Online Continuing Education for Athletic Trainers

online continuing education for athletic trainers

Like many health professionals, Athletic Trainers must undergo continuing education throughout their career in order to maintain certification. If you’re an AT seeking a convenient way to complete those recertification requirements, keep reading to learn more about MedBridge – a leading provider of online continuing education for Athletic Trainers. 

But first, let’s review your continuing education requirements as set by the BOC (Board of Certification).

BOC ATC Continuing Education Requirements

The whole point of continuing education is to grow and maintain knowledge, confidence, and expertise in athletic training. 

The BOC requires a certain number of continuing education units (CEUs) as a way to quantify how much time you spend reviewing your craft, learning new techniques, and exploring research. A CEU is typically equivalent to one “contact hour,” the amount of time spent in active participation.  

Most ATs will need to complete 50 CEUs each recertification period. However, if you were recently certified (in 2022), you will need to complete only 25 CEUs. If you were certified in 2023, you will need to complete 50 CEUs by the next renewal date of 12/31/2025.

Whatever the total, you’ll need to make sure ⅕ qualify as Category A courses, programs, or activities. Category A courses or activities use current research to help guide and inform your clinical decisions. Every AT should be aware of current research and its implications on athletic treatment, and that’s why there’s a minimum for Category A CEUs.   

Here are those requirements for new and not-so-new ATs:

ATs certified in 2021 or before: 50 CEUs, 10 of which are considered Category A.
ATs certified in 2022: 25 CEUs, 5 of which are considered Category A.

Athletic Trainer CEU Categories

There’s a minimum CEU requirement for Category A programs, but no maximum, which means you could complete all 50 CEUs using Category A courses.

But that’s not your only option. In fact, there are four other types of CEUs to consider. These BOC-approved categories allow for variety and flexibility in your continuing education without compromising the quality of your professional growth. 

Because of that minimum Category A quota, you’re limited in how many CEUs from other categories you may apply towards your recertification. Below is a table displaying the maximum number of CEUs per category.

CEU Type:Cat. ACat. B Cat. CCat. D
ContentBOC-approved ProvidersProfessional/Scholarly ActivitiesCollege/University Coursework Non-BOC-approved Providers
Maximum 
(≤2021 certification)
no max334028
Maximum 
(2022 certification)
no max172014

Online Continuing Education

Regardless of how you fulfill your 50 CEU hours, you can complete most (if not all) of them online. 

That’s right: online continuing education counts as CEU credit just as much as in-person training. All you have to do is make sure the course is BOC-approved for your state.

Whether it’s a lecture, live webinar, or video workshop, you can find all kinds of BOC-approved CEUs online. In-person attendance is not a CEU requirement!  

Benefits of Online Learning

As a Physical Therapist, I complete my CEUs online, for a number of reasons. 

For one, online continuing education is convenient. I can tune in to a class or webinar virtually anywhere, through any mobile device. Not only does it spare me the commute, it saves me the cost of gas and lunch.  

Speaking of saving money, virtual learning can help your bottom line. it’s not always cheaper to go the online route, but I’ve found a way to pay just $9 per CEU using MedBridge Education

I also prefer the online learning experience because, with the right provider, I can easily review the course material or rewatch a video. Continuing education is more than a box to tick; try to get something out of the learning experience. A good online provider will give you the tools to absorb what you’re learning and apply it to your practice. 

So if you’re looking for an online CEU provider that is affordable, convenient, and designed to help you learn well, you need to check out MedBridge Education.

MedBridge Online Continuing Education for Athletic Trainers

MedBridge Education is an online continuing education provider with thousands of hours of content, including 97 hours of Category A courses. You can find nearly 600 continuing education courses for Athletic Trainers on this platform. With MedBridge, you can complete all your CEU requirements across multiple categories without ever leaving your house.

Unlike other cheap CEUs online, MedBridge courses are top notch. Led by some of the most qualified ATs in the business, the content is relevant and accurate. You’ll enjoy the sleek learning platform, with its professional presentation and user-friendly interface. 

Online CEU Courses for Athletic Trainers

Whenever I need to renew my PT license, I use MedBridge. Over the years, I’ve encountered and taken several excellent courses which apply to ATs as well as PTs. Below are a few of my top picks for MedBridge CEU courses: 

1. The Athlete Movement System: Speed, Power, and Agility by Jared Vagy

Over three informative classes, Dr. Vagy reveals how speed, power, and agility are best assessed and rehabilitated in the athletic training clinic. 

This course counts as an Evidence-Based Practice CEU, which means the research that backs Vagy’s lecture will also inform how you treat your patients. By the end of the course, you’ll gain confidence in identifying and treating deficits in athletic performance using foundational, research-based movements. 

Presenter Jared Vagy has several other courses for the Athlete Movement System available on MedBridge. I enjoy his presentation style and recommend any of his courses.

This course is worth 1 hour of BOC Category A.

2. Concussion Assessment: An Overview by Anne Mucha and Susan Whitney

Concussions are one of the most common injuries among athletes. But just because they’re frequent doesn’t mean they’re simple to diagnose and treat. 

In this five-chapter course, you’ll learn how to test a concussive patient’s neurocognitive abilities and determine when they’ve sufficiently recovered. You’ll also learn how to recognize impairments in vestibular and oculomotor ability, common after a concussion. 

Both PTs and ATs have benefitted from this helpful course, which, due to its grasp of concussion research, qualifies as an Evidence-Based Practice CEU. 

This course is worth 1.25 hours of BOC Category A.

3. The Athlete’s Hip: Treatment of Hip Pathology by John Snyder

As an AT, you probably see a swath of hip injuries from week to week. But hip pathology treatment is often misunderstood and misapplied. 

Drawing from evidence-based research, this course will help you create better hip treatment plans with accurate clinical reasoning. Presenter John Snyder discusses the whole gamut of hip injuries, both intra-articular and extra-articular, and scrutinizes various treatment methods, from exercise prescriptions to manual therapy. 

“Treatment of Hip Pathology” is just one segment of Dr. Snyder’s The Athlete’s Hip curriculum. You can catch the full, 4-part video series on MedBridge. 

This course is worth 1 hour of BOC Category A.

Medbridge Discount for Athletic Trainer CEU Courses

As you can see, with MedBridge it’s easy to fulfill BOC CEU requirements online, including the Category A criteria. Imagine the variety of topics and formats you’ll enjoy from over 600 ATC courses! 

Besides the high-quality content, engaging variety, and convenient format, what makes MedBridge an unbeatable option for online continuing education is its affordability. In fact, you can save $150 on a 12-month MedBridge subscription with my discount code: PTPROGRESS” 

For just $225, you’ll gain unlimited access to thousands of hours of continuing education content clearly marked and approved for your certification. You can complete all your CEUs through MedBridge: online, on schedule, and on target for ATC recertification.

All in all, your online learning experience on MedBridge will do more than help you re-certify your license; it will enrich your professional life and make you a better AT.

Tim Fraticelli DPT, MBA, CFP®

Tim Fraticelli is a Physical Therapist, Certified Financial Planner™ and founder of PTProgress.com. He loves to teach PTs and OTs ways to save time and money in and out of the clinic, especially when it comes to documentation or continuing education. Follow him on YouTube for weekly videos on ways to improve your financial health.