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Abstract
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Context: Highly developed critical thinking and the ability to discriminate among many possible therapeutic interventions is a core behavior for the practicing athletic trainer. However, while athletic training students receive a great deal of clinically applicable information, many are not explicitly trained in efficient methods for channeling this great volume of data into sound clinical decisions.
OBJECTIVE: To propose a simple, three-question framework for prudent clinical decision making in therapeutic modalities and rehabilitation contexts.
BACKGROUND: Athletic training education occurs in various settings, where students are immersed in basic cognitive and psychomotor proficiencies germane to the prevention, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of injury and illness in the physically active. In clinical practice, the knowledge and demonstration of these proficiencies are vital to the development of sound clinical decision making. Description: I propose a simple and repeatable three-question decision making scheme that includes questions related to clinical goal(s), target tissue(s), and modality choice(s), as a potential mechanism to improve athletic training students' decision making in the clinical arena. Clinical Advantage(s): This simple framework is adaptable to many clinical settings and can help cultivate decision making abilities and confidence, especially in the less experienced clinician.
CONCLUSIONS: The ability to make sound clinical decisions is fundamental to athletic training. With simple cognitive frameworks, clinical educators can empower students to make sensible decisions in the clinical arena leading to improved student self-confidence and patient outcomes. (Contains 1 table.)
Language: en |