A Letter From The Director

Fall 2007

Dear Prospective Athletic Training Student:

Greetings and welcome to Mount Union College, home of the Purple Raiders, Nine-time NCAA Division III Football National Champions! Thank you for your interest in our Accredited Athletic Training Education Program/Athletic Training Major.

The mission of the Athletic Training Major is to prepare you for a career as a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC). It is to prepare students to successfully challenge the Board of Certification for Athletic Trainers (BOC, Inc.) examination, as well as for the Ohio Licensure examination after graduation. We want to prepare you for the contemporary professional and ethical challenges of employment and practice as a Certified Athletic Trainer. The curriculum emphasizes life-long learning, clinical excellence, compassionate, quality care and service. We are looking for highly motivated, intelligent, conscientious individuals who will contribute positively to our profession, and are interested in providing quality health care to those who are physically active.

Athletic Training is a very exciting and rapidly growing field. Our faculty and administration have been committed to providing excellence in undergraduate athletic training education for nearly twenty-five years. Hence, our program is constantly changing, growing and improving. For example, the original Program was "upgraded" from a concentration within the former Sports Medicine major, to an actual academic major in Athletic Training that exists today. Additionally, we have been approved by the NATA Professional Education Committee for over a decade, and from November, 1998 through 2005, we have been fully accredited through the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). In 2006, the accrediting body changed from CAAHEP to CAATE (Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education) in which we currently have full accreditation status. Accreditation assures you of a program that has met, and continues to meet rigorous national standards. Mount Union is proud to be among an elite group of colleges and universities across the nation which offer similar (CAATE) accredited programs.

The main emphasis of our program is to develop strong clinical technicians; athletic trainers who are not only highly skilled, but who also understand the "whys" behind what they are doing. We also emphasize critical thinking and a well-rounded ability to learn, as these qualities are essential for success in our rapidly changing society. When enrolled in the athletic training major, you will be exposed to a wide variety of "hands-on", challenging clinical exposures. You will be serving as an athletic training student within our intercollegiate athletic program, as well as at our off-campus settings in area high schools. Additionally, you will obtain valuable clinical exposure to allied medical settings such as physical therapy clinics and local ambulance services. Opportunity for you to participate in athletics is also possible.

If you are looking for a dynamic and challenging athletic training experience, please consider Mount Union College further. If you haven't already done so, I invite you to contact our Admissions Office today to schedule a visit to our beautiful campus, including a personal interview with me or one of my colleagues. My staff and I would certainly appreciate the opportunity to assist you in the most difficult task of choosing the right college as well as being involved in your professional aspirations.

Sincerely yours,

Daniel Gorman

Daniel Gorman, ATC, Director,
CAATE Accredited Athletic Training Education Program
800-992-6682, x4882 (my office) or x2590 (Admissions Office)
gormandm@muc.edu