By Madeline Harlow

Editor’s note: Situation have been updated to describe that the new doctoral program influences transition and planning phase and has to go through the state run approval process before accepting students within the program.?

The University of Florida accept its last undergraduate athletic training students in summer 2019, eliminating the bachelor’s program in athletic training.

The UF Faculty Senate voted unanimously yesterday to terminate the Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training program. The Strategic Alliance, and that is comprised of four organizations in the athletic training profession, mandated that accredited programs not accept students in a very bachelor’s-level program after fall 2022. Programs must either terminate their bachelor’s programs or transition to your master’s program, in accordance with Patricia Tripp, the athletic workout program director.

“Our profession nationally is immediately an experienced degree in the master’s level,” she said.

Currently, UF offers both a bachelor’s in athletic training and also a master’s with an athletic training specialization. UF is incorporated in the technique of making a doctor of athletic training course and anticipates enrolling its first cohort in summer 2020.

The doctoral program in development is a post-professional advanced clinical degree. Students seeking admission to this method ought to be certified athletic trainers and still have completed a specialist program on the bachelor’s or master’s level.

The College of Health & Human Performance will keep use a 2-year master’s put in advanced physiology and kinesiology that has a specialization in athletic training. However, if the doctoral program gains approval for summer 2020 enrollment, Tripp said they plan to start the elimination process for your master’s concentration as soon as the admission with the 2019 cohort.

About 20 students are admitted in each BSAT cohort, and the participating in 2019 can get for precisely the same degree of education as former students while in the program. The termination of the bachelor’s program could have no affect those students.

“We are externally accredited, and then we need to make certain that the many students are receiving each of what’s required with the accreditation,” Tripp said.

Within florida, one can find 14 athletic training programs. The University of Florida has now transitioned to the professional master’s program. In line with their websites, the University of Central Florida and also the University of North Florida also are transitioning to some master’s program.

“Over 70 percent of our profession incorporates a graduate degree or even a post-professional degree,” Tripp said. “Usually to learn at the level our students want to practice, you’ll want to have more experience.”

Tripp said there are additional than 300 athletic training programs through the country. She said students can anticipate this landscape to switch while using the mandate. With a fewer wide variety of programs, athletic training might be more competitive.

If a student attends UF right after the transition and wishes to pursue athletic training, she could consider the applied physiology and kinesiology program. But, there won’t necessarily be considered a pre-athletic workout. Tripp also noted any time 2019, students who develop a graduate-level certified athletic trainer program elsewhere will be allowed to apply to UF’s post-professional doctorate program should the program is approved.

“We will likely offer and will have a feasible bachelors-level program that can help the scholar who intentions to enter athletic training meet their prerequisites to work with to an alternative program elsewhere,” she said.

Megan Kuehhas, a freshman, decided to attend UF for the athletic training major.

“I was between UF as well as the University of South Carolina, and whenever I looked, USC was terminating the course this past summer,” she said. “I didn’t wish to drive to the school easily couldn’t wear this course.”

Kuehhas, who will be from Long Island, The big apple, said she plans to further her degree by pursing sports medicine or physician assistant school.

“I played sports throughout my very existence,” the 18-year-old said. “So that sparked my interest that we might use medical knowledge to support athletes since i can correspond with injuries.”

Although you won’t affect her, she had not heard that this program had been terminated.

Antonella Valencia, the second in command of your Student Athletic Trainers’ Organization at UF, started as being a pre-health major. After completing observation hours with assorted sports teams, she placed on the athletic training program.

“I’m hoping that once I graduate, We are a qualified athletic trainer, after which it I’m able to take eventually to physiotherapy school,” she said. “Eventually I would like to work for an orthopedic center, professional team or maybe a collegiate team.”

Valencia said most courteous teams have to have the athletic training credential including a essential doctorate, so she actually is exploring that field too.

“We be able to find out about things we’re captivated with going to school and in addition we find apply it immediately at our clinical site,” she said. “I feel as if we’ve 2 yrs of experience before we even graduate, thus it sets you up rather well for that workforce.”