Context: As athletic training education continues its transition to a professional master’s degree, it is essential to understand how professional master’s athletic training students’ professional experiences influence their perceptions of athletic training and their career intentions after graduation. Objective: 1) To examine second-year professional master’s athletic training students’ perceptions of athletic training and identify the factors that influenced their perceptions. 2) To examine the career intentions of second-year professional master’s athletic training students and identify the factors that influenced their intentions. Design: Convergent mixed-methods. Setting: Online surveys and individual phone interviews. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 80 second-year professional master’s students who graduated in 2019 completed the online survey. Ten survey respondents elected to participate in the follow-up phone interviews. Data Collection and Analysis: We created an online survey and semi-structured interview guide to answer the research questions. We validated the instruments using a content validity index tool. The data from both methodological approaches were blended. As a result, we displayed our findings in one comprehensive results section. We established trustworthiness through triangulation, member checks, memos, and peer debriefing. Results: Five higher-order themes emerged from the data. 1) Perceptions of the athletic training profession: lack of appreciation and awareness for the profession from others, rewarding profession, and dynamic profession. 2) Perceptions of a career in athletic training: low pay, long hours and inconsistent schedules, and inability to have work-life balance. 3) Factors influencing perceptions: clinical experience, interactions with athletic trainers, interactions with the general public, and interactions with other healthcare professionals. 4) Career progression: short-term career plans, concerns over lack of experience, and long-term career plans. 5) Factors influencing career intentions: clinical experience and mentorship. Conclusions: Second-year professional master’s athletic training students developed positive and negative perceptions of the athletic profession and a career in the professional during their professional education experiences. Additionally, their professional education experiences allowed them to develop career paths and career goals after graduation. The factors identified were all key socializing agents to the profession and had a profound impact on how they developed their perceptions of athletic training and career paths. The mentorship they received from their clinical preceptors and faculty members were also influential to the development of their career goals and career intentions after graduation.
