Collaboration Between Athletic Training Clinical and Classroom Instructors

OBJECTIVE: The education of an athletic training student involves a balance between theory and application, which can be stated as a balance between classroom and clinical education. The instructors in these settings should work together to promote the overall educational process. Our primary purpose was to measure the observations and perceptions of physical presence, cooperation, and communication between clinical and classroom instructors and secondarily to determine if these have a perceived effect on the education of the student. SUBJECTS: Clinical instructors, classroom instructors, and athletic training students in Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs-accredited and National Athletic Trainers' Association-approved athletic training education programs. MEASUREMENTS: Data were analyzed using various correlation techniques, a general linear model, and a one-way analysis of variance. DESIGN AND SETTING: We designed a questionnaire to measure the observations and perceptions of physical presence, cooperation, and communication between the clinical and classroom instructors. RESULTS: Of the 30 athletic training educational programs solicited for involvement in this study, 19 responded (63%). A total of 737 questionnaires were distributed, and 547 were returned (74%). Classroom instructors rated observations of cooperation between clinical and classroom instructors at a significantly higher frequency than did clinical instructors. Students rated observations of communication at a significantly lower frequency than did the clinical and classroom instructors. All 3 groups agreed that the physical presence, cooperation, and communication between the clinical and classroom instructors has a large effect upon the education of the student. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical instructors must be educators as well as care providers. At the same time, classroom instructors must make efforts to include clinical instructors in all aspects of the educational process. Also, athletic training students should be exposed to the inner workings of their educational programs, so they may have a better understanding and appreciation of how theory and application tie together.