February 2026

Clinical Education

Clinical education experiences are vital in healthcare education, as it allows students the opportunity to apply knowledge, skills, and abilities in a hands-on clinical environment.^1-3 Clinical education experiences prepare students for transition to practice by engaging in the daily practice of an athletic trainer.⁴Such experiences rely on a preceptor to facilitate learning through supervision, instruction, and feedback.⁵ Preceptors have an important role in developing student confidence, skills, and professional identity, and they impact comfort levels and success through transition to practice.^6-7 There are ways in which preceptors can enhance the student learning experience through structured student orientation, intentional mentoring, providing autonomous experiences, and creating a sense of belonging for students.

“Perceived Learning Needs of Athletic Training Students During Immersive Clinical Experiences” (Stedge & Donahue, 2025) S-92. Athletic training students reported that immersive clinical education experiences met their learning needs more than traditional clinical education experiences, especially in areas of assessment, communication, management, and confidence. Defined by the CAATE, immersive clinical experiences are “practice-intensive experiences” that allow students to gain experience in all aspects of an athletic trainer’s role and must be a continuous four-week experience at minimum. Preceptors should ensure they can offer effective mentorship with all clinical education experiences.

“Creating a Sense of Belonging in Clinical Education” (Lewis, 2025) S-94. Developing relationships helps facilitate belonging in clinical education. Facilitators of belonging were focusing on the “whole person”, providing feedback, and being happy to be there. Barriers to belonging included power imbalance, role ambiguity, passive learning, and fear of failure.

“Athletic Training Preceptor Leadership Styles: Examining Student Preferences Through the Lens of the Situational Leadership Model" (Dawson et al., 2025) S-98. Athletic training students surveyed indicated they preferred preceptor leadership styles that included direction and support. Overall, students preferred low-directive/high-supportive leadership styles; however, first-year students preferred more direction than second-year students. Preceptors should provide more direction to first-year students and more autonomy for second-year students.

“Orientation Using Standardized Patients Increases Athletic Training Student Communication Effectiveness When Transitioning to Clinical Education Experiences” (Frye et al., 2024) S-181. Athletic training students participated in a two-day simulation-based orientation program to prepare them for clinical education. Student confidence while communicating with preceptors and patients improved, as did their confidence in applying clinical skills. Students also had greater clarity of their role.

“Creating Progressively Autonomous Experiences in Athletic Training Clinical Education” Jeffrey et al, 2025. Progressively autonomous experiences are important for student development; however, preceptors are not trained on how to provide these experiences for students. Many preceptors use their own experiences to guide students or seek out professional development opportunities on their own. Preceptors use programmatic progression, student initiative and confidence, and competency executing tasks as indicators students are ready for more autonomous experiences. Training experiences on creating progressively autonomous experiences for students should be enhanced.

“Preceptor Orientation Strategies for Professional Athletic Training Students Before Beginning Clinical Education” Armstrong et al, 2025. Orientation into clinical education programs is often inconsistent, but it is important to allow students to understand expectations, reduce stress and anxiety, and prepare for success. Preceptors used orientation to relay roles and responsibilities, expectations, and policies and procedures. Additionally, they outlined their expectations for verbal and nonverbal communication, defined professionalism, and gave them tips for time management and ways to build confidence. By providing information, students can begin to develop autonomy and build clinical skills, though this happens along the continuum of the experience. More guidance should be provided to preceptors to allow them to better orient students to clinical education.

“Comparing Immersive and Nonimmersive Clinical Experiences in Athletic Training Education: Effects on Student Engagement and Confidence” Cavallario et al, 2025. During immersive experiences, students engaged more with administrative tasks, facility management, therapeutic interventions, and waiting, while students in non-immersive experiences spent more time on practice, event coverage, or skills practice. Engagement opportunities may differ based on the individual student instead of the type of clinical education experience. Students in immersive experiences increased confidence with communication and integrating best business practices. Athletic training students would benefit from a mix of immersive and non-immersive experiences.

“Awareness and the Usage of Clinical Teaching Models in Clinical Education” Graham et al, 2023. Preceptors are vital to the professional preparation of students, yet are often not formally trained to be clinical educators. Common frameworks used in clinical education are the One-minute preceptor (OMP), Supervision, questioning and feedback (SQF), and the Summarize, Narrow, Analyze, Probe, Plan, and Select (SNAPPS) model; the SQF was used most frequently among preceptors. Many preceptors are not specifically trained to implement these models, but they are intuitively incorporating aspects of the models. Preceptors reported interest in learning clinical teaching models to improve clinical education experiences.

Podcasts:

Where You AT: Exploring International Immersion Opportunities - need to scroll down on episode list to find this specific episode

Guided Practice: Being a Preceptor, Sports Med Broadcast

Videos and Webinars:

Teaching Tips: Scaffolding Scenarios for Autonomous Clinical Decision Making

Synergy in Learning: Unlocking the Potential of Bidirectional Mentorship in Athletic Training Clinical Education

Incorporating DEIA into clinical education

CAATE’s Accommodations in Clinical Learning Environments

Infographics, Webpages and Articles:

Evidence-Based Benefits of Clinical Education (infographic)

Effective Feedback in Clinical Education (webpage)

Applying inclusive teaching principles to clinical education (webpage)

Key tips for teaching in the clinical setting (article)

REFERENCES

1. Cavallario JM, Cohen GW, Wathen HBM, Nelson EL, Bacon CEW. Faculty and preceptor perceptions of their respective roles in athletic training student development. Athl Train Educ J 2021;16(3):208-218.

2. Levy, L. S., Sexton, P., Willeford, S., Barnum, M. G., Guyer, M. S., Gardner, G., 7 Fincher, L. A. (2009) Clinical instructor characteristics, behavior, and skills in allied health care settings: A literature review. Athletic Training Education Journal, 4, 8-13.

3. Weidner, T.G. & Henning, J. M. (2002). Being an effective athletic training clinical instructor. Athletic Therapy Today, 7, 6-11.

4. Kasamatsu TM, Bowman TG, Thrasher AB, Lyons S. Exploration of anticipatory socialization and transition to practice: Multi-stakeholder perspectives. Athletic Training Education Journal. 2023:18(1):51-61.

5. Carlson BE, Young JP, Neil ER, Barrett J, Eberman LE. Programmatic efforts to provide progressively autonomous clinical education experiences. Athl Train Educ J. 2024. 19(1):51–61.

6. Walker SE, Thrasher AB, Mazerolle SM. Exploring the perceptions of newly credentialed athletic trainers as they transition to practice. J Athl Train. 2016; 51(8):601-612.

7. Bowman TG, Mazerolle SM, Barrett JL. Professional Master’s Athletic Training Programs use Clinical Education to Facilitate Transition to Practice. Athl Train Educ J, 2024;12(2).

8. Grimes AM, Neil ER, Eldred CM, Walker SE, Dougal ZJ, Eberman LE. Athletic training students’ perceptions of the immersive clinical experience and its influence on their development. Athl Train Educ J. 2021;16(1):32–41. doi:10.4085/1947-380X-20-31

9. Bowman TG, Thrasher AB, Kasamatsu TM, Lyons SM. Multistakeholder perceptions of young professionals’ integration during role transition. J Athl Train. 2024;59(1):99–110. doi:10.4085/1062-6050-0505.22

10. Eldred CM, Neil ER, Dougal ZJ, Walker SE, Grimes AM, Eberman LE. Preceptor perceptions of the immersive clinical experience in athletic training education. Athl Train Educ J. 2021;16(1):42–52. doi:10.4085/1947-380X-20-36

This content was developed in part by Ashley Thrasher, EdD, LAT, ATC, CSCS; Alicia Lacy, PhD, ATC and the NATA Foundation Educational Resources Committee.

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