Athletic Training
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Certified athletic trainers are health care practitioners who specialize in preventing, recognizing, managing and rehabilitating injuries that result from physical activity.
Mission of the Athletic Training Education Program
The mission of the Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is to prepare students for certification/licensure as an Athletic Trainer and to work as a healthcare provider with the physically active population. The ATEP promotes this mission through a transformative environment that engages students through active participation in the course content and by embracing and offering experiential learning opportunities with the university and Chippewa Valley communities.
Great facilities
The McPhee/Olson Physical Education Center is an outstanding facility with six gymnasia including an indoor 200-meter track, a competition-size swimming pool, eight racquetball courts, a spacious weight training and fitness center, a sports medicine/athletic training room, dance studio, a health promotion laboratory and a computer laboratory. Outdoor facilities include a 400-meter track, tennis courts and jogging and fitness trails.
Outstanding experiences
As part of the Athletic Training major, students participate in a wide variety of pre-professional experiences such as, student-faculty collaboration and research, mentoring and health promotion activities, attendance at professional meetings and workshops, or work at summer sport camps, just to name a few.
Clinical Education
An important component of the Athletic Training major is the hands-on experience for the students. Students will complete up to 90 weeks or roughly, 1,200 hours of hands-on patient care at several of our 12 clinical sites over a three-year period. The clinical education experiences occur during prearranged times and locations and involve interaction with Clinical Instructors on a weekly basis. This allows athletic training students to practice and master the skills of the profession while providing safe and outstanding health care for the physically active population that they encounter.
Become certified
The Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). All students that graduate from ATEP and meet the criteria established by CAATE will qualify to sit for the Board of Certification (BOC) national certification examination. Successful completion of the BOC examination allows the individual to become a Certified Athletic Trainer and eligible for state licensure.
Course work
Students interested in studying athletic training are encouraged to do well in biology, health, physics, math and English composition. Students should enjoy being physically active and working with people.
Suggested freshman curriculum
- General Chemistry
- General Psychology
- Intro to College Writing
- Intro to Athletic Training
- Anatomical Kinesiology
- Fundamentals of Speech
- Physical Science
- General electives
Our graduates
The athletic trainer functions as an integral member of the health care team for schools, athletic teams, hospitals, the military, industrial and corporate health programs.Department contact information
Robert Stow
stowrc@uwec.edu
715-836-3840
All freshman/transfer students who declare athletic training as their major on admittance to the University must meet with the program director in an advising group meeting before the start of the first semester. Students who declare athletic training as their major after the beginning of the spring semester will be advised to start candidacy in the fall semester. Anyone interested in majoring in athletic training must contact the athletic training education program director in the Department of Kinesiology for complete information about the application procedures, technical standards, observational experience, and all other information related to the athletic training major.
