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Athletic Trainer Education Requirements and Career Outlook

Friday, August 8th 2014. | How to Choose a Career

Athletic Trainer Education Requirements

Understanding and knowing athletic trainer education requirements is an absolute necessity if you plan on pursuing a career in this field. While the prerequisites may vary depending which school you attend, the following are considered standard and even mandatory in many universities and training centers.

Minimum Educational Requirements

Anyone interested in becoming an athletic trainer must have a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree, and background knowledge of science and medicine are required since the coursework deals mainly with those two subjects. At the same time, practical experience will come in handy. For most athletic trainer jobs, the minimum requirement is a bachelor’s degree, but a graduate degree is helpful in terms of helping you move ahead in your career.

A Typical Athletic Training Program

Athletic programs vary depending on the training and the facility, but generally the curriculum is comprised of subjects related to health such as exercise physiology, biomechanics, kinesiology, and nutrition.
In addition to this the training includes spending time, supervised, with local sports and college teams. This is one of the most important parts of the training and can be considered something like on the job training.
In addition, athletic training programs include several topics and subjects related to healthcare such as pathology, acute care and pharmacology among others.
Due to the fact that several trainers opt to go for a master’s degree, the majority of schools now provide a 5 year bachelor’s and master’s program so there’s no need for the student to transfer.

When looking over athletic trainer education requirements, keep in mind that some require students to finish all the prerequisites prior to being admitted, so you need to go over the stipulations first.

According to the NATA (National Athletic Trainers’ Association) the majority of certified athletic trainers have a master’s degree. A master’s degree program includes high level coursework as well as a thesis or capstone project which will help prospects teach at the highest level.

It is also the NATA that determines what athletic trainers are. To date, the definition of an athletic trainer is someone who rehabilitates injuries caused by sports and other similar types of activities. Under the present definition, an athletic trainer may work with a team or alongside a physician, depending on the career path chosen.

Licensing Requirements

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that most states require aspiring trainers to be registered or have a license. License is provided by the Board of Certification, Inc. (BOC), and the BOC states that all applicants must hold a degree from an accredited institution and passed the required exam. It is also the BOC that sets the standard for education and practice.

Career Outlook

One of the reasons why a lot of people want to know athletic trainer education requirements is that the job outlook is very promising. According to the latest government statistics, demand for athletic trainers will increase by 30% from 2010 until 2020. The records also show that wages are very competitive, with the annual salary pegged at $42,090.