Athletic Training
Overview
Welcome to the Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) at Georgia Southern University (GSU). The ATEP is a three-year professional program focusing on the discipline of Athletic Training. The program is a highly competitive and selective therefore a limited number of students (approximately 10-15) are admitted annually. Meeting the criteria for application does not guarantee admission into the program. Students are selected based on academic achievement, successful completion of the pre-requisites, appropriate completion of all application requirements, written and oral communication throughout the Prospective Athletic Training Student (PATS) phase and application process, and individual performance during the admissions interview.
The undergraduate Athletic Training Education Program at Georgia Southern University is housed in the Department of Health and Kinesiology, which in turn, is housed in the College of Health & Human Sciences. The program was awarded initial accreditation by the Commission for Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) in the summer of 2001. In the summer of 2006 the program was awarded reaccredidation by CAATE and is now one of only five such accredited programs in the state of Georgia. Initiated in 1996, the three-year professional program combines intensive classroom and clinical education in the disciplines of athletic training and sports medicine. Students interested in athletic training education must meet strict and demanding admissions requirements, and formally apply to the program in the spring of their second semester in school. Once admitted, student-majors begin a rigorous, clinical based educational program combining didactic study and clinical experience in relevant and updated bioscientific and practical knowledge areas. In addition to 124 credit hours of formal academic classroom experiences, students in the program must accrue a minimum of 800 clinical experience hours working with the university athletic teams, local high schools, physician offices, and local physical therapy-sports medicine clinics.
