Career commitment of postprofessional athletic training program graduates.

CONTEXT

Choosing to pursue an advanced degree in athletic training appears to indicate professional commitment and passion for the profession. Currently, there is a paucity of information regarding why some athletic trainers pursue enrollment in a postprofessional athletic training program (PPATP), indicating commitment to the profession, but later depart for another primary role outside of athletic training.

OBJECTIVE

To understand why athletic trainers invested in advanced training via a PPATP but then decided to leave the profession.

DESIGN

Qualitative study.

SETTING

Online data collection.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS

Twelve graduates (8 women [67%], 4 men [33%], age = 31.58 ± 3.06 years) from PPATPs who no longer had primary employment as an athletic trainer.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Recruits responded to an e-mail invitation to participate by completing a confidential online questionnaire. We analyzed data using a general inductive approach and secured trustworthiness using multiple-analyst triangulation, peer review, and member checks.

RESULTS

Two higher-order themes emerged regarding the career commitment of former athletic trainers who were PPATP graduates: (1) departure from an athletic training career and (2) partial continuance in athletic training. Two second-order themes emerged from the reasons for departure: (1) decreased recognition of value and (2) work-life imbalance. Finally, we identified 2 third-order themes from the participants' reasons for departure because of a perceived lack of value: (1) low salary and (2) long, inconsistent hours worked.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of our participants intended to stay in the profession when they chose to attend a PPATP. However, during role inductance in either the clinical experience of the PPATP they attended or early in their careers, they began to have thoughts of leaving mainly because of inadequate financial compensation, challenging work schedules, or both.