Implementing Green Zone Training into an Athletic Training Curriculum

Context Diversity, equity, and inclusion training in academic programming has evolved in recent years to address racial minority and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer populations; an additional special population that merits inclusion in this type of programming is the military-affiliated population. Objective Introduce the Campus Green Zone training workshop as an option to incorporate cultural competency for the military-affiliated patient or client population in athletic training programs. Background Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education standards identify the need for students to engage with clients or patients who participate in nonsport activities such as those in the military. The Campus Green Zone training program focuses on educating individuals about military-affiliated culture. One athletic training program requested a tailored version of the training for graduate students to prepare them for interacting with military-affiliated patients. Description Staff from the institution's Office of Military Affairs presented the training to 2 classes of athletic training graduate students, working in collaboration with the athletic training program's clinical education coordinator, to develop a version of the Campus Green Zone training that would help students reflect on the potential for interaction with clients representing the military-affiliated communities. Clinical Advantage(s) By importing a training workshop that is already in use on campus, the instructor saved time researching and deploying cultural sensitivity materials related to the military-affiliated population. By collaborating closely with the staff of the Office of Military Affairs, the training was improved and expanded upon to better serve the needs of the athletic training students. Conclusion(s) Athletic training instructors may meet the standard of cultural awareness in part by incorporating Campus Green Zone workshops and materials into their curriculum for graduate-level preservice students.