BOC Practice Analysis, 8th Edition

The practice analysis is the BOC's periodic study of what newly certified athletic trainers actually do, and it serves as the blueprint for the BOC certification exam and for continuing-education requirements. This 8th edition reports a study run with a psychometric contractor and overseen by a BOC task force of athletic trainers.

A panel of athletic trainers defined the domains, tasks, and knowledge and skill statements in late 2020; the draft was piloted and then validated in a national survey of newly certified athletic trainers, who rated each task for importance and frequency.

The panel settled on five domains: risk reduction, wellness and health literacy; assessment, evaluation and diagnosis; critical incident management; therapeutic intervention; and healthcare administration and professional responsibility. The task force cut back the share that the survey ratings gave to administration, and the resulting exam weighting puts the most emphasis on assessment and on therapeutic intervention and the least on administration.