Student working with a client

Admissions Information

Requirements

Students must meet University admission requirements, as well as requirements for admission to the degree, listed below.

  • Meet the technical standards for admission or show potential for accomplished tasks
  • Undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited college or university
  • Minimum of 3.0 GPA from undergraduate coursework
  • Personal statement in 1000 words or less describing primary career goals, most direct influence on choice to become an Athletic Trainer, your attributes related to the field of Athletic Training, and why you should be selected to the Athletic Training major
  • Three (3) letters of recommendation
  • Personal interview with the UNCW Athletic Training faculty and staff (via Zoom or in person)
  • Must complete a secondary application with ATCAS
  • Prerequisites

    Applicants must demonstrate completion of prerequisite courses with a minimum grade of “C” of at least one course at the undergraduate or graduate levels in each of the following subject areas:

    • Human Anatomy & Physiology I and II (labs ARE required)
      • or 1 semester of Human Anatomy and 1 semester of Human Physiology
    • General Chemistry I (lab preferred not required)
    • General Physics I (lab preferred not required)
    • General Biology I (lab preferred not required)
    • Medical Terminology
    • Exercise Physiology
    • Nutrition
    • General Psychology
    • Statistics
    • Biomechanics/Kinesiology (recommended not required)
    • Technical Writing (recommended not required)
  • Observational Hours

    Students applying to the Athletic Training program are required to complete and record 50 hours of observation with a practicing Certified and/or Licensed Athletic Trainer. Observation hours must be completed in an Athletic Training setting (e.g. high school, college, university, or professional sports venue), sports medicine clinic, or other emerging practice setting.

    All observation forms must be uploaded into ATCAS .

  • Additional Admission Requirements

    Applicants must have obtained a Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited academic institution (or foreign equivalent with satisfactory completion of the TOEFL).

    Applicants must demonstrate an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher (some exceptions are permissible).

    Applicants must be CPR (with AED for adult, infant, and child) and First Aid certified. You will need to upload a copy of your certification cards to ATCAS.

Technical Standards for Admission, Academic Progression and Graduation

Athletic Training education requires that the accumulation of scientific knowledge be accompanied by the simultaneous acquisition of skills, professional attitudes, and behaviors. Standards presented here are prerequisite for admission and graduation from the University of North Carolina Wilmington Athletic Training Program (the “Program”). All courses in the Program curriculum are required in order to develop the essential skills necessary to become a competent practitioner.

All candidates must have aptitude, abilities, and skills in each of the five skill areas specified below. Technological compensation can be made for some handicaps in these skill areas, but a candidate should be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner. The use of a trained intermediary would mean that a candidate's judgment must be mediated by someone else's power of selection and observation. Therefore, third parties cannot be used to assist students in accomplishing curricular requirements in the five skill areas specified below. Reasonable accommodation can be made, as appropriate, as long as the integrity of the Program is upheld.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington is committed to the principles of equitable and accessible education and to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. The Program endeavors to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities who apply for admission and are enrolled as athletic training students.

Should, despite reasonable accommodation (whether the candidate chooses to use the accommodation or not), a candidate’s existing or acquired disability(ies) interfere with patient or peer safety, or otherwise impede their ability to complete the Program’s educational program and advance to graduation or certification, the candidate may be denied admission or may be separated or dismissed from the program.

  • Observation and Perception

    Candidates must be able to accurately perceive, by the use of senses and mental abilities, the presentation of information through:

    • Small group discussions and presentations
    • Large-group lectures
    • One-on-one interactions
    • Demonstrations
    • Laboratory experiments
    • Patient encounters
    • Diagnostic findings
    • Procedures
    • Written material
    • Audiovisual material
  • Communication

    Candidates must be able to communicate skillfully (in English) with faculty members, preceptors, other members of the healthcare team, patients, families, and other students, in order to:

    • Elicit information
    • Perceive, acknowledge, and respond to nonverbal communication
    • Convey information, verbally and in writing
    • Clarify information
    • Create rapport
    • Develop therapeutic relationships
  • Motor Coordination or Function

    Candidates should have sufficient motor function and coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium and functional use of the sense of touch and vision to:

    • Attend (and participate in) all classes, groups, and activities in the curriculum
    • Examine patients
    • Elicit information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers
    • Execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general care and emergency treatment to patients including cardiopulmonary resuscitation, application of pressure to stop bleeding, application of bandages for wound care, patient transport, and manual therapies
    • Perform in a reasonably independent and competent way in sometimes chaotic clinical environments
  • Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities

    Candidates must be able to demonstrate higher-level cognitive abilities, which include:

    • Rational thought
    • Measurement
    • Calculation
    • Visual-spatial comprehension
    • Conceptualization
    • Analysis
    • Synthesis
    • Organization
    • Representation (oral, written, diagrammatic, three dimensional)
    • Memory
    • Application
    • Clinical reasoning
    • Ethical reasoning
  • Professionalism: Mature and Ethical Conduct

    Candidates must be able to:

    • Consistently display academic integrity, fairness and respect for others.
    • Promptly complete all assignments and responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients
    • Communicate with, examine, and provide care for all patients—including those whose gender, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, or spiritual beliefs are different from candidates' own
    • Develop mature, sensitive, and effective relationships, not only with patients but with all members of the Program and healthcare teams
    • Maintain sobriety in all academic and clinical environments, and refrain from the illegal use of substances at all times
    • Abide by all state, federal, and local laws, as well as all University of North Carolina Wilmington codes of conduct
    • Tolerate physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding workloads
    • Function effectively under stress, and proactively make use of available resources to help maintain both physical and mental health
    • Adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and be able to learn in the face of uncertainty
    • Take responsibility for themselves and their behaviors

The Program will consider for admission any applicant who demonstrates the ability to perform or to learn to perform the skills listed in this above. Students will be judged not only on their scholastic accomplishments, but also on their physical and emotional capacities to meet the full requirements of the Program curriculum, and to graduate as skilled and effective practitioners.

Candidates are asked to address the following questions in consideration of these technical standard requirements:

  1. Is the candidate able to reasonably observe demonstrations and participate in skill laboratories?
  2. Is the candidate able to reasonably analyze, synthesize, extrapolate, solve problems and reach diagnostic and therapeutic judgments?
  3. Does the candidate have reasonably sufficient use of the senses of vision and hearing and the somatic sensation necessary to perform an assessment examination?
  4. Can the candidate reasonably be expected to relate to patients and establish sensitive, professional relationships with patients?
  5. Can the candidate reasonably be expected to communicate the results of the examination to the patient and to his or her colleagues with accuracy, clarity and efficiency?
  6. Can the candidate reasonably be expected to learn and perform assessment tests and procedures?
  7. Can the candidate reasonably be expected to perform with precise, quick and appropriate actions in emergency situations?
  8. Can the candidate reasonably be expected to display good judgment in the assessment and treatment of patients?
  9. Can the candidate reasonably be expected to possess the perseverance, diligence, and consistency to complete the Athletic Training Program curriculum and enter the practice of Athletic Training?
  10. Can the candidate reasonably be expected to accept criticism and respond by appropriate modification of behavior?

Students with Disabilities

UNCW is committed to the principles of equitable and accessible education and to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. Students with disabilities apply under the same guidelines as other students. If a student feels a disability has had an impact on grades, course choice or standardized admission test scores, the student may request consideration of this in the admissions process. Documentation of the disability and its relationship to the failure to satisfy a specific UNCW requirement should be submitted with the application for admission.

The UNCW Disability Resource Center coordinates learning assistance to eligible students with disabilities. Course related assistance and accommodations such as reader services, interpreters, alternative exam administration, note takers and adaptive equipment are available through this office.