Athletic Training
This program is no longer offered to incoming students. This page is for current student use. Please visit our pre-athletic training page for more information on how to become an athletic trainer.
Certified athletic trainers are health care practitioners who specialize in preventing, recognizing, managing and rehabilitating injuries that result from physical activity. If you love helping people, this might be the major for you! 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 health care 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.
*Recently, the AT Strategic Alliance decided that the minimum professional degree needed to become eligible to sit for the BOC certification and practice as an athletic trainer is being elevated to a master's in athletic training. Because of this new requirement, UW-Eau Claire is no longer accepting students into the undergraduate athletic training major. UWEC’s new pre-athletic training program is available and will prepare students for entrance into (pending application) our new graduate program in athletic training (summer 2021).
Major
Comprehensive major (no minor required)- Kinesiology - Athletic Training
Contact Info
KinesiologyMcPhee Physical Education Center 208
509 University Drive
715-836-3840
kinesiology@uwec.edu
Prepared for success
The athletic trainer functions as an integral member of the health care team for schools, athletic teams, hospitals, the military, industry and corporate health programs. A number of our graduates continue their athletic training studies at the graduate level.
Why UW-Eau Claire
Accreditation
The Athletic Training Education Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE); we received the highest accreditation standard in 2010 and will undergo our next review in 2020. 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. While the national average pass rate of this exam is 77%, our grads have an average first time pass rate of 94%, and the pass rate among Spring 2017 graduates was 100%.
Experiential Learning
As part of the Athletic Training major, students participate in a wide variety of pre-professional experiences, including student-faculty research collaboration, mentoring and health promotion activities, attendance at professional meetings and workshops, or work at summer sport camps, just to name a few!
An important component of the Athletic Training major is the hands-on experience for 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.
Innovative Facilities
The McPhee/Olson Physical Education Center is an outstanding facility with six gymnasiums, 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.
Program Options
Licensure Information
The United States Department of Education requires institutions to disclose information for programs leading to professional certification or licensure about whether each program meets state educational requirements for initial licensure or certification.
The requirements of this program meet licensure in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.
The requirements of this program do not meet licensure in the following states: N/A
It has not been determined whether the requirements of this program meet licensure in the following states: N/A
Special Admission Guidelines
Formal application is made to the Athletic Training major during the second semester of the first year of attendance. This allows selected students to start the three-year course of study during the fall semester of the second year. Admission is selective.
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.