IC News

In the fall of 2021 Ithaca College will begin a dual degree Master's in Athletic Training program that will allow students to graduate with a master’s degree in five years instead six.

The five-year program — which also includes a summer session — will consist of three years of pre-professional courses, followed by two years of professional, graduate-level coursework.

“When the new Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) standards came out, making a master's degree a requirement for students who wanted to enter the profession, we had two options,” said Paul Geisler, professor and director of the athletic training education program. “The first was to create a two-year, standalone graduate program, which is what a majority of schools have chosen to do. The second was to create a 3:2 program.”

As Geisler points out, the main advantage of a 3:2 program from a student perspective is that it confers the now-required master's degree in five years, rather than six.

“This saves the students entering our program in the fall of 2021 a year of college, and gets them into the workforce sooner, and that’s going to be an advantage in the eyes of students,” he said.

Although the CAATE standards don’t require full transition to the graduate level until the fall of 2022, Geisler believes getting a head start on the new degree will be beneficial to students.

Additionally, by being at IC for five years, rather than just two, students will graduate with a full toolbox of skills courtesy of the unique and comprehensive approach to pedagogy taken by the program’s professors, which contributes to the program’s 45 years of excellence, industry-leading outcomes and a strong national reputation.

“Some of the core skills we want our students to have, such as the ability to problem solve, use reason to think critically and adapt to challenging situations take time to develop,” he said. “Those are skills that are part of our ‘software’ and are embedded in how professors teach our students in undergraduate courses. This allows us the time we need to produce the nuanced traits that we feel our graduates will need in their professional careers.”

The first three years of the program will build foundational knowledge and skills, with students taking courses in both natural and social sciences, such as anatomy, physiology and psychology. The fourth year features graduate-level courses with a focus on clinical sciences such as orthopedic science, medical science and pathoanatomy. Students will learn how to prevent, assess and care for illnesses and injuries while gaining hands-on clinical experience working with Division I and Division III intercollegiate athletes, high school athletes, and at private clinics and IC's Hammond Health Center.