About Clinical Education

Clinical education is a defining piece of the Professional Master’s in Athletic Training Program at the University of Kentucky. Students are provided opportunities with authentic athletic training clinical experiences with real clients/patients in a variety of settings on campus, with University of Kentucky athletic teams, local high schools, clinics, and other collegiate settings. Students will practice in the areas of prevention and wellness, urgent and emergent care, primary care, orthopedics, rehabilitation, behavioral health, pediatrics, and performance enhancement with experienced clinicians we call preceptors. The dedicated, trained preceptors serve to supervise, instruct, and mentor students during clinical experiences, as well as provide contemporary expertise within a chosen area.

Clinical experiences begin during the first fall semester of the program and continue for the next four semesters. Students will also have two immersion clinical experiences that allow students to participate in the day-to-day and week-to-week role of an AT within a variety of clinical settings. The first immersion (five-weeks) occurs in the second summer semester, and the second immersion (eight-weeks) occurs in the first half of the second fall semester. We have agreements with a range of settings throughout the country for these experiences, as well as here in the Bluegrass.

Clinical experience assignments are driven by several factors, including student goals and objectives, patient population, settings, and other accreditation requirements. The Clinical Education Coordinator is responsible for clinical assignments as well as oversight of the clinical education portion of the program.

Clinical Sites 

Clinical Education Plan

For additional information regarding Clinical Education, please see the Program Policies and Procedures and Clinical Education Plan.