FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas athletic training education program successfully completed a comprehensive evaluation process and was granted national accreditation for the full term of five years by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.

“It is truly an accomplishment to have established the athletic training program and guided it to accreditation, and I am proud of the foresight, ambition and hard work of our faculty,” said Sharon B. Hunt, head of the department of health science, kinesiology, recreation and dance.

“After a rigorous three-year accreditation process, we are pleased to offer our students a nationally accredited program that meets the highest standards of the profession,” said Jeffrey Bonacci, clinical assistant professor and director of the athletic training education program.

The UA master’s program in athletic training education is a collaboration between the College of Education and Health Professions and the men’s and women’s athletic programs. It was inaugurated in 2002, and enrollment has grown steadily. Fifteen students are enrolled in the new cohort that commences the two-and-a-half-year program in June 2005.

“We ask a lot of our students,” Bonacci said. “On top of the coursework, we require them to complete 300 hours per semester in a clinical setting. Certainly it’s a challenging program, but we’ve recruited excellent students, and their performance on the national exam has been outstanding.”

Bonacci credits UA graduate student financial aid with making it possible to recruit a diverse student body for the program. In particular, the Benjamin Franklin Lever Tuition Fellowship has provided support for students from underrepresented groups. In the entering class, six of the 15 students come from underrepresented groups, including four African American women.

Program graduates are eligible to take a professional certification exam offered by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Certification. All the UA athletic training students who have taken the certification exam have passed on the first attempt, while the national average pass rate is 38 percent on the first attempt.

Bonacci said, “We go the extra mile to help our students get excellent internship experiences. This summer one of our female students is interning with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yes, this is a rare opportunity for a woman. The Steelers only take four interns a year, and only two of those positions are open to national competition.”

Bonacci noted that employment opportunities are expanding for athletic trainers. In addition to working with professional sports teams, certified athletic trainers are typically employed with sports teams in universities, colleges and high schools; with sports medicine clinics and hospitals; and in industrial settings.

Further information about the graduate program in athletic training education is available on the Web at http://www.uark.edu/depts/atepweb/.