical education sequence, AT students will be engaged in authentic interprofessional education, evidence-based practice, and systems-based learning. The goal of our clinical education program is to prepare highly capable and compassionate athletic trainers who can meet head on, the complex challenges associated with the delivery of health care for physically active patients.
Contact
Patrick McKeon
Athletic Training Clinical Coordinator
607-274-1455
pmckeon@ithaca.edu