EDITORIAL
ASEP
Certification Sites and Dates
Guidelines
for the Accreditation of Undergraduate Programs in Exercise Physiology
The
"first-ever" ASEPNewsletter
"October 1997 Revisited"
January
issue:
Journal of Exercise Physiologyonline
An
Exercise Physiologist's “Contemporary” Interpretations Of The “Ugly and
Creaking Edifices” Of the VO2 max Concept
Carbohydrate-Protein
Drink Improves Time to Exhaustion after Recovery from Endurance Exercise
Journal
of Exercise Physiologyonline
[The
October
issue is full of research articles.]
The
months for JEPonline
are now Feb, May, August, Nov.
The next issue is May 1.
There will be about 6-8 manuscripts for this issue.
Professionalization
of Exercise Physiologyonline
The
Exercise Physiology Time Bomb: A Wake Up Call for Exercise Physiology Professors
Matthew G. Wattles, MS
President of the Idaho Association
of Exercise Physiologists
Boise, ID 83709
Taking
Responsibility for Professionalism
Professional
Autonomy
Take
a closer look at Matt's writings in Idaho. Click here
to visit the Idaho Association of Exericse Physiologists.
Hip
and Pelvis Injuries in Runners
Exercise:
A Prescription to Delay the Effects of Aging
Physical
Activity and Cardiovascular Health
Refresher
Course for teaching Cardiovascular Physiology
ESPECIALLY
INTERESTING
Weightlessness
and the Human Body
Journals
with free full text papers available online
Editorial
The
Nature of Hope
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP,
EPC
Professor and Chair
Director, Exercise Physiology
Laboratories
Department of Exercise Physiology
College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN
Early this morning
I parked my car on the snow and ice, gathered papers and books, and walked
to my office. Often when I sit down I take a quick look at the email.
Just possibly, I imagine, someone has emailed me an article on professionalism.
This time was no different. Disappointed, I conjured up the idea
that someone is writing an article right now. It would be a matter
of a few more days.
It was all there, more papers
on my desk, books everywhere, ASEP applications and checks mixed with research
articles and the department budgets. As I looked at more stuff on
the floor, files on the top of books, still more papers on the computer
monitor, and the photographs, art work, and diplomas on the walls, I experienced
a moment when it all seemed too confusing and totally unmanagable.
I could have closed my eyes, taken a deep breath, and transported myself
elsewhere. Maybe, if I relaxed enough, I could stay in that dreamy
and organized place. How, after 34 years did I get myself in such
a mess.
I pushed back in the chair
as if to reflect, but knowing full well that I had but a few minutes before
my first class. In seconds it occurred to me that I might be failing
my students at the college. I have been so busy doing organization
and web stuff that a feeling of having overlooked some obvious opportunities
to be helpful bothered me. The feeling was inevitable and, to be
absolutely truthful, it wasn't the first time. But, how could a person
know just how much time it takes to do what has to be done? Even
when I was told that it was impossible, does anyone really understand the
forces and the struggles yet to be experienced? No, when the cause
is right, struggles and experiences take on a passion that transcend the
simplicity of knowing.
With a deep breath and my
back pressed fully in the chair, I turned to glance at the email list.
Again, no change. Imagine looking at the computer day after day intrigued
by possibility, yet disappointed by reality. With a hopeful expectation
for someone having the ability to see what others have failed to see, I
looked harder at the screen. Yes, as strange as it might sound, I
looked even harder for fear of failing to see a new listing. Surely,
somewhere on the freeways, parkways, and study halls of America, there
is another person interested in exercise physiology students and professionalism?
It has dawned on me that
my writings may simply be a twist of my mind only. Could I be caught
between hope and no reality, after creating a professional electronic journal
and after writing for several years about professionalism, to discover
(as my wife has said more than once) that I'm the only person reading the
articles? Is it possible that my wife is right and, if she is right,
should I stop writing? The question has crossed my mind for the obvious
reasons. Take the question, "What do you see when you look at PEPonline?"
Only 5% of the articles have been written by someone other than myself.
What do you see? To some extent, PEPonline
equals my thinking, my thoughts, and my efforts and, frankly, when I sat
out to create the journal, I honestly believed that dozens of other exercise
physiologists would contribute to it.
Talk about a mistake!
Not only are academic exercise physiologists not interested in thinking
or writing about professionalism, only a few exercise physiologists seem
to have the passion for professionalism. Frankly, I thought at least
the ASEP members would submit material to motivate others, including themselves
and to help with the professionalization of exercise physiology.
Hello, it hasn't happened. Urging members to get the feeling and
to gear their thinking towards professional issues hasn't helped either.
Some are locked in ivory towers, others work with corporate fitness and
wellness, still others are members of cross-education as students of other
departments, and inspite of their ability and experience do not submit
to the journal.
The crux of the problem appears
to be the growing gap between what we think we are and the reality of what
we are, and our willingness to understand the difference. However,
we can't close the gap unless we take an inventory of the kind of world
we've got and a vision of the kind of world we would like to have.
The kind of world we have is an impulse within us which urges us to do
research. While research is good, it isn't enough to convert a discipline
to a profession. This point should come as no surprise to anyone.
G.B. Shaw once said, "Some people see things as they are and ask why. Others
dream of things that never were and ask why not?" The art of asking
why is imperative to understanding what we think we are or what we think
we ought to be. We improve upon asking "why not" by coming to terms
with the kind of world we've got.
To which, I looked again
at the computer for an update on the email. No change. The email
list is exactly the same. Sometimes it seems that if more colleagues
would ask why can't exercise physiology be a profession, why can't we have
our own professional credentials, and why can't we have our own professional
organization, we would increase the probability of a successful transition
to professional status. It is clear to me that we need to get moving.
To quote Richard Borden, the President of the National Strength and Conditioning
Association, "The NSCA is poised to move forward on the issue of professionalism,
and with careful thought, your input, and planning it can be done."
While NSCA is about strength and conditioning, it also about improving
athletic performance and fitness. With NSCA moving toward professionalism,
(meaning: the identification of a body of knowledge, an established academic
curriculum, State or Federal statutes to protect a designated title, professional
membership criteria), exercise physiologists need to "stand up and get
ready" for individuals other than physical therapists and nurses who will
compete for the same jobs they have been academically prepared to do.
Movement towards professionalism
is critical to surviving the job market in the 21st Century. Everyone
and, seemingly, every orther organization understand this point. This is
"the" reason for the existence of ASEP, and I find myself guided by this
belief more and more as I read and re-read the PEPonlinearticles.
After a final strong breath
and at the very instant I reached for my lecture notes, I realized the
feeling I was experiencing is the substance of faith. None of us
can come full circle with the unknown until it has been tried. We
must try and try again, and continue trying no matter how long it takes.
As Marcus Bach put it, "It is up to the doer to take the first courageous
step and start the experiment." As I look back over the past three
years, there have been several doers who have guided important aspects
of ASEP. Take the matter of certification, accreditation, three annual
meetings, and the other very important administrative details. Each
and every contribution resulted from the feeling that it isn't possible
to feel so strongly about ASEP and not have it happen. This may be
the heart of it, which reminds me of the following quote:
"It is not uniformity
we need, but understanding, not tolerance, but insight, not points of view,
but points of connection, not appraisal, but emphathy, the ability to feel
the commonly unfelt, and when we begin to practice this virtue we instantly
widen our world." -- Marcus Bach
To my surprise a student met
me at the door of the lecture room to say that he had written an article
for PEPonline.
I took him literally. I always do. Leaning over to make sure
I heard him correctly, I asked what? He said, "I've written
an article, and I would like it to be reviewed for publication."
I stood there intently, trying to register what he had said. Again,
he said "Please, will you look at the article?" I said, yes.
Sure. Where is it? He said, "I'm just about finished
with it. I will have it in your hands in a couple weeks." A
couple of weeks, I thought. I have learned that "a few weeks" generally
means that it will not come to fruition. Others have said the same,
including a few from my email list, but it does give me hope.
Copyright
©1997-2000 American Society of Exercise Physiologists. All Rights
Reserved.
