Athletic Training is a great career option combining athletics and medicine. Athletic trainers can work in a variety of different fields: for collegiate and professional sports teams, in medical offices, at hospitals, and in a variety of industrial settings.

If you study Athletic Training, you’ll learn about kinesiology, exercise physiology, prevention and care of athletic injuries, professionalism, ethics and more. At Daemen, you’ll even have the opportunity to take gross anatomy, which includes cadaver dissection, providing a strong foundation for understanding the human body.

The accrediting body for Athletic Training (CAATE) implemented new educational standards that sets the master degree as the entry-level degree to become a certified athletic trainer, effective 2020. Do the schools you are considering offering an integrated program?

At Daemen, you can seamlessly complete your BS and MS together in five years, earning a BS in Health Promotion or Natural Science and an MS in Athletic Training. You save time, money, and the stress of finding a second school and going through the whole admissions process again. Plus, the coursework is designed holistically so you are taking classes in the appropriate sequence without duplication.

Athletic Training opens up a lot of opportunities in terms of careers so it’s important to understand your options. How will a college support you? Do you have options when it comes to the programming? What are the opportunities for placements in the field?

Daemen offers two paths to an MS in Athletic Training – Health Promotion or Natural Sciences. This enables you to hone in on your specific interests and passions and get the right degree and experience relative to your goals. Plus, collaborations with the Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant and Nursing faculty allow for even greater depth of learning. You’ll also have the option to become dual credentialed with strength and conditioning certifications.

Placement opportunities exist in a variety of settings, including: NCAA Division I, II and III collegiate settings, high school athletics, professional sports, and physician offices. You’ll also have numerous opportunities to perform research.

Look at awards and data as you’re determining what program is right for you. What success measures do they have? Are students satisfied? Has the college received any prestigious awards or honors?

Daemen earned the national College of Distinction award for the 11th consecutive year in 2018. And graduates of the Athletic Training program have a 100% first-time pass rate on the Board of Certification Exam, significantly higher than the national average of 89.3%. Most importantly, alumni are happy and successful, just like recent graduate Sean Burfeind.