Clinical Education Overview
Central Connecticut State University’s clinical education places a traditional and strong emphasis on providing the athletic training student with sufficient opportunities to master competencies and develop clinical proficiency through active participation in providing health care to patients/clients. Formal instruction involves teaching of required subject matter in structured classroom, clinical, or laboratory environments. The clinical aspect of the Athletic Training Professional Program (ATPP) consists of two distinct components: “clinical education” and “clinical experience”. The student’s clinical education and clinical experiences are initially shaped by their academic coursework that evolves in time to practical skill application with actual patients/clients.
Clinical Experience
The clinical experience plan reinforces the sequence of formal instruction of athletic training knowledge, skills, and clinical abilities, including clinical decision-making. Clinical experiences permit the student to function in a variety of settings with patients/clients engaged in a range of activities with conditions described in accordance with the role delineation study and standards of practice for the certified entry level athletic trainer. CCSU’s clinical experiences provide students with authentic, real-time opportunities to practice and integrate athletic training knowledge, skills, and clinical abilities, including decision-making and professional behavior in order to develop proficiency as an athletic trainer through assignments with preceptor. CCSU’s clinical experiences follow a logical progression that allows for increasing amounts of clinically supervised responsibility leading to autonomous practice upon graduation.
Each clinical course is designed to provide the student with many opportunities to progressively develop competencies in the psychomotor and clinical proficiency skills that are necessary for the entry-level athletic trainer. The experiences include:
- Risk Reduction, Wellness and Health Literacy
- Assessment, Evaluation, & Diagnosis
- Critical Incident Management
- Therapeutic Intervention
- Healthcare Administration & Professional Responsibility
Our Clinical Experience Uniqueness
Our team physicians have a genuine interest in your development as an athletic training student – both with clinical education sessions and advancing your clinical skills through observing your direct patient care.
CCSU’s EMT requirement ensures dual certification that promotes your advanced emergency medical care abilities for your future professional athletic training setting- standing out from other ATs.
You will have the opportunity to develop proficiency in clinical assessments, evaluation and diagnosis working with our core faculty who are active practicing athletic trainers and have over 50 years of experience as clinical educators.
Our program’s joint critical care management training with New Britain Emergency Service Academy allows EMT and paramedic recruits to engage with you, as the athletic training student, in the evolution of acute pre-hospital care to the transfer of care to EMS personnel.
Our AT students will have opportunities to practice direct therapeutic patient care during on-campus clinical experiences and have a full five week mini-immersive experience in a local physical therapy setting with our program’s dedicated supplemental preceptors.