Athletic Training Students’ Use of Evidence-Based Practice Professional Behaviors During Clinical Experiences: A Report From the Association for Athletic Training Education Research Network
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With the incorporation of evidence-based practice (EBP) during patient care as a curricular content standard, professional programs must prepare athletic training students (ATSs) for the application of EBP during the delivery of patient care. We aimed to examine ATSs’ implementation of professional behaviors associated with EBP during patient encounters (PEs). Through a multisite panel design, we tracked numerous factors associated with PEs experienced by 363 ATSs of 12 professional athletic training programs. Generalized estimating equation models were used to analyze the likelihood that students included EBP behaviors during 30,522 PEs. Clinical site type (p < .001), student role (p < .001), and encounter length (p < .001) were associated with all three EBP professional behaviors while clinical site type (p < .001) was also associated with whether the ATS asked a question of a clinician, including their preceptor. Program administrators seeking to promote the greatest opportunities for ATSs to implement EBP during patient care should seek clinic-based or other nonacademic site types that promote longer PEs in which students can perform or assist their preceptor.
Cavallario https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3171-9141
Walker https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8661-8626
Bay https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3525-9269
Van Lunen https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6754-7938
Welch Bacon (cwelch@atsu.edu) is corresponding author, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8145-7736
Although patient encounters are rarely long enough to achieve the likelihood thresholds, our data reveal that students who engage in patient encounters lasting between 45 and 60 min appear to have the greatest opportunities to ask questions of clinicians, search for available evidence, and apply evidence previously learned.
Students who perform a patient encounter under the supervision of their preceptor are more likely to implement previously learned evidence, while students who assist their preceptor during a patient encounter are more likely to include a higher number of EBP behaviors; students who only observe an encounter are more likely to report the inclusion of no EBP behaviors during the encounter.
Targeted clinical experiences in clinic-based or nonacademic settings may offer greater opportunities for students to spend longer periods with patients, which may lead to associated increases in EBP behavior implementation.
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