{"id":40211,"date":"2015-11-16T10:49:29","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T17:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=40211"},"modified":"2015-11-16T10:50:44","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T17:50:44","slug":"naus-graduate-program-in-athletic-training-expanding-to-phoenix-biomedical-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/naus-graduate-program-in-athletic-training-expanding-to-phoenix-biomedical-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"NAU\u2019s graduate program in athletic training expanding to Phoenix Biomedical Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

A national shift in credentialing for athletic trainers finds Northern Arizona University well positioned for expansion at its Phoenix Biomedical Campus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The master of athletic training<\/a> program on NAU\u2019s Flagstaff campus will graduate its first cohort in May 2016, and in July the Phoenix campus will welcome its first entering class.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe discussion started many years ago about moving the entry level for our profession from a bachelor\u2019s degree to a master\u2019s,\u201d said Debbie Craig<\/strong>, director of the program at NAU. \u201cAs the conversation gained more steam, we knew it would be mandated eventually. So we decided to do the legwork and get ahead of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That two-year process resulted in the first master\u2019s students entering NAU\u2019s program in the summer of 2014. Accreditation at NAU\u2014and the anticipated national mandate\u2014occurred in spring 2015.<\/p>\n

The Flagstaff campus will continue to welcome 30 new master\u2019s students per year, while the Phoenix Biomedical Campus will begin with 15. The undergraduate program at NAU will end with May\u2019s graduating class.<\/p>\n

Craig expects both campuses to benefit from the credentialing change and a heightened focus on the profession.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs most people are aware, there\u2019s a massively increased focus on concussions at the national level,\u201d Craig said. \u201cNot only are we thrilled there\u2019s more attention for that problem, but it also brings a lot of attention to our profession. It\u2019s the athletic trainers on the sidelines who are the first line of evaluation and protection for the athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The graduate program begins during the summer with classes in ethics and basic skills. Clinical rotations begin in August. Because NAU and two Flagstaff high schools can accommodate only 10 students each, the second year is spent at clinical sites around the state, with coursework performed online. Craig said the affiliation agreements with statewide clinics are a valuable asset to the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are fantastic educators who are also athletic trainers, and that\u2019s where we like to send our students,\u201d Craig said. \u201cThere is typically only one student at each site, so they have the clinical preceptor\u2019s full attention. There\u2019s a lot of learning that happens during that second year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craig said that besides on-field evaluations, athletic trainers do everything from pre-practice taping to post-practice treatments for injuries that are playable. \u201cFor athletes who have had surgical injuries, the athletic trainers will often do all of the rehabilitation to get those athletes back into playing shape,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

New graduates from the program, who often work at high schools, at the intercollegiate level or in rehabilitation centers, can expect starting pay of about $50,000, Craig said.<\/p>\n

Applicants to the graduate program generally come from a background of exercise science or kinesiology, Craig said. But any student who takes the established pre-requisite courses and participates in the required number of clinical observation hours may apply.<\/p>\n

Craig anticipates the program\u2019s expansion will attract plenty of attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in Phoenix who are interested but can\u2019t move up to Flagstaff for a year will be thrilled,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re certainly excited about the facility in Phoenix. It\u2019s a beautiful campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A national shift in credentialing for athletic trainers finds Northern Arizona University well positioned for expansion at its Phoenix Biomedical Campus. The master of athletic training program on NAU\u2019s Flagstaff campus will graduate its first cohort in May 2016, and in July the Phoenix campus will welcome its first entering class. \u201cThe discussion started many…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":40210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1083,1082,38,24,292],"class_list":["post-40211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics","tag-debbie-craig","tag-master-of-athletic-training","tag-nau","tag-northern-arizona-university","tag-phoenix-biomedical-campus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}