How to become a certified athletic trainer

To become a certified athletic trainer, you must get a degree from a college or university with an accredited athletic training program, then take and pass the exam administered by the Omaha-based Board of Certification. This is the only way to become a certified athletic trainer.

1. If you do not yet have a bachelors degree you can view a list of schools with accredited entry level programs from which you could get a bachelors by following this path:

http://www.nata.org
Quick Links (pull-down box on the left)
Select Education from the list
Click on Accredited Programs (this will take you to http://www.caate.net/)
Click on Accredited Programs (in the brown heading stripe)
Leave State field blank, select Undergraduate in the Program Type area
Click Submit to see the listing of all undergraduate level programs

2. If you have a bachelors degree in something other than athletic training, you have two options.

You can get a second bachelor’s from one of the schools mentioned above.

Or you can get a masters in athletic training from a university with an accredited entry level masters program. There are fewer than 20 of these. For a list of schools with accredited entry-level masters programs, go to:

http://www.nata.org
Quick Links (pull-down box on the left)
Select Education from the list
Click on Accredited Programs (this will take you to http://www.caate.net/)
Click on Accredited Programs (in the brown heading stripe)
Leave State field blank, select Entry Level Masters in the Program Type area
Click Submit to see the listing of all entry level masters programs

3. If you already hold the ATC credential, you can consider an advanced masters degree program. There are about a dozen of these. For a list of these programs, go to:

http://www.nata.org
Quick Links (pull-down box on the left)
Select Education from the list
Click on Education Council
Click on Academic Programs (a blue tab at the top)
Click on Post-Professional Programs
This link opens an MS Word document listing advanced masters programs

Admissions information: For questions about admission to an accredited program, contact the program director at the individual college or university.

State practice acts: Most states regulate the profession of athletic training. Go to http://www.nata.org/members1/gov_affairs/stateregboards.cfm (requires members-only login) to check the regulatory act in states where you may wish to practice. Verifying the requirements in advance is important because in some cases you cannot start your first day on the job until you have met the stipulated qualifications.

Certification: For certification information, go to www.bocatc.org or contact staff@bocatc.org or call 877.BOC.EXAM.

Student membership: College students are eligible to join NATA. Learn more about student membership, careers in athletic training and other aspects of the profession at http://www.nata.org/student .

updated January 2007