Keywords
Association for Athletic Training Education 2025 Symposium
Abstract
Introduction: Preceptor training and development are not standardized within the athletic training profession. The Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) requires that Athletic Training Programs provide an ongoing education plan for preceptors to promote a constructive learning environment for students. However, with the rapid expansion of clinical education opportunities outside of institutions' immediate area, programs must identify how to reach all their preceptors and uphold their programmatic expectations for clinical educators. Methods: The investigators conducted a cohort pre-test-post-test design study. A preceptor development program (PDP) was created and grounded in the theory of gamified learning and adult learning theory. There were two self-paced asynchronous lecture and video instruction modules with leaderboards, choose your own adventure, and achievement badges upon completion of the entire program. The pre-test instrument was administered to all participants before entry into the PDP, and a post-test instrument upon completion. The pre-test instrument included demographic questions and prior experiences with PDPs. The post-test survey asked the preceptors to indicate their self-perceived level of engagement with the web-based PDP and their preferred method of preceptor development content delivery. Results: There were 61 registered preceptor participants; however, only 38 (31 female, 7 male) completed at least one module within the investigation (62%). Learners reported that the software platforms were user-friendly. In their pre-test assessment, participants also reported previous experiences and a preference for in-person lectures (n=19). However, when asked to rank the different modalities of information dissemination on a scale of 1-6, with 1 being the most preferred, learners preferred in-person (n=21; 50.00%) and asynchronous video (n=20; 47.62%) lectures when the data was analyzed in tertiles (Figure). After engaging in a learning management software-delivered PDP, 28 of the 38 participants (73.68%) felt somewhat or extremely prepared for their role as a preceptor. However, when asked about their level of preparedness for their role as a clinical educator, only 22 participants (57.89%) felt somewhat or extremely prepared. Translation to Practice: There appears to be a disconnect between preceptors’ understanding and definition of a preceptor as compared to a clinical educator. A preceptor is a clinical educator, so there may be an opportunity to better define the role of the preceptor through PDPs. Although preceptors prefer in-person instruction, this study revealed that asynchronous and hybrid options are also highly preferred methods of dissemination. Athletic training programs may find value in designing PDPs that are available through a multimodal approach. One opportunity for maximum return on investment would be to offer an in-person event with synchronous virtual options and a recording of the program to catalog in an ongoing library. Programs should strive to create an internal library to rapidly deploy preceptor development content, offsetting the challenges of preceptor turnover, remediation, and distance.
Recommended Citation
Cohen, G W.; Lopez, R M.; and Tritsch, A J.
(2025)
"Preceptor Development: Identifying the Best Modality for Building Clinical Educators,"
Clinical Practice in Athletic Training: Vol. 8:
Iss.
1, Article 10.
Available at:
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/clinat/vol8/iss1/10
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