Reflective Observation in the Clinical Education Setting: A Way to Promote Learning

Context: Clinical experiences help athletic training students gain real-time learning experiences by engaging in patient care. Observational learning has been identified as important to athletic training student development, yet little is known about its effectiveness. Objective: To explore the athletic training students' perspectives on their experiences in the clinical education setting, particularly examining the effectiveness of observational learning. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE)-accredited undergraduate programs. Patients or Other Participants: Twenty-four athletic training students (7 juniors and 17 seniors) from 4 National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) districts volunteered to participant in our study. The average age was 21 years (range, 20–23 years). Main Outcome Measure(s): Participants responded to a series of open-ended questions by journaling their thoughts and opinions through the secure Web site QuestionPro. ...