Athletic Training Student Socialization Part II: Socializing the Professional Master's Athletic Training Student

Context: Professional socialization is a key process in the professional development of athletic training students. Literature has focused on many perspectives regarding socialization and has primarily focused on the undergraduate level. Objective: Gain insights from the program director at professional master's (PM) athletic training programs on methods used to socialize students into programs and the profession. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: One-on-one telephone interviews. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 8 PM program directors volunteered for our study. The Table provides information on the institutions represented by these participants. Our program directors had 8 ± 6 years of experience in their current roles and were 41 ± 4 years old. Data Collection and Analysis: We conducted 1-on-1 phone interviews and transcribed the interviews verbatim. We performed a general inductive analysis of the data. We also completed member checks, multiple analyst triangulation, and peer reviews to establish data and methodological credibility. Results: Our findings indicated that PM programs utilize a combination of formal and informal processes to orient the student, which is comparable to those processes used by undergraduate programs to socialize their students. The formal processes included "orientation sessions" and "introductory courses." "Social gatherings" and "program outings" along with "peer mentoring" were also methods employed by PM programs to assist in socializing the student, but these methods were informal in nature. Conclusions: Program autonomy allows for athletic training programs to personalize their tactics to socialize the student, but it does appear that the use of orientation sessions and introduction courses allows PM programs to formally introduce the profession and program. Less structured socialization strategies include peer-driven mentoring and social engagements that promote interaction and stress-relief. Programs are encouraged to evaluate their current socialization tactics and take advantage of the benefits of peer support and times to directly communicate with their students.