(Written by Dr. Allan Liggett)

CAATE Standard In Action Series:  The purpose of this blog series is to provide a review of a specific Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) Standards that apply to clinical education and demonstrate how the MSU AT Program is complying with each standard. The series concept was developed and will be written by Dr. Allan Liggett, Clinical Coordinator and it is designed as a review for preceptors, faculty/staff, and students.

The CAATE Standard we will focus on in this series reads as follows: The program must have a written policy that delineates a minimum and maximum requirement for clinical hours.

Program Compliance

At the beginning of each semester, students are to develop a weekly clinical schedule with their preceptor. Second, third, and fourth year students are to develop a schedule which allows for 14-18, 14-21, and 14-24 hours per week respectively. It is expected that students may not reach the minimum hour requirement during slow periods of the clinical experience. Likewise, a student might exceed the clinical hour maximum due to factors outside of their control such as over-time games, weather delays, etc. Students are given a two hour grace period (beyond the maximum weekly hours) for these unexpected events before they violate the hour policy. Students can request to exceed the weekly hour limit for special events such as tournaments, low credit hour loads, etc. Students are to meet with the program clinical coordinator for overload requests.

Students may volunteer for non-compulsory clinical experiences when classes are not in session. During non-compulsory experiences, students can accumulate a maximum of 40 hours per week.

The AT Program regularly reviews student hours logged on A-Track to ensure compliance with this standard.