professor and student using equipment in Athletic Training lab

Clinical Requirements

Clinical education is supervised by the Board of Certification, certified athletic trainers and approved allied health professional preceptors in affiliated clinical settings which include athletic healthcare facilities at Montclair State University, local secondary schools, sports medicine clinics, other health care settings, and professional athletic organizations. Student athletic trainers learn to function as an integral member of the athletic health care team in cooperation with medical personnel, athletic administrators, coaches and parents in the development and coordination of efficient and responsive health care delivery systems.

Clinical Hours Policy

Clinical education experiences are embedded in the following courses ATTR 251, ATTR 252, ATTR310, ATTR 351, ATTR 352, and ATTR 451. Clinical experiences are 12-15 week assignments with the exception of ATTR 310, which has a 10-hour observation in a non-orthopedic primary care clinic.

Students must document the number of hours directly supervised by a Preceptor on the hour log provided to them by their course instructor or by the program officials. The documentation must occur each day and signed off by the preceptor as verification. Hours can be rounded as indicated by the course instructor, preceptor, or program officials. Travel time, academic hours, and unsupervised hours may not be reported on the log. Logs must be submitted to the course instructor as indicated in the course syllabus or during class instruction.

Clinical hour requirements vary by course. The required number of hours in each course is listed below.

Course Minimum Hours Maximum Hours Minimum Days at Clinic
ATTR 251 Clinical Education in Athletic Training 120 150 3
ATTR 252 Clinical Education in Athletic Training II 120 150 3
ATTR 310 General Medical Issues in AT 8 10 1
ATTR 351 Clinical Education in Athletic Training III 180 240 3
ATTR 352 Clinical Education in Athletic Training IV 240 260 3
ATTR 451 Clinical Education in Athletic Training V 240 280 3

Note: Students are advised to not exceed 25 hours in a week for clinical experience. In the event that students do exceed this, they must still document and report those hours but will adjust the following weeks to counterbalance those hours.

Students shall establish a clinical education schedule with their Preceptor. This schedule should include a minimum of one day per week with no clinical experiences.

Students must plan their experiences so that the required clinical hours are spread out over the full 12-15 week term.

Athletic Training Program Policy on Course Credit for Courses with Fieldwork Requirements

Montclair State University does not have an institution-wide policy on fieldwork or the calculation of course credit to assure an equitable balance between student seat time and time in the field. This is due to the complex and unique characteristics of each major program disciplines and professions represented in each of the academic departments. However, departments and programs are allowed to submit their plans for how they will incorporate fieldwork and ensure a fair and equitable balance between seat time and field time for review and approval by the administrative team.

The Athletic Training Program will use the following guidelines to calculate actual seat time and field time for courses in the major program that require students to engage in immersive and non-immersive clinical fieldwork experiences.

  1. 1 semester hour (sh) = 100 hours of fieldwork or 13 seat time hours (plus a 2 hour examination time) per semester (15 weeks plus the university mandated examination time).
  2. Seat time hours are determined by the University policy that 1 sh is equal to 50 minutes of seat time and over a period of 15 weeks, or approximately 750 minutes or about 13 hours for the semester.
  3. A 3 sh clinical education/fieldwork/practicum course can either meet for:
    1. 300 fieldwork hours with no seat time.
    2. Approximately 40 seat time hours with no fieldwork.
    3. Some combination of the two adjusting for fieldwork and seat time for students.
    4. Fieldwork or seat time can be accounted for in other activities as well such as required professional development, mentorship, preseason contact time, or non-orthopedic contact time. All courses are designed to assume that students will have approximately 5-9 hours of out of class study-time and assignments (i.e. homework and readings) in order to be prepared for fieldwork and seat time demands.
    5. A 2 hour examination period to occur during the university designated examination week each semester.

The following table shows the distribution of time-based on these criteria:

Course Credits (sh) Seat time %/Practicum time % Time in hours (seat/practicum) Min-max Fieldwork Hours for Completion
ATTR 251 3 60/40 24/120 110-130
ATTR 252 3 50/50 20/150 140-160
ATTR 351 3 40/60 16/180 170-190
ATTR 352 3 25/75 10/225 220-240
ATTR 451 3 10/90 4/270 260-280

Note: Time in hours refers to the total time for the semester in seat and in fieldwork and each course instructor will determine how the seat time will be distributed during the 14 or 15 week semester.

Emphasis of Each Clinical Education Course

The content of the curriculum includes formal instruction in the current version of the athletic training knowledge, skills, and abilities as delineated by the BOC, NATA EC, and the CAATE Competencies. All required knowledge, skills, and abilities are taught and evaluated in at least one course in the curriculum. In addition, each clinical education course has a very specific emphasis to reflect that the student learning outcome for the immersive clinical experience is based on clinical integration proficiencies and patient care skills that students would have been taught in the current or prior semester.

Beginning with ATTR 251 Clinical Education I, the outcome for student achievement includes patient care skills in assessment of general health and wellness (CIP 1). Students are assessed on the application of protective equipment, taping bracing, padding, wrapping, etc. (CIP 2). Students are also assessed on their ability to provide emergency patient care (CIP 6) for a variety of circumstances and conditions. Lastly, students are assessed broadly on their ability to communicate and document evaluative findings and care provided using appropriate methods (CIP 9).

In the second clinical education course, ATTR 252 Clinical Education II, the graduated progression of student learning over time in the program adds onto student learning outcomes from ATTR 251. In addition to clinical integration proficiencies 1, 2, 6, and 9, students enrolled in ATTR 252 are also taking coursework in lower extremity clinical evaluation and diagnosis and in psychosocial intervention and referral. Therefore, student outcome achievement for this course also includes lower extremity evaluation (CIP 4b), comprehensive clinical evaluation as it relates to the lower extremity (CIP 5), and psychosocial intervention and referral techniques (CIP 7 and 8).

Concurrent with enrollment in ATTR 351 Clinical Education III students are taking coursework in upper extremity clinical evaluation and diagnosis, general medical issues, and therapeutic modalities. This builds on the previous outcomes for student achievement and adds an emphasis of clinical evaluation and diagnosis of the remainder of the body (CIP 4 a, c, e, d, and f) and general medical or non-orthopedic clinical evaluation (CIP 5).

By the fourth immersive clinical experience, ATTR 352 Clinical Education IV, students have been taught and evaluated clinical integration proficiency in all general areas. However, concurrent with the course, students are enrolled in coursework in therapeutic exercise and administration. This puts the emphasis for outcomes for student achievement on patient care skills related to therapeutic exercise and rehabilitation and on demonstrating an understanding of the inner workings of insurance and other concepts related to providing patient care in the athletic training settings.

In the final clinical experience, ATTR 451 Clinical Education V, students are enrolled in an instrumentation and measurement course that teaches them the concepts of evidence-based practice. This places the emphasis on student learning achievement on the student being a good consumer of evidence and is evaluated on their ability to provide an evidence-based rationale for supervised patient care decisions.

In summary, each immersive clinical experience has a very specific emphasis to reflect that the student learning outcome for the immersive clinical experience is based on clinical integration proficiencies and patient care skills that students would have been taught in the current or prior semester.

Clinical Sites and Preceptor Training

Montclair State University clinical sites and preceptors are committed to excellence and guide students in the development of the personal attitudes, clinical skills and professional attributes necessary for compassionate and competent clinical practice. They undergo extensive training, continuing education and evaluation. For a list of current clinical sites or information on how to become a clinical site or preceptor for the program please contact Dr. Marsha Grant-Ford or Dr. Fredrick Gardin.

In addition to the athletic training clinic at Montclair State University, other clinical education sites are affiliated including:

  • Westwood Regional High School
  • Mcinerney Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute
  • Active Foot and Ankle
  • Pequannock High School
  • Wayne Valley High School
  • Teaneck High School
  • Orthopedic Surgery Specialist of Montclair
  • Westfield High School
  • Eastside High School-Paterson
  • Glen Ridge High School
  • Wayne Hills High School
  • Northern Highlands Regional High School
  • Passaic High School
  • Lakeland Regional High School
  • Pope John XXIII Regional High School
  • Pascack Hills High School
  • Passaic High School
  • Pascack Valley Regional High School
  • John F. Kennedy High School-Paterson
  • Hackensack High School
  • River Dell High School
  • Don Bosco Regional High School
  • Montville High School
  • Felician College