The National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Executive Committee for Education has emphasized the need for proper recognition and management of orthopaedic and general medical conditions through their support of numerous learning objectives and the clinical integrated proficiencies. These learning objectives and integrated clinical proficiencies are designed to prepare athletic training students to become competent professionals. In fact, the educational competencies and integrated proficiencies related to orthopaedic clinical assessment and diagnosis are just one of the vital links in becoming either a successful or an unsuccessful athletic trainer. However, this success is not accomplished overnight; rather, it is accomplished gradually over time, as students progress through the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Students should be challenged to comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize, and then evaluate (Bloom's taxonomy) properly to competently diagnose an injury or illness and make rational, clinically appropriate medical decisions in the patient's best interests. These decisions include: (1) appropriate medical referrals, (2) return-to-play decisions, and (3) knowing when and how to initiate a rehabilitation or reconditioning plan. Unfortunately, in many circumstances the educational competencies taught and evaluated in the classroom are done as fragmented pieces rather than as a whole process. This approach places students at a disadvantage because they lack the ability to use a systematic approach (ie, to see the bigger picture) to acquire and interpret information and make clinical connections between classroom theory and clinical practice. Therefore, the purpose of this column is to examine the use of case-based learning (CBL) as a pedagogical tool to assist students in the learning process by allowing them to step into the role of a certified athletic trainer to acquire and interpret information and make appropriate clinical decisions using critical decision making and problem solving, using classroom theory (ie, knowledge and comprehension) and clinical reality (clinical integrated proficiencies) in order to become competent entry-level athletic trainers.