Professional Master's Athletic Training Students' Career Influences Part II: Short-Term and Long-Term Career Intentions

Abstract

Context As athletic training education continues to evolve to a professional master's degree, understanding the career intentions of students preparing to graduate from professional master's programs is essential. Objective To examine the career intentions of second-year professional master's athletic training students and identify the factors that influence their intentions. Design Convergent mixed methods. Setting Online surveys and individual phone interviews. Patients or Other Participants A total of 80 second-year professional master's students (63 women, 13 men, 4 no response, age = 24.63 ± 2.29 years) who were enrolled in the final semester of their program in spring 2019 participated in the online survey. Ten survey respondents participated in follow-up phone interviews. Data Collection and Analysis An online survey was designed and administered to answer the research questions. Semistructured phone interviews were conducted as a follow-up to the survey to gain further insight into the research questions. The data from the survey and interviews were woven together and merged to provide a comprehensive display of results. Triangulation, member checks, memos, and peer debriefing were completed for trustworthiness. Results Two higher-order themes emerged from the data: career progression and factors influencing career intentions. We identified 3 lower-order themes for career progression: short-term career plans, concerns over lack of experience, and long-term career plans. Two lower-order themes were identified for factors influencing career intentions: clinical experience and mentorship. Conclusions Second-year professional master's athletic training students have short-term and long-term career plans. Their career intentions were influenced by past clinical experiences and the mentorship received from their clinical preceptors and faculty members during their professional education. Unfortunately, many students were having difficulty obtaining positions after graduation due to a lack of professional experience. As a result, some turned to internship or residency positions to gain experience.