How do I know if athletic training is for me?

• Do I want to be involved in the medical side of sports?
• Do I want to learn about assessing, treating and rehabilitating sports injuries?
• Do I like a hands-on major?
• Do I enjoy applied medical sciences?
• Do I want a major that will challenge me?
• Am I looking for an undergraduate major to prepare me for graduate school (athletic training, physical therapy, physician assistant)?
• Do I want a major in which I can practice and demonstrate my knowledge on a daily basis in a real-world setting?
• Am I interested in learning how to communicate better with other health care professionals?

If you answered yes to many of these questions, athletic training may be the profession for you!

Career Possibilities

• Colleges and Universities
• Health Care Clinics
• High Schools
• Industrial Corporations
• Olympic Sport Centers
• Professional Sports
• Sports Medicine Centers

Read about some of our alumni.

Accreditation
The athletic training major at DWU is accredited through Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE), and prepares students for the national certification exam given by the Board of Certification (BOC).

DWU's athletic training major is designed to prepare students to give the highest quality care to others while encouraging ethical and moral conduct as well as personal and professional growth.

Athletic training students at Dakota Wesleyan will gain valuable experience by working with certified athletic trainers, physicians, physicians' assistants and physical therapists. Students are allowed to begin observation as early as the first semester of their freshman year and may be fully accepted into the academic major by the beginning of their sophomore year.

Students are expected to study biology, anatomy, physiology, nutrition, injury assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries, and other subject areas. All athletic training students must complete a minimum of 800 hours of field experience. After completing the required coursework and clinical and field experience, graduates take a national certification examination.

A majority of states, including South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska, require athletic trainers to become licensed in that state before practicing. Undergraduate athletic training can also be a beneficial preparation for graduate degrees in athletic training, exercise physiology, physical therapy or medicine.

The profession of athletic training is one of the integral components of sports medicine. A certified athletic trainer is recognized by the American Medical Association as an allied health care professional, just like nurses, physical therapists and occupational therapists. As certified athletic trainers, our graduates are responsible for the prevention, assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries sustained in athletics.