Characteristics of Athletic Training Students' Patient Encounters During Immersive and Nonimmersive Clinical Experiences: A Report From the Association for Athletic Training Education Research Network

Abstract

Context The 2020 Standards for the Accreditation of Professional Athletic Training Programs from the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education require programs to include at least one immersive clinical experience (ICE) in their clinical education curricula. Yet, it is unknown whether ICEs provide more opportunities and benefits than nonimmersive clinical experiences (N-ICEs). The purpose of this study was to compare characteristics of patient encounters (PEs) that occurred during ICEs and N-ICEs. Design Multisite panel design. Setting Twelve professional programs (5 undergraduate, 7 graduate). Patients or Other Participants Three hundred thirty-eight athletic training students logged PEs in the E*Value system. Main Outcome Measures For each PE, students reported clinical experience type (ICE, N-ICE), clinical site type, student role (observed, assisted, performed), diagnoses reported, and procedure(s) performed. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize PE characteristics. Generalized estimating equations were used to compare student role and clinical site type during PEs in ICEs and N-ICEs (P < .05). Results A total of 10 999 PEs occurred at ICEs and 18 228 PEs occurred at N-ICEs. Sixty-four percent of ICEs and 67.2% of N-ICEs occurred at collegiate settings. Students performed 70.6% of reported PEs during ICEs, and 72% of PEs at N-ICEs. Participants averaged 0.80 ± 0.64 diagnoses and 1.35 ± 1.12 procedures per PE during ICEs, compared with 0.82 ± 0.63 diagnoses and 1.33 ± 1.04 procedures per PE during N-ICEs. No significant differences between ICEs and N-ICEs were found in either student role (P = .50) or clinical site type (P = .71). Conclusion(s) Programs may intend to use ICEs later in their curricula to demonstrate progressive clinical autonomy; however, we found no statistically significant differences in student role for ICEs versus N-ICEs. The ICEs examined in this study may have been implemented without specific objectives, which may explain the lack of characteristic differences between the clinical experience types.