Experience with and expectations regarding a trainer’s activities among medical university students

Abstract

Objective : The present study aimed to examine university students’ experience with and expectations from a trainer’s activities and roles, respectively.

Methods : In this cross-sectional study, an online survey was conducted with university students belonging to a tennis, handball, kendo, or athletics club in October 2016. Data were obtained from 76 students. Seven activities of a trainer, such as taping, massage, and warm-up, were targeted. Participants rated the frequency of their experience using the following responses : “never,” “ever (by the expert or not),” or “current (by the expert or not).” Subsequently, those who chose ever (by the expert) or current (by the expert) were categorized as “experienced.” Expectations regarding the roles of a trainer were examined across 7 categories such as conditioning, rehabilitation, and education. Participants rated their importance using the following responses : “very essential,” “quite essential,” “averagely essential,” “not very essential” and “not essential at all.” Subsequently, the first two response categories were defined as “expected roles.”

Results : The proportion of those who experienced an activity of the trainer was the highest for taping (15.8%), followed by massage (14.5%). Warm-up (2.7%) was experienced by the lowest proportion. The proportion of those who expected a role from a trainer was the highest for conditioning (84.9%), followed by rehabilitation (74.7%). The lowest proportion of participants expected a trainer to be involved in education (47.4%).

Conclusion : Few students had experienced a trainer’s activities. However, they expected the trainer to assume roles that may lead to improvement in their performance or that pertain to medical skills.