Continuing Professional Certification Concept

CPC Concept Further Defined by AT Efforts

Development of the Continuing Professional Certification (CPC) concept has been further defined over the past year, based on additional research, analysis and work from multiple Athletic Trainer (AT) volunteer groups, as well as input from various subject matter experts. The work of these groups are a direct result of the AT focus groups conducted in spring 2022 (results shared in Cert Update Winter 2022). AT voices continue to be integrated every step of the way. Response to date indicates ATs want impactful learning and continuing professional development built through hands-on and structured learning tools that allow for a flexible, individualized approach. The ultimate goal is continued competence that ensures consistent, quality patient care.

Throughout this phase there has been continued connection to ATs, using their input to shape and provide the foundation for ongoing development. Response from ATs to date indicates that they see impactful learning and continuing professional development built using hands-on and structured learning tools that allow for a flexible, individualized approach.

Work Group Phase II

Over the past year, targeted groups focused their time and expertise to develop and refine specific learning tools and components. In addition to the work of an initial Quality Improvement (QI) Work Group launched in June 2022, several additional groups began meeting bi-weekly from January to March 2023 to dig into various topics and define potential enhancements. Each provided a report and recommendations to the CPC Task Force for their analysis.

The work groups included:

Quality Improvement (QI):

This second QI group worked to expand on recommendations provided by the first work group to further develop a QI network, refine the QI template and create project examples.

Professional Goals Appraisal (PGA):

There were two work groups assembled that reviewed recommendations from a previously conducted pilot, assessed the current PGA and provided guidance for enhancing the PGA into the broader CPC program. Part of their work included development of a formative learning component.

Competence Assessment Modules (CAMs):

This group considered strategies, efficiencies and collaboration opportunities to identify recommendations for developing CAMs.

BOC Standards Committee/Continuing Education (CE):

This group evaluated current continuing education categories and requirements for any recommendations that might impact CPC.

In addition to the formulation of recommendations, each group, along with staff, considered the technology, communications and budgetary implications of proposed actions.

CPC Task Force

The CPC Task Force was a large, diverse volunteer group within the athletic training profession intentionally assembled to provide a broad representation of settings and demographics. Its role has been to provide oversight of the research and development phase where results are funneled for analysis, and to define recommendations for the BOC Board of Directors. Liaisons from the CPC Task Force attended work group meetings. Following the work group phase, the CPC Task Force met in April to review reports and recommendations from all work groups, and either accepted or enhanced presented recommendations for the BOC board’s review and approval. Their report was presented and considered during the board’s July 2023 meeting.

Next Steps

Based on previous board approval, the enhanced PGA, now identified as Pathfinder (a proposed component of CPC) is being piloted from January 2024 for one year. Data from this pilot will be analyzed during 2025 to identify refinements and improvements, as needed and approved by the BOC board.

In addition, the full CPC structure will continue to be developed based on research outcomes of the work groups and aligned with recommendations from the CPC Task Force and board discussions. All components studied in the work groups will be enhanced as the holistic CPC concept is further defined and shaped to meet AT needs.

Stay current on CPC developments and look for future updates here.

Visit our History page for the background on CPC and past work.

Facility Principles

BOC Facility Principles Document

The “BOC Facility Principles” document was created to ensure safe, effective operation and compliance of athletic training facilities. The document was created by the Facility Standards Work Group in 2012. Its members developed the comprehensive document detailing what is essential to ensure a safe, properly equipped athletic training facility. The work group consisted of experts from BOC, NCAA, NATA, NIAAA, NFHS, CUATC and SSATC committees. Click below to download the PDF version of the “BOC Facility Principles” document.

BOC Facility Principles Online Resource

The “BOC Facility Principles” online resource helps you gauge your athletic training facility’s compliance with applicable regulations and best practices. This online tool includes interactive checklists on accessibility, privacy and confidentiality, employee safety, safe handling of hazardous materials, emergency preparedness and more. It also allows you to generate reports for each facility you assess. Click below to begin an assessment of your athletic training facility and generate a report for your own use.

Launch Online Resource

Download Document

AT Policy & Procedure Development

BOC Guiding Principles for AT Policy and Procedure Development Document

The BOC Guiding Principles for AT Policy and Procedure Development document provides a template to guide the development of policies and procedures. In addition, the template provides a recordkeeping function to demonstrate that training and retraining are a part of policy implementation. This document was created by the Facility Standards Work Group in 2016. Their goal was to develop educational materials to assist ATs and other appropriate individuals in the development of policies and procedures for the delivery of healthcare in their organization. Click below to download the PDF version of the Guiding Principles for AT Policy and Procedure Development document.

Guiding Principles for AT Policy and Procedure Development Online Resource

The Guiding Principles for AT Policy and Procedure Development online resource helps in the development and implementation of policies and procedures. This online tool includes interactive checklists on employee safety, facility management, patient safety, privacy/confidentiality, risk management and more. It also allows you to generate reports. Click below to begin and generate a report for your own use.

Launch Online Resource

Download Document

Individual Activity Review

Do you need help determining if a particular activity is eligible for CEUs?

The free Individual Activity Review tool is a resource to determine if CE activities fall within the domains of athletic training as defined in the “BOC Practice Analysis, 8th Edition” (PA8). The BOC ultimately determines if an activity is eligible for CEUs regardless of the outcome of this tool. Common topics that fall within the domains of athletic training:

Basic and Applied Sciences

• Human Anatomy
• Human Physiology
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Physics
• Statistics and Research Design
• Rehabilitation
• Exercise Physiology
• Kinesiology/Biomechanics
• Health Care Administration

Professional Content

• Risk Management and Injury Prevention
• Pathology of Injuries and Illnesses
• Orthopedic Clinical Examination and Diagnosis
• Medical Conditions and Disabilities
• Acute Care of Injuries and Illnesses
• Therapeutic Modalities
• Conditioning, Rehabilitative Exercise and Pharmacology
• Psychosocial Intervention and Referral
• Nutritional Aspects of Injuries and Illnesses

Launch Individual Activity Review

Professional Development Needs Assessment

Professional Development Needs Assessment (PDNA) is a tool intended to empower Athletic Trainers (ATs) of all experience levels to engage in self-reflection with the goal of assessing professional development needs across the domains of athletic training as defined in the “BOC Practice Analysis, 8th Edition.”

ATs can use the results of a PDNA to:

• Form the framework for a professional development plan
• Identify professional growth opportunities
• Link current skills and abilities to critical job skills and performance plans
• Assess learning needs prior to transitioning from one area of practice to another
• Assess learning needs prior to re-entering the workforce after a prolonged absence from practice

PDNA results are for personal use only and in no way impact current certification status.

The BOC has provided you with seven PDNA options to accommodate your needs. Each PDNA version is designed to provide a snapshot of your professional development needs.

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Listing My Credentials

Overview

Consistency in how Athletic Trainers identify themselves alleviates confusion and lends credibility to the profession. List academic degrees first, licenses second and credentials last. Here, credentials include BOC certification. For instance, a BOC Certified Athletic Trainer holding a master’s degree and working in a state where licensure is not required should write, “Sally Snow, MS, ATC” – not “ATC, MS.” The same BOC Certified Athletic Trainer working in a state with licensure would correctly write, “Sally Snow, MS, LAT, ATC.” See the illustration for an example.

What do these qualifications mean? Licensure provides a legal right to practice, while certification, which is voluntary, states that a professional body – in this case, the BOC – has determined that your knowledge and skills have met a pre-determined standard. If you use more than one credential, list them in order of difficulty of obtaining them. With credentials of similar difficulty, such as ATC® and PT, list them in chronological order.

Download NATA News: Proper Treatment of Degrees, Licenses and Credentials

Professional Certificates & Plaques

The BOC offers a beautifully designed certificate with gold embossed BOC logo and seal of certification. Each certificate is personalized with the BOC Certified Athletic Trainer’s name, ATC® credential, certification number and date of certification. Athletic Trainer must currently hold the ATC® credential in order for a certificate/plaque order to be processed.

	Certificate The certificate may be purchased alone, printed on fine paper. $35* Order Certificate
	Plaque The certificate can be mounted on a 12 x 16 inch hardwood plaque protected by Plexiglass. $100* Order Plaque
*Includes shipping and handling within the continental US (Alaska, Hawaii and international customers must call for a shipping quote). Nebraska residents add 7% sales tax. Allow 10 to 12 weeks for delivery once order is submitted.

Promoting AT Awareness

Images

As health care professionals, Athletic Trainers (ATs) are seldom in the limelight. Being noticed generally means an athlete has been injured – something no one wants to happen. However, that can make it difficult for everyone to understand the important work ATs do. Promoting AT Awareness ads are now available to you to use in your publications and online.

Click the link below to view all 40 of the options available to order.

Order Promoting AT Awareness Advertisements

Terminology

A large part of promoting the athletic training profession is using the proper terminology when talking to patients, co-workers, and the public. Start by getting to know the basics when it comes to athletic training terminology.

Displaying abbreviations after your name
Correct order:
degree, license and credential
Jane Doe, PhD, LAT, ATC

AT
AT is a noun and refers to the person
Example: Jane Doe is an AT

ATC
ATC is a credential and appears only after a Certified Athletic Trainer’s name
Example: Jane Doe, ATC

Athletic Trainer
Always write Athletic Trainer or BOC Certified Athletic Trainer

Do not use “trainer”
By itself, “trainer” does not distinguish between Athletic Trainers and other professionals

Athletic Training Facility
Use athletic training facility, NOT athletic training room

Board of Certification (BOC)
The BOC (that’s us!) is the credentialing agency that certifies ATs and approves organizations to offer continuing education

National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA)
The NATA is the professional membership association for Certified Athletic Trainers and others who support the athletic training profession

Download Inter-agency Terminology Glossary

Pathfinder Pilot

In January 2024, the BOC launched the Pathfinder pilot, a platform that guides professional development and promotes learning. Pathfinder is slated to be part of the Continuing Professional Certification (CPC) program currently in development and it promotes all components of CPC: Professionalism, Continuing Professional Development and Practice Performance. This pilot, approved in 2023 by the BOC Board of Directors, is an opportunity for Athletic Trainers (ATs) to test and provide feedback throughout 2024. All ATs were invited to participate in the Pathfinder pilot at the end of 2023 and first quarter of 2024. As a result, 3,600+ ATs took part in this pilot.

Pathfinder is a technology platform with a personalized dashboard through which ATs share their professional goals and interests, quiz themselves with evidence-based challenge questions and customize a professional development path by building a personal timeline. The intuitive system recommends and allows you to save personalized references and continuing education programs from BOC Approved Providers.

ATs participating in the pilot will use Pathfinder during the first year of the 2024-2025 Certification Maintenance period. Ongoing participant feedback, as well as usage data, will be gathered and analyzed during this pilot period to refine and finalize this platform, as appropriate. This is an important step in the creation of an interactive and individualized platform to drive an impactful CPC experience for ATs.

The prototype of Pathfinder is based on an enhanced version of the existing BOC Professional Goals Appraisal (PGA) which enables ATs to assess professional needs and aspirations, develop goals and choose activities to enhance clinical competence and knowledge. Pathfinder provides a more interactive and personalized approach to developing a professional development path to meet the goals of each AT, no matter their setting or circumstances. The objective is for ATs to not only earn continuing education units to maintain certification but identify and select those that are meaningful to specific professional goals.

Pilot Participation Incentives

The enrollment for participation in the Pathfinder pilot began in October 2023 and ended on April 1, 2024. Enrollment was completely voluntary, there was no cost involved.

Pathfinder participants are early adopters helping shape Pathfinder for fellow ATs while experiencing personalized professional development. Upon completion of the requirements listed below participants will receive:

• 5 Category A continuing education units
• 5 Category B continuing education units
• Entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of many available $50 gift cards

Pathfinder Completion Requirements

The following requirements are to be completed by Dec. 31, 2024to receive the incentives outlined above.

• My Goals
• Complete the SMART Questionnaire
• Set at least two goals
• My Challenge Questions
• Complete 15 challenge questions before the end of each quarter in 2024. (Alerts  will remind you to do this on time.)
  Note: My Challenge Questions are for learning and self-awareness only and are not scored
• My Learning Path
• Build and customize your professional development plan by adding at least two learning activities to your timeline
• My Reflection
• Answer reflection questions when prompted (beginning in Quarter 4)
• Pilot Feedback Survey
• Complete a participant survey by Dec. 31, 2024

Next Steps

Following the completion of the Pathfinder pilot, data will be analyzed in early 2025 and further information will be released.

Questions

For additional information regarding the Pathfinder pilot, please contact pathfinder@bocatc.org with any questions.

History

Download CPC Timeline

AT Driven Research and Development Initial Work

At the end of 2021, the BOC Board of Directors created a new Continuing Professional Certification (CPC) Task Force comprised of volunteers to drive future efforts, integrate feedback and provide recommendations on the future of Athletic Trainer (AT) certification renewal. To date, the BOC board, this designated task force and more than 1,400 ATs have weighed in to help shape the CPC concept over the past several years – all before the open comment period held last fall. The new CPC Task Force, along with the input of hundreds to thousands more ATs, will further define CPC. By the time this is final, it will have been shaped, by and for ATs. To begin the research and development phase, a call out for volunteers was made to allow for the BOC to gain perspectives and input from a wide cross section of ATs and other experts to shape program design. We had hundreds of ATs, and other experts, raise their hands.

Efforts for this phase, which began in March 2022 will continue for the next two to three years as AT volunteers participate in various roles to help further define and shape development of CPC to be:

• An AT-centric certification renewal program that is: relevant, flexible, equitable, inclusive, affordable, effective and easy to manage…for all practice settings, including ATs who are PRN
• A certification renewal program that protects the public and meets the needs of ATs as health care professionals
• A certification renewal program that provides a better way for ATs to map their own development path

2021 Open Comment Results

Data collected during the 2021 CPC open comment period, from both Survey Monkey and Miro Board, was assimilated and analyzed. Based on feedback, four main messages were expressed that are shaping ongoing development of CPC. These data points were used to define action steps for the research and development phase.

Key Takeaways

• Be mindful of potential practice setting differences and nuances. We will collect additional quantitative and qualitative data focused on the varied AT settings.
• Make communication two-way and consistent. We will provide opportunities for ATs to speak and actively participate in ongoing focus and work groups. In addition, we will push out timely and meaningful project updates.
• Clarify the concept of CPC and its components. We will provide updates and education to ATs on component specifics as they are shaped, as well as defining “why” they are to be included.
• Create a structure to support ATs. We will shape CPC to be flexible, customizable, time-efficient, and cost-effective to our diversified audience of ATs.

Why CPC?

• Research has led us to a new recertification program – it’s been in the works for years
• Necessary step to advance our profession as a leader in health care
• Stay on top of our game – critical to the profession
  Offer choices/flexibility giving ATs equitable and affordable options
• Provide consumers comfort knowing ATs are current with cutting edge knowledge and skills
• See FAQs to learn more

Continuing Professional Certification (CPC) Concept Q&A”
webinar held Oct. 20, 2021

Overview and Explanation of Proposed Concept

Recertification is changing in health care. The BOC is shaping a new recertification concept – the BOC, with input from ATs in all settings, is shaping a new recertification concept designed to offer a more customized and efficient professional development program. The concept is meant to provide ATs the flexibility to map out an individualized professional development plan based on their preferred learning style, professional goals and practice setting. The ultimate goal of the final concept is to provide consumers the comfort of knowing all ATs are staying current with cutting edge knowledge and skills in the field of athletic training.

Staying at the top of our game as a profession is critical. The BOC has been working on a better approach to ongoing continuing education for the past 11 years for several reasons. We are looking to meet ATs where they are. Giving ATs choices and flexibility for equitable and affordable continuing education is our goal.

Evidence through the Institute of Medicine (IOM) (now the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has shown that across the health care professions, continuing education units alone aren’t as effective or practical as they could be, and much of the medical field is moving away from this approach, including nursing, occupational therapy, physician assistants and dietetics. Overall, recommended guidance for health care professionals is to have requirements for continued competence and maintenance of certification that are grounded in the IOM/NAM’s Core Competencies:

• Provide patient-centered care
• Work in interdisciplinary teams
• Employ evidence-based practice
• Apply quality improvement
• Utilize informatics

Executive Summary: Institute of Medicine. 2003. Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10681.

Executive Summary: Institute of Medicine. 2010. Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/12704.

Focus Group Results

During April 2022, eight AT focus groups, representing varied practice settings, took place. Results from these groups helped to define plans and next steps for ongoing work groups.

The main objectives of these research discussions were to define meaningful and impactful activities for learning and professional development, as well as identify any challenges specific to practice setting that could impede completion of any proposed certification maintenance activities.

Key Takeaways

• ATs are open to additional learning initiatives to maintain certification
• ATs want interdisciplinary and peer learning
• ATs want hands-on, structured learning
• ATs are looking for learning activities that are tailored to their career/interests

Work Group Phase – QI

The CPC work groups launched in June and will continue through 2023, based on input gathered during earlier research and ongoing work group results.

One of the first work groups centered around the concept of Quality Improvement (QI). QI is a component of CPC under consideration, based on previous results of a QI pilot (conducted from January to August 2020) involving nearly 250 ATs, as well as positive input around this educational tool received during the AT focus groups for CPC.

This group was charged with sharpening an existing template for QI to allow ATs to create their own projects, providing a directly applicable and individualized approach. In addition, the group provided several recommendations for the technology and facilitation of these components as well as discussed methods for QI project collaboration among ATs. During discussion, the group defined Quality Improvement as it relates to the athletic training profession:

Quality improvement provides the framework to continuously and systematically evaluate Athletic Trainer’s health care delivery to improve their practice and quality of service for patients.

The QI work group consisted of six ATs and one outside expert who specializes in quality improvement. All AT participants had QI experience, and some are currently teaching QI to ATs and other health care professionals. This group met over six weeks during July and August. Additional work groups, including a second QI Work Group, are currently meeting and will continue into 2023.

Power Panel

The BOC Power Panel, a large group of ATs and other stakeholders, provides input during CPC development through online survey feedback. Most recently, the Power Panel was surveyed about frequency of educational activities and its impact on learning.

View Report

When asked “How often should ATs engage in continuing education during any given month?” more than 80% responded monthly, while nearly one-fifth responded that multiple times per month was ideal. In a follow-up question, results showed that this group of ATs felt that integrating new knowledge into their practice, they needed to engage with the material an average of 47 times.

“Frequency of learning and application leads to competence and eventual reflection. Reflection on practice creates advanced knowledge and skill that drive the profession forward.” – Power Panel participant

Within the open-ended portion of the survey results, the following key learning themes emerged related to effective learning for ATs:

Key Takeaways

• Applied/ hands-on knowledge
• Repetition in learning
• Use of multiple, diverse and new formats
• An individualized approach

Next Steps

Results such as those outlined, in addition to outcomes from ongoing efforts, will be continuously analyzed and reviewed. This progression will continue for at least the next two years until CPC is finalized and implemented to meet the needs of ATs, while fulfilling the level of certification required to enhance our profession and protect the public.

Visit the update page for the most recent activity.

FAQs

Archived FAQs