› Athletic Training UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
As an athletic trainer, you are an integral member of the health care team in secondary schools, colleges and universities, professional sports programs, sports medicine clinics, and other health care settings
› Athletic Training Helping Others Heal and Perform
› BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE
Penn State’s Athletic Training program is nationally recognized for helping students prepare for careers in allied health care, wellness, and human performance. The Athletic Training major provides a concentrated program of courses designed to prepare you for a career in athletic training. You will complete the program to meet the standards for credentialing by the Board of Certification and associated state licensing boards as a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC®). The program is designed to help you understand how to work with physicians and other medical personnel, employers, patients, parents, guardians, and athletic personnel in the development and coordination of efficient and responsive health care delivery systems. Additionally, the program offers you a number of experiences outside of the classroom where you will further your knowledge and skills. Our extensive alumni network and strong relationships with organizations throughout the country can help you to obtain internships and other experiences that will complement your classroom learning.
› Program overview The Athletic Training major is designed to help you care for physically active populations. The coursework in the Athletic Training major will help you gain the skills and knowledge to work with medical personnel, employers, patients, parents, and athletic personnel as an integral member of the health care team in secondary schools, colleges and universities, professional sports programs, and sports medicine clinics providing care for physically active populations. You will learn about what is necessary to be a leader in the industry, working with everyone from professional athletes to military personnel. Athletic trainers are usually the primary health care providers to physically
active populations, from the onset to the resolution of injury. The Athletic Training program is designed to help you learn to recognize, assess, and manage injuries to return individuals back to play, work, and activities of daily living. The program is accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). As a successful graduate you will be eligible to take the Board of Certification exam to earn the ATC® professional credential.
› Careers Overview Athletic trainers have an important role in the prevention, management, and rehabilitation of injuries to physically active individuals. You will assist with an individual’s immediate emergency medical care as well as follow-up care. With your knowledge of anatomy and physiology, biomechanics, and other core sciences, you may design injury-prevention programs, treatments, or performance-enhancing programs. To ensure an individual resumes physical activity at an appropriate time, you will communicate with injured individuals, physicians, coaching staffs, and other key parties in a comprehensive sports health care program. Most athletic trainers work with athletes to get them back in the game, but many athletic trainers also work with military personnel, police and firefighters, as well as dancers and acrobats. You may work on the sidelines of a stadium, backstage in a performance hall, or as a part of the medical team for men and women in uniform.
Career Possibilities • Professional and collegiate sports
• Occupational settings
• Secondary and intermediate schools
• Performing arts
• Sports medicine clinics
• Law enforcement and military
• Hospital emergency rooms and rehab clinics
• Physician offices
› Athletic Training Department of Kinesiology The Pennsylvania State University 276 Recreation Building University Park, PA 16802 814-863-0442 hhd.psu.edu/kines
Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to minorities, women, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and other protected groups. Nondiscrimination: http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD85.html (UNDG16064) U.Ed. HHD 16-064