Source: Shawna Jordan, 785-532-0150, Jordan@k-state.edu
Website: http://www.he.k-state.edu/hn/programs/ugrad/athtr/
News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-2535, bbohn@k-state.edu

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010

ATHLETIC TRAINING EDUCATION PROGRAM RECEIVES CONTINUING ACCREDITATION

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's athletic training education program has earned continuing accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education.

The accreditation is good for 10 years, according to Shawna Jordan, director of K-State's athletic training education program. The process included an 18-month self-study review that addressed teaching, supervision, student learning and more. It also involved a two and one-half day on-campus visit by an external review team, which met with students and faculty and toured facilities.

"The commission found that our program met all of the nationally recognized standards for entry-level athletic training education," Jordan said. "These standards were established by the commission's sponsors: the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and the National Athletic Trainers' Association Inc."

"Dr. Jordan and Mr. DiCicco, an instructor in the program, are to be congratulated on putting together a superior self-study that led to such high remarks from the site visit committee," said Denis Medeiros, head of the department of human nutrition and associate dean for scholarship and research of K-State's College of Human Ecology.

Jordan said accreditation is essential if the program's students want to seek certification as athletic trainers after they graduate.

"In order for our students to sit for the Board of Certification exam at the end of their undergraduate degree, we must maintain our accreditation with the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education," she said. "Accreditation also is important because it ensures the students are prepared to meet the challenges of working with the public and physically active individuals once they graduate."

K-State's bachelor's degree program in athletic training is offered through the department of human nutrition in the College of Human Ecology. Students study the concepts and skills to properly manage the health care problems associated with physical activity. The athletic trainer, in cooperation with physicians and other health care personnel, functions as an integral member of the health care team in secondary schools, colleges and universities, professional sports, sports medicine clinics, and other health care settings, Jordan said.

"Our accredited programs set the standard for assessment of student learning because of the rigor required for meeting both the university assessment standards and the programs' accrediting agency standards. We are very pleased with this continuing achievement by the athletic training education program in the College of Human Ecology," said Briana S. Nelson Goff, the college's associate dean for academic affairs.

"Our students have been very successful after leaving K-State. Most go on to attend a physical therapy school or complete graduate programs at universities all across the U.S.," Jordan said. "The students who start their careers after their undergraduate studies have found employment in high school outreach clinics, biomedical sales positions or orthopaedic rehabilitation clinics.

"We're very proud that our students continue to achieve after leaving K-State," she said. "We have several graduates now working in college-university settings as athletic trainers, and several who hold dual credentials of certified athletic trainer and a doctorate of physical therapy."

The K-State athletic training program has been accredited since 1992. Jordan said the program has been growing rapidly and currently serves 164 students.

As part of their degree work, students take practicum courses in athletic training and apply their skills at the program's clinical affiliate sites, which include area high schools, clinics and collegiate settings.

"The athletic training education program also is a very good example of how K-State's department of intercollegiate athletics contributes directly to the academic mission of K-State," Medeiros said. "Intercollegiate athletics provides the sites for our student interns, as well as some instructors to teach our classes. Our program is one of the largest in the nation, and one can see why students are attracted to it based on this level of talent and commitment."

"I think what makes our program stand out are the same features that draw students to K-State: our family atmosphere that shows we truly care about the individual and seeing them succeed," Jordan said.