Limited Educational Opportunities for Certified Athletic Trainers in Psychology

Larson and colleagues (1996) surveyed 482 Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC) and found that 47% believed psychological issues were associated with every injury and 90% rated the treatment of psychological injury variables as important/very important. One might assume, therefore, that psychology is emphasized as part of the ATC's educational preparation; however, this may not be the case. This study sought to better understand opportunities available to ATCs to learn about psychology. The sample consisted of the 73 institutions affiliated with the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 10, and Southeast conferences. Thirty-two of these institutions have Athletic Training programs that are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. Each accredited institution requires a basic Psychology course, but do they require anything beyond this? We found that 14 required a sport psychology class and 18 did not, χ² (1) = 0.50, p=.48. Given the rather minimal preparation requirements in psychology, we next examined whether the institutions had a Sport Psychologist on staff. Such a person might be able to assist the aspiring ATC during their clinical training and/or be someone the ATC could refer an injured athlete to. Twenty-one (28.8%) of the institutions employed a Sport Psychologist and 52 (71.2%) did not, χ² (1) = 13.16, p<.001. There was no relationship between athletic conference and whether or not an institution employed a Sport Psychologist, χ² (5) = 4.94, p=.42. Similarly, there was no relationship between institutions that employed a Sport Psychologist and institutions that required their student athletic training majors to take a sport psychology class, χ² (1) = 1.56, p>.21. We also reviewed the Continuing Educational Units (CEU) that an ATC must obtain to remain certified. The Board of Certification (BOC, 2005) listed 205 CEU opportunities for October 2006 through October 2007. None of the CEU opportunities listed covered the topics of injury psychology, rehabilitation motivation, or sport psychology. Also, the BOC allows people to take online quizzes to obtain some CEUs. Of the six quizzes offered, none emphasized psychology. Finally, at the 2006 National Athletic Trainer Association Convention there were 68 symposia sessions offered. Only three had a psychological component. In summary, it appears that most ATCs and aspiring ATCs, while recognizing the importance of psychology in the injury rehabilitation process, receive little educational preparation or opportunities for continuing education in this area. Opportunities to make referrals to staff Sport Psychologist are also limited.
Keyword(s): athletic training, medical/medical care, safety/injury prevention