Examining Initial Perceptions of Transition to Clinical Practice from the Perspective of Professional Master's Students

Abstract

Context: Newly credentialed athletic trainers are expected to be independent practitioners capable of making their own clinical decisions. Transition to practice can be stressful and present challenges for graduates who are not accustomed to practicing independently. Objective: Explore the perceptions of professional master's students as they prepare to experience role transition from students to autonomous clinical practitioners. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Nine higher education institutions. Patients or Other Participants: Fourteen athletic training students (7 male, 7 female, age = 25.6 [plus or minus] 3.7 years) participated. Main Outcome Measure(s): Participants completed a semistructured interview over the phone which focused on the perception of preparedness to enter clinical practice. All transcribed interviews were analyzed using a general inductive approach. Multiple-analyst triangulation and peer review were used to ensure trustworthiness. Results: We found themes for facilitators and challenges to transition to autonomous clinical practice. Students felt prepared for independent practice due to (1) "mentoring networks" they had developed, (2) "exposure to the breadth of clinical practice," and (3) "autonomy" allotted during clinical education. Potential challenges included (1) "apprehension with decision making" and (2) a "lack of confidence." Conclusions: Our findings suggest graduates from professional master's programs, although ready for clinical practice, may require more time and exposure to autonomous practice to build confidence. Professional master's program administrators should work to provide clinical education experiences that expose students to a wide variety of clinical situations (patients, settings, preceptors) with appropriate professional role models while providing decision making autonomy within accreditation standards.