MCLA Offers New Athletic Training Major
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The major initially began as a sports-medicine concentration in biology. Peter Hoyt, director of athletic training at the college, pushed to make the program a reality after joining the college's biology department as an instructor in sports medicine in 2005.
"It's been a series of steps through MCLA and the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education to get this major in place," said Hoyt, who holds a master's in eduction from Old Dominion University and a bachelor's in sprots medicine from Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania. "We hope by the end of the school year, we will be accredited and expand with more students."
MCLA is the only college offering a bachelor of science degree in athletic training in the Berkshires and the surrounding region. The program has been given the go-ahead but is still going through the accredition process.
Key players in formulating the major were biology instructor Dr. John Moresi, adjunct professor Jeff Wood and longtime sports coach Ron Schewcraft, who retired from MCLA two years.
Instituting a curriculum that integrates both liberal arts and professional studies, Hoyt's dedication to the athletic training major has focused around clinical learning. "The hands-on experiences the students get will be more influential than anything," he said.
"The athletic training program is a well-designed program that combines course work such as lectures and reading with a variety of clinical experiences, both on and off campus," said Monica Joslin, dean of academic affairs at MCLA, in a statement. "Students will learn how to prevent, evaluate, and treat sports injuries and be exposed to a variety of hands-on experiences."
Hoyt said two students are graduating from the program in September, with another six to follow in the spring.
"Since we are not accredited by the time these kids will graduate, we look at it realistically. Most people in this field are going or have gone through graduate school. About 70 percent of athletic trainers have a Ph.D. anyways," said Hoyt.
He said eight new classes are being thrown into the MCLA roster. In addition, Hoyt has overseen the alteration of current classes, such as "Strength and Conditioning." Hoyt himself is finishing up his doctorate through a limited residency program in Utah over the summer, alongside some online courses. "It's taken a few years, but I'm where I want to be now."
The major has 17 students enrolled so far, but Hoyt hopes that the major will bring many in the years to come.
"It's a good sign we have this much already," he said Hoyt. "Most of them are coming from Albany (N.Y.) because they don't have such a program."
