The Master of Science in Athletic Training (MSAT) Program is a full-time, graduate, professional-level Athletic Training Program committed to the preparation of quality healthcare professionals. The curriculum is based on a solid liberal arts and science foundation designed to foster the development of human values, effective interpersonal skills and an evidence-based foundation for the major area of study. Consistent with the goals and objectives of liberal arts and science tradition, the program functions both didactically and clinically.
The Athletic Training Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). In 2017, the program earned 10 years of re-accreditation status.
The goal of the didactic and clinical components is to provide students with a well-rounded base of knowledge relative to the profession of athletic training. Concurrently, the program fosters the student’s ability to critically think, analyze information, and communicate both verbally and in written format in an intelligent and effective manner. The program’s clinical experience also enables students to develop interpersonal skills, and provides opportunities to shape and develop associated moral and ethical behaviors. Additionally, the Athletic Training program seeks to develop knowledge and clinical skills needed to prepare for professional and personal development.
Admission Requirements
Program Prerequisites Admissions requirements for the MSAT Program include:
- Bachelor’s degree
- Undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.0
Complete all pre-requisite courses below with a grade of “C” or better
• A&P I w/lab 4 CR
• A&P II w/lab 4 CR
• Physics w/lab 4 CR
• Statistics 3 CR
• General Psychology 3 CR
• General Biology w/lab 4 CR
• Chemistry 3 CR
• Kinesiology or Biomechanics 3-4 CR
• Exercise Physiology 3-4 CR
• Nutrition 3 CR
Admission Requirements for External Applicants
- Submit your online application via the ATCAS portal
- Official transcripts from all institutions attended
- Documentation of a minimum of 10-15 hours of observation under direct supervision of an Athletic Trainer.
Athletic Training Students are required to meet the Athletic Training Program's physical and technical standards. All Athletic Training Students must review and sign the Athletic Training Program Technical Standards Document and submit the completed document via ATCAS.
Admission Requirements for SHU Undergraduate Applicants
SHU Undergraduates submit your online application via the internal SHU application system.
Official transcripts from all institutions attended: Official transcripts from any previous institutions attended must be sent to the Office of Graduate Admissions (even if they have already been submitted to the University Registrar for transfer credit). Sacred Heart University students may authorize the Office of Graduate Admissions to obtain their official SHU transcripts on their behalf.
Documentation of a minimum of 10-15 hours of observation under direct supervision of an Athletic Trainer.
Athletic Training Students are required to meet the Athletic Training Program's physical and technical standards. All Athletic Training Students must review and sign the Athletic Training Program Technical Standards Document and submit the completed document to Office of Graduate Admissions.
Accepted Students
Upon acceptance to the MSAT Program, students will need to complete the following items and submit them through CastleBranch:
• Criminal Background Check
• Emergency Cardiac Care (ECC): Athletic Training Students are required to hold professional rescuer level ECC training including: Adult CPR, Pediatric CPR, Second rescuer CPR, AED, Airway obstruction, and Barrier devices (e.g. pocket mask, bag valve mask). The course must include a demonstrated skills component. Courses that meet the requirements include:
• CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer through the American Red Cross
• Basic Life Support for the Healthcare Provider through the American Red Cross
• Basic Life Support for the Healthcare Provider through the American Heart Association
• Acceptable documents for proof of certification include original certification cards, original certificates of completion or photocopies (front and back) of certification cards or certificates of completion.
• Medical Clearance: A physical examination completed by a MD, DO, APRN, or PA-C within 12 months prior to starting the program. Our forms must be completed, signed, and uploaded into CastleBranch (forms found on the SHU MSAT website).
• Proof of Vaccinations: Vaccine and titer information must be provided via lab reports. It is HIGHLY recommended that students have titers drawn during the Spring semester in which they are applying to the Athletic Training Program to ensure they have current immunity. If it is found that you are no longer immune, a booster shot will be given, and a new titer will be drawn 30-90 days later. Proof of immunization is necessary for:
• Varicella
• Measles
• Mumps
• Rubella
• PPD
• Tetanus
• Hepatitis B*:
*Students can demonstrate current immunization to Hepatitis B via current titer information. If Hepatitis B does not show immunity then immunization is required. Individuals who do not wish to be immunized must complete and sign a declination form.
Student will be responsible for all fees associated with:
• Completion of physical examination
• Receiving immunizations, titers, and boosters
• Criminal Background check
• Emergency Cardiac Care certification
• Registering with CastleBranch
Application Deadlines
Early Decision Deadline December 31, 2022*
This deadline is non-binding
Final Deadline - May 15, 2023*
*The Athletic Training Program utilizes rolling admissions for both deadlines
Courses
| AT 500 | Emergency Care in Athletic Training | 3 |
| AT 502 | Gross and Functional Anatomy | 3 |
| AT 532 | Evidence Based Practicum I | 2 |
| AT 533 | Evidence Based Practicum II | 3 |
| AT 552 | Principles Of Evaluation and Treatment | 3 |
| AT 554 | Advanced Lower Extremity Injury Mgmt | 6 |
| AT 555 | Advanced Upper Extremity Injury Management | 6 |
| AT 576 | Clinical Decision Making: Neurological Pathologies | 2 |
| AT 577 | Social and Behavioral Health | 2 |
| AT 600 | Clinical Practice in Athletic Training | 2 |
| AT 622 | Seminar: Leadership & Professional Development | 2 |
| AT 634 | Evidence Based Practicum III | 3 |
| AT 635 | Evidence Based Practicum IV | 2 |
| AT 647 | Management Strategies In Healthcare | 2 |
| AT 656 | Clinical Decision Making in Athletic Training | 2 |
| AT 657 | General Medicine Topics in Athletic Training | 3 |
| AT 698 | Masters Capstone Preparation | 2 |
| AT 699 | Masters Capstone Completion | 2 |
Notes:
Retaining Status within the Athletic Training Program:
To retain acceptance status in the program, students must meet and maintain the following criteria as they move through the Athletic Training Program:
• Maintain a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Complete the 50 credits of core AT coursework
• Earn a minimum of a “C” in each AT course
• Students who do not meet a “C” requirement in a course will not be allowed to matriculate.
• Maintain requirements per the Athletic Training Program physical and technical standards
• Current Emergency Cardiac Care certification
• Current immunizations
• Complete Clinical Education requirements
Clinical Education
Clinical education provides students the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge with clinical experience. All clinical experiences, traditional and non-traditional, are under the direct supervision of Athletic Trainers or other healthcare providers. Students are exposed to a variety of clinical settings including public, private, and preparatory high schools, varying levels of collegiate athletics, physicians’ offices, and rehabilitation facilities. The clinical education program requires students to amass a minimum number of clinical hours per semester, as outlined in the syllabi of each Practicum course. All students will complete at least one clinical rotation at an off-campus site. Students are responsible for providing transportation to off-campus sites.
Beginning the fall semester of Year 1 in the Athletic Training Program, students will enroll in four sequential graded Practicum courses (AT 532, AT 533, AT 634, AT 635) for which they receive credit. These four practicum courses are didactic and clinical in nature and utilize an informal problem-based approach. Each practicum is designed to foster critical thinking and allows an opportunity for students to practice the clinical skills they have been taught previously in the classroom. Small, self-directed student groups are posed problem-based situations or cases requiring identification of pertinent strategies and clinical decisions to address the problem or case. The learning goals and new information discovered by the group during directed investigation of the problem is researched by individuals of the group and then examined and processed by the entire group before presentation, discussion, and evaluation. Course instructors will provide feedback to students regarding their decisions and guide students toward understanding the interconnections between their actions and the implications of their actions in the clinical environment.
During the fall semester of Year 2, students will be responsible for completing an immersive clinical education rotation (AT 600). The athletic training immersive clinical experience is a practice-intensive experience that allows the student to experience the totality of care provided by athletic trainers. Students will participate in the full-time, day-to-day and week-to-week role of an Athletic Trainer during this clinical experience. The immersive clinical experience will be no shorter than four continuous weeks in length.
In order to participate in clinical education students are required to maintain current Emergency Cardiac Care certification, HIPPA and blood-borne pathogen training, and annual PPD verification. Sacred Heart University will bear no responsibility for failure to complete the Athletic Training Program or graduate due to failure to maintain the Clinical Education requirements.
Athletic Training Program Technical Standards
Athletic Training Students are required to meet physical and behavioral technical standards to successfully complete all program requirements.
Athletic training is an intellectually, physically, and psychologically demanding profession. In addition to those described below, the abilities that an athletic trainer must have to practice safely are those described in the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education’s (CAATE) educational competencies and in the Board of Certification (BOC) role delineation study (on file in the Program Director’s office). Candidates for the degree must be able to meet these minimum standards for successful completion of degree requirements.
Standards
Observation: Observation requires the functional use of vision, hearing and somatic sensations. A student must be able to attend lectures and laboratory demonstrations. The student must be able to observe a patient accurately to determine variations from normal and observe output readings to determine a patient’s condition and the status of a treatment. Examples in which these observational skills are required include: palpation of anatomical structures and visual and tactile assessment for the presence and degree of edema.
Communication: Communication includes speech, language, reading, writing and computer literacy. Students must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients to elicit information regarding mood, activities and health complaints, as well as perceive non-verbal communications. Students must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently with other members of the health care and athletic communities to convey information essential for safe and effective care.
Sensory and Motor Function: Students must have sufficient motor function to elicit information from the patient examination, using palpation, muscle strength assessment, joint range of motion measurement and other evaluative maneuvers. Additionally, the student must have sufficient motor function to be the first responder in a potentially catastrophic injury (e.g., in-line stabilization of cervical spine, rescue breathing, obstructed airway management, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Students must also be able to execute movements required to provide therapeutic care, such as performing mobilization and wound care techniques. These skills require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movement, equilibrium, and the integrated use of touch and vision. Specific motor function requirements include safely lifting up to 50 lbs independently, safely lifting up to 200 lbs with assistance, and safely being able to push and pull up to 200 lbs.
Intellectual abilities: To effectively solve problems, students must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, integrate and synthesize information in a timely fashion. For example, the student must be able to synthesize knowledge and integrate the relevant aspects of a patient’s history and examination findings to develop an effective treatment program. In addition, students must be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand spatial relationships of structures.
Behavioral and Social Attributes: Students must possess the psychological ability required for the full use of their intellectual abilities, for the exercise of good judgment, for the prompt completion of all responsibilities inherent to assessment and care of patients, and for the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients. Students must be able to tolerate physically and mentally taxing workloads and function effectively under stress. They must be able to adapt to a changing environment, and function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of patients. Students must demonstrate ethical behavior, both in the classroom and during their clinical experience.
Disabilities and Accommodations
Students who wish to identify themselves as having a disability that requires special accommodations to complete program requirements must notify the Director of the Athletic Training Program (ATP). Individuals with disabilities (as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act) may be qualified for Athletic Training studies with the use of reasonable accommodations. Students requesting accommodations must contact the Office of Student Accessibility. Students must be registered with the Office of Student Accessibility and submit appropriate documentation to be granted accommodations. A student requesting accommodations will be required to provide documentation in the form of testing and/or medical opinions. If a student feels that he/she requires reasonable accommodation for didactic and/or clinical components of the program, he/she must contact Office of Student Accessibility before any accommodations can be made.
After reviewing that documentation the university may require the student to submit to our own testing and/or medical evaluations. To be qualified for studies in the ATP, students must be able to meet both our academic standards and essential functions, with or without reasonable accommodation. Accommodation is viewed as a means of assisting students with disabilities to meet essential standards by providing them with an equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of each course or clinical experience. (Reasonable accommodation is not intended to guarantee that students will be successful in meeting the requirements of any one course or clinical education.)
Qualified students with documented disabilities, who are provided with reasonable accommodations, may use an intermediary or an auxiliary aid. Such reasonable accommodations should be designed to help the student meet learning outcomes without eliminating essential program elements or fundamentally altering the ATP curriculum. No disability can be reasonably accommodated with an intermediary that provides cognitive support or substitutes for essential clinical skills, or supplements clinical and ethical judgment. Thus, accommodations cannot eliminate essential program elements or fundamentally alter the ATP curriculum.
Differential Tuition
Sacred Heart University has implemented a differential tuition for the Athletic Training program. The cost of athletic training education is increased relative to other majors due to intensive clinical laboratory courses and clinical supervision required to maintain the professional standards of athletic training education in addition to the associated expenses of clinical education. This charge will be reflected as a program fee each semester in addition to graduate tuition and fees. The fee will be initiated for Athletic Training Students starting their first semester.
State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements
Sacred Heart University has been approved by Connecticut to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. NC-SARA is a voluntary, regional approach to state oversight of postsecondary distance education. For information regarding professional licensure by state, visit Disclosures and Student Complaints.