Identification of what determines effective practice for any profession is a difficult undertaking. However, the work of Arthur Combs on dispositions of helping professionals provides a useful framework. The term Helping Professional is often used to describe groups such as educators, nurses, and counselors. Each group is concerned with facilitation of clinical outcomes in patients, clients or students. Combs & Gonzalez (1994) indicate three elements of effective practice: 1. Rich and extensive knowledge of required content, 2. Clinical application (methods) and 3. Personal characteristics (dispositions). Combs et al. (1994) proposes that while knowledge and clinical skill are essential to effective practice, dispositions denote the best helping professionals. Dispositions have been described as a person's attitudes, beliefs and values. Helping professional research offers reliable means to identify and measure dispositions. There is no athletic training research directly identifying dispositions. This qualitative pilot study was undertaken to determine if similarities exist in athletic trainers' perceptions of effective practice and the helping professional research. A purposeful criterion sample 24 athletic trainers was derived from Kentucky Athletic Trainers Society 2006 meeting attendees. The sample provided a broad range of age, years of practice, and employment settings. A three question qualitative survey was administered to elicit different aspects of effective athletic training. Question one sought to identify the single most important characteristic of an ATC. Question two requested a description of what makes a good athletic trainer. Question three obtained a description of the behavior of an effective athletic trainer. Three basic themes were identified: Knowledge (e.g. “knowledgeable in athletic training”, “well-educated”), Professional Administration (e.g. “accurate record keeping” and “organized”), Dispositions (e.g. interpersonal, ethical, honesty, empathy, compassion, enthusiastic, sense of humor, and dedication). The most numerous answer type was dispositional. Primary dispositions identified were interpersonal/personable (most frequent), followed by empathy/compassion, and ethics/honesty. The results suggest athletic trainers view dispositions as a primary component of effective practice. Especially with question one, which sought to identify the single most important characteristic, dispositions were indicated twice as often. The current pilot study indicates similarities in what athletic trainers perceive as effective practice and dispositions of helping professionals. This pilot provides a foundation for utilizing current helping professional research as a mode for similar research within athletic training. The identification of a well-defined dispositional construct within athletic training has many potential applications in educational process, professional preparation, and the hiring or mentoring of currently practicing athletic trainers.Keyword(s): athletic training, curriculum, professional preparation