Clinical Education
An integral part of
the athletic training educational program at Gardner-Webb University is the hands-on experience.
Clinical education occurs during interaction with Approved Clinical Instructors
(ACIs) and or Clinical Instructor's (CIs) daily during clinical experiences/rotations. This allows athletic
training students to practice and master the skills of the profession while
providing quality health care for the student-athletes under the direct supervision
of an ACI or CI.
To provide a consistent progression in education, a list of clinical proficiencies
(psychomotor skills relating to the profession) have been developed for each
academic level. Proficiencies directly relate to specific athletic
training courses and levels of education. What is being learned in the
classroom and lab will be practiced in clinical education and evaluated
in the Clinical Proficiencies courses (ATTR - 101,200,201,300,301,400,and 401).
Clinical education occurs in a variety of settings:
1. Laboratory - almost all courses have an associated lab
portion where athletic training students practice competencies under
the supervision of an ACI.
Ashley White, MS ATC Educational Program Director
2. Guest Lecturers - various allied health professionals
are invited to teach as guest lecturers in many of the Athletic Training major
courses. Guest lecturers include but are not limited to: ophthalmologists,
orthopaedic surgeons, gynecologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical therapists
and other allied health professionals.
Current Athletic Training Student - Shari Benson
3. Clinical Proficiencies Courses - First-year athletic
training students are introduced to clinical proficiencies during a spring
semester one hour course and then take a two hour course each semester,
thereafter, with an ACI. In this course, athletic training students
demonstrate mastery of clinical proficiencies as they are evaluated for a
grade on their performance of skills learned in class and practiced in their
assigned lab time. Clinical Proficiency courses occur during the
semester immediately after completion of the related three hour lecture class
and lab
to allow time for mastery of the skills. To evaluate "learning
over time", global evaluations are used to measure decision making and
are incorporated into the clinical proficiencies courses.
Current
Athletic Training Student - Lisa Lehenbauer
4. Clinical Experiences -
Clinical
experience provides the athletic training student with the opportunity to
apply the clinical skills they have acquired in prior coursework. Athletic
training students are assigned to a certified athletic trainer or other allied
heath professional who will serve as their ACI or CI, providing both
supervision and practical educational experience on a daily basis. Clinical
experiences are broken down into three categories: major, mini and affiliate
experiences/rotations.
A major clinical experience is a 12-week in-season rotation with one of the university’s seventeen NCAA division I athletic teams. One of the three major clinical experiences each athletic training student will have is football, either their junior or senior year. Our goal is to provide each athletic training student a wide variety of experiences during their tenure at Gardner-Webb. To help ensure this, each athletic training student will also be assigned three 4-week mini clinical experiences with various athletic teams on campus. Lastly, athletic training students will have three additional experiences at the following affiliate sites: high school, physical therapy, and a split orthopaedic surgery/general medicine rotation. The high school and physical therapy clinic experiences will encompass four weeks in duration with the orthopaedic and general medicine experiences encompassing two weeks each. Each experience is further detailed in the information provided below.
Stephanie Mitchell, MA ATC evaluating clinical proficiency.
5. High School Experience - Athletic training students also get an experience at a local high school (Crest High School, Kings Mountain High School and Shelby High School) as part of their clinical education. During this experience, athletic training students will observe Certified Athletic Trainers/Approved Clinical Instructors as they provide health care to the High School age student-athlete.
Don Miller, PT, DPT, MS, CSCS owner of CPTA along with Gardner-Webb
alumnus Walt Rumfelt, PA-C, ATC speak to a patient about shoulder rehabilitation.
6. Physical Therapy Rotation -
As part of the
clinical education, athletic training students will have a clinical rotation
through an area physical therapy clinic - Cleveland Physical Therapy
Associates (CPTA). As a significant number of athletic trainers are currently
employed in sports medicine/physical therapy settings, this clinical rotation
will provide an excellent way to familiarize themselves with this environment.
Dr. Don Miller, PT, DPT, MS., CSCS, owner of CPTA and his staff give the
athletic training student a thorough experience during the physical therapy
rotation.
7. Operating Room Observation/Orthopaedic Experience - Dr. Kevin James serves as Medical Director for the Undergraduate Athletic Training Educational Program. Dr. James as well as Dr. William Stucky and Dr. Pat Hayes of OrthoCarolina, serve as team physicians and are responsible for educating the athletic training students in the clinic during the 2-week orthopaedic clinical experience. All are excellent surgeons as well as educators that enjoy teaching the athletic training students. The athletic training students have multiple opportunities to put on a mask and scrubs and observe a variety of surgeries. There is no better way to learn the anatomy and understand rehabilitation than to see it on the inside. Mr. Ryan Hollifield and Mr. Walt Rumfelt serve as Physician's Assistants to all three doctors and the athletic training students benefit from learning through their interaction with additional allied health professionals. Athletic training students also get the opportunity to observe and interact with Dr. Louis Fiore, a physiatrist who specializes in the non-operative management of spinal and musculoskeletal conditions, including the use of diagnostic and therapeutic selective spinal injections and electrodiagnostics.
101 Delta Park Drive Shelby, NC 28150
(704)484-0606/ Fax: (704)484-8007
8. General Medicine Experience – This rotation allows the athletic training student to interact with a variety of healthcare professionals ranging from family physicians and nurse practitioners to lab technicians and insurance coordinators. An athletic training student is generally assigned this rotation their senior year during or after they have completed the Medical Conditions and Pharmacology course. Observing in this setting allows the athletic training student to see the full spectrum of the healthcare continuum from referral of general medical illnesses by the athletic training staff in the athletic training room to diagnosis and treatment by the physicians and various other staff at either Boiling Springs Medical Associates or Shelby Family Practice.
Gardner-Webb University;
Boiling Springs, North Carolina 28017 USA (704) 406-4000
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