EBP credits

Good morning! Welcome back to SOAP Notes! After a long hiatus, I have another article to share! I'm sure many of you can relate to how crazy things get towards the middle/late parts of a season. With NATA convention starting this week, I felt this topic would be appropriate.


Those of you who are athletic trainers know that our profession has been pushing towards more evidence-based practice (EBP) methods. This has been reinforced by the added requirement of 10 EBP credits on our biannual continuing education reports. Unfortunately, in my opinion many of these EBP continuing education units (CEUs) are accomplished through online quizzes that rarely have an obvious correlation to the clinic. Today I want to talk about EBP, how it can directly impact clinical practices, and how it might possibly be addressed differently.


My understanding of the idea behind evidence-based practice is that we must hold ourselves accountable to standards set by the most recent research available. Not only that, but we also must always make decisions with the patient’s well being at the focus. As I previously mentioned, from what I’ve seen and heard from colleagues most EBP credits are often obtained through online presentations that end with a short quiz. I too am guilty of this. During the last reporting period, I achieved most of my EBP credits through several online courses that each took no longer than an hour or two. While one or two of the courses brought up topics I had not thought about in a while (the patient disablement model was one that I had not considered in a long time and it got me thinking), most courses were rather monotonous. Nonetheless, I got the credits I needed for my CEU report.


I want to mention that it feels to me athletic training is currently having some growing pains as we are still a relatively young medical profession that continues to grow and identify our role in the medical community. One particular movement that indicates this is the change to a master’s degree for all entry level ATCs, partly due to the goal of better aligning with our other medical colleagues. Would more participation in producing research also achieve this goal? Athletic trainers are often described as the “front line of defense for athletes” as the first responders in athletic emergencies. If we are truly focused on EBP, why not try to be the “front line of research”? I understand not every athletic trainer is in a position that would allow for research possibilities. But surely with our connections to physicians, PTs, educators, medical supply companies, brace manufacturers, and even strength coaches the possibility of research is out there even if only a small scale case study.


I applied the same question I often use during rehab programs to these thoughts on EBP; are we truly accomplishing our goals with our current methods? There are individuals working at/with the BOC who are incredibly smarter than I and get paid to answer that exact question. What I offer here is merely my opinion on the matter and some suggestions to possibly better align our goals with our outcomes. One possible solution I thought of was aimed at increased ATC engagement in the medical community. If EBP is focused on recent research, then why not encourage more research participation? Rather than reading two short articles and answering 10 questions to receive 0.75 EBP CEUs (out of a necessary 10.0 CEUs), how about helping to publish research, write a case study, or write an article review for more credits? Currently, the requirement is 10 EBP credits every two years. What about producing research once every three or four years? I don’t know that this would be any better than the current system but I’d love to hear your thoughts!




From the "front line",
-Mark D.
@MarkDomATC