Program Codes:
BSSPPAT
Bachelor of Science
Athletic trainers are highly qualified, multi-skilled health care professionsals who render servce or treatment to an ever evolving physically active population. Recent history has seen the Athletic Training profession experience unprecedented growth, both in its numbers and its scope. As professional-level Athletic Training education evolves, students need additional foundational preparation.
The Pre-Athletic Training Program is designed to prepare students for admission to professional-level Athletic Training education. While the Pre-AT Program does not lead directly to Board of Certification athletic traning certification, it includes all prerequisite coursework required by the Mercyhurst University Master of Science in Athletic Training program throuogh a combnation of foundational knowledge and laboratory opportunities. Through a variety of Sports Medcine coursework and hands-on learning experiences, the Pre-AT Program creates a unique opportunity for students to prepare for the specific skill-set and knowledge base to be experienced withing professional-level Athletic Training programs. Addtionally, the coursework within the Pre-AT Program will provide students with employable skillsets and preparation for certifications within the healthcare arena.
The purpose of this course is to introduce basic concepts and learning techniques concerning athletic training education. Through hands-on and didactic instruction, students will be exposed to and discuss athletic training topics and skillsets that provide a foundation for future clinicians. Critical-thinking, clinical observation, and the simulated application of instructed material will provide the student a springboard towards more intensive athletic training education.
This laboratory-style course incorporates clinical teaching and evaluating of hands-on profession-relevant skills that are necessary within the Athletic Training profession. This course is intended to affirm and build upon content from 1st-year Pre-Athletic Training coursework. Prophylactic taping, wrapping, and bracing, and basic emergent injury management will be emphasized.
Students will be introduced to a variety of healthcare-related concepts in the second course in the Foundations sequence. The course will continue to expose students to the athletic training profession and the knowledge and skillsets it encompasses. Through hands-on and didactic instruction, pathology (orthopedic, general medical, and psychosocial) and associated management will be explored. Additionally, simulation and clinical observations will supplement classroom learning.
Students will build on knowledge introduced in anatomy and physiology courses during the third and final Foundations course. Through hands-on and didactic instruction, students will be further exposed to musculoskeletal anatomy, injury pathophysiology, etiology, and management through the filter of athletic training education.
Additionally, simulation and clinical observation will supplement classroom instruction.
The purpose of this capstone course is to allow final-year Pre-Athletic Training students to integrate their clinical, psychomotor and didactic knowledge in preparation for their enrollment in a
professional graduate Athletic Training program and/or future careers in healthcare. Additionally, students will also develop a semester-long assigned patient case study with an oral presentation requirement. Pre-AT majors only
ATR 257, ATR 322
Public health is both a discipline and a perspective on human health, with an emphasis on the health of populations and groups rather than on individual patients. This focus on serving the needs of populations and emphasis on prevention over traditional medicine approaches presents economic, political and ethical challenges to public health workers and researchers. Public health requires a unique skill set that pulls from statistics, demography and biology to the social sciences and public policy. This course will focus on the core areas of public health practice including chronic disease prevention, transmission of infectious diseases, health promotion, disease-related research and environmental health.
Social and economic conditions are currently the best predictors of health outcomes in the United States, and improvements in living conditions better explain gains in human life expectancy than improvements in medicine alone. The links between social structures (risk conditions) and lifestyles (risk factors) are explored. The impact of risk conditions, such as income and education, on health outcomes are reviewed and compared across communities and cultures. Students are introduced to emerging theories and research on the social determinants of health. The benefits and costs of decreasing inequity and injustice as well as increasing equity and justice are critically analyzed.
A lecture and clinical course introducing the students to athletic injuries requiring immediate medical intervention. Emergency procedures include: respiratory distress, head and cervical neck trauma, circulatory failure and heat/cold stress.
A course designed to educate the medical health professional on the proper use, dosage, physiological effects, and ethical issues related to commonly used over-the-counter prescription medicines and alternative supplements. Sports Med majors.
SPMD-161 OR SPMD-162
A laboratory class designed to demonstrate through models, microscopic work, and dissection the information presented in BIO 120.
BIO 120
A survey of fundamental chemical principles. Satisfies a liberal studies and core requirement.
CHEM 102
Experimental work corequisite to Chemical Principles.
CHEM 101
As a study focusing on the ideas of physics, this course is aimed at students with non-science majors. Very few math skills are necessary as the emphases are the historical development of physics, the main concepts and ideas of physics, and the current state of the discipline. A central theme in the course will be using physics to explain everyday phenomena.
PHYS 110
As a study focusing on the ideas of physics, this lab is aimed at students with non-science majors. While problems and calculations will be done in the course, high level math skills are notnecessary as the emphases are the main concepts and ideas of physics and their real-world applications. A central theme in the lab will be using physics to explain everyday phenomena. This lab is intended to enhance your experience in PHYS 100, Conceptual Physics.
PHYS 100
A general introduction to the science of behavior and mental processes. Topics considered include learning, memory, perception, motivation, personality, psychopathology and social interaction.
This course will provide an introduction to statistical methods used in research with an emphasis on describing, organizing, applying and interpreting a variety of basic statistical techniques. Topics include measurement scales, elements of experimental design, probability, hypothesis testing, descriptive statistics, correlation, t-tests, analysis of variance, chi-square tests, regression techniques, and non-parametric statistical methods. Students will gain experience in basic data management using a data entry platform, such as Excel.