Increased prevalence of mental health conditions has exposed gaps in the educational preparation of athletic training students. Identifying effective pedagogical strategies to increase knowledge and confidence in the recognition and referral of mental health conditions is imperative. A standardized curriculum, such as Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training, is promising, as is the use of standardized patient (SP) encounters and case-based learning (CBL); however, there is a lack of evidence to determine best practice for achieving these learning goals. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of MHFA training on students’ knowledge and confidence and compare the use of CBL and SP encounters following MHFA training. Further, we sought to explore students’ perceptions of the CBL and SP encounters.
