Clinical Education

Clinical education is the foundation of your training at Buffalo. From your first semester through graduation, you’ll work directly with patients under the supervision of experienced athletic trainers and physicians across a wide range of clinical settings. By the time you earn your degree, you’ll have completed 69 weeks of hands-on clinical experience — giving you the confidence, competence, and professional readiness to practice from day one.

At UB, we believe that exceptional athletic trainers are developed through meaningful, progressive clinical experiences — not just classroom instruction. Our clinical education model integrates didactic coursework with supervised patient care from the very beginning of the program. Each clinical rotation is intentionally designed to build on the last, gradually expanding the complexity of patient populations, clinical settings, and decision-making responsibilities you’ll encounter.

This approach reflects the program’s mission: to prepare students to function as evidence-based clinicians in a dynamic healthcare environment. Through innovative interprofessional, clinical practice, and didactic experiences, you’ll develop the reflective clinical reasoning skills needed to treat diverse populations and practice with confidence in any setting.

Clinical education in the MSAT program is structured across six clinical courses over two years. Each rotation is paired with your coursework so that what you learn in the classroom is immediately applied in practice. Your clinical experiences progress from foundational skills with diverse patient populations to advanced, autonomous practice in an immersive setting.

During your first year, you’ll rotate through clinical settings that expose you to the full breadth of athletic training practice. You’ll gain experience with a variety of patient populations — from Division I collegiate athletes to high school students to patients in the orthopaedic office — while developing core clinical skills in injury evaluation, emergency management, therapeutic interventions, and rehabilitation.

First-year rotations are designed to help you discover the clinical environments where you thrive. You’ll work closely with your preceptors to connect what you’re learning in courses to real patient care, building the clinical reasoning skills that will serve you throughout your career.

Second-year clinical experiences build on your foundation with greater complexity and autonomy. You’ll take on more responsibility in patient care decisions, manage cases with increasing independence, and prepare for the transition to professional practice.

The culmination of your clinical education is the immersive clinical experience — an extended, practice-intensive rotation that allows you to experience the totality of care provided by an athletic trainer. This is where everything comes together.

With more than 90 affiliated clinical sites, UB’s MSAT program offers an exceptional range of clinical education opportunities. Our students gain experience across collegiate athletics, secondary schools, outpatient clinics, physician practices, and specialized settings — preparing them for any career path in athletic training.

Our program is fortunate to partner with many professional sports teams. Students learn in a high-level environment with some of the best athletes in the world. A brief list of our affiliated professional clinical sites include:

• Buffalo Bills (NFL)
• Rochester Americans (Amerks) (AHL)
• Sporting Kansas City (MLS)
• Watford FC (England - EFL Championship)
• Team Canada Basketball (national team)
• And more!

Our students and faculty also provide fitness testing for the National Hockey League (NHL) Player's Combine - that is held yearly in Buffalo. We also help provide testing for the NHL Officials Combines - also held yearly in Buffalo!

Students gain hands-on experience with UB's Division I athletic program, learning alongside athletic trainers and physicians across multiple sports. The program also has clinical affiliations with dozens of colleges and universities - many local in Buffalo, but also throughout the country. Here's just a brief snapshot of affiliations:

• University at Buffalo
• Buffalo State University
• Canisius University
• University of Colorado - Boulder
• Army West Point

Students can also gain hands-on experience with rotations at high schools. We have partnerships with over 30 high schools across Western New York. These clinicals immerse students in the secondary school setting where athletic trainers serve as primary healthcare providers.

Our program partners with athletic trainers and clinical sites that are working with performing artists, marching band, and other unique experiences. We have clinical affiliations with:

• NYU Langone Harkness Center for Dance Medicine
• Boston Children's Hospital - The Micheli Center
• Bluecoats (marching band)

Other unique clinical experiences include:

• Empire State Ride 
• UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Concussion Clinic
• Arthrex (Prodigy Surgical) cadaveric surgical day
• Buffalo Marathon finish line medical tent

Our program offers three different immersive clinical experiences. Two are completed during your second summer. You will spend four weeks rotating with physicians in these areas of expertise: Primary Care Sports Medicine, Orthopaedic Surgery and Emergency Medicine while also gaining experience in casting and splinting, reading MRIs and X-rays, assisting with office procedures such as injections and observing surgery.

The second immersive experience is a four week rotation for pre-season. You will assist with pre-participation physicals, then jump into your clinical during the entire pre-season. 

Your final immersive experience is duing your last spring semester as is the capstone of your clinical education. During this rotation, you will experience the totality of care provided by an athletic trainer - functioning as a near-independent clinician whil still benefiting from preceptor mentorship and support. You'll manage your own patient caseload, make clinical decision with consulting your preceptor, and experience what daily life as an athletic trainer truly looks like. You will work with the Director of Clinical Education to setup this experience.