Being Healthcare Professionals
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811

We are healthcare professionals trapped in a fitness world, and the worst part is, we did it to ourselves. We are experts in not only fitness, but are educated in mind-body care as well.  We have, that is, as exercise physiologists, an excellent education in psychophysiology.  Yet, we have constructed a world of weights, gyms, and aerobic exercise, with or without music. 

There seems to be a disconnect with our technology and our skill and experience in defining the role of a treatment variable.  Cardiovascular physiology is part of how we think, and how we look at the world of events about us.  Yet, again, we think in terms of our students working at Bob’s gym.  No wonder we have such difficulties.

Here we are, healthcare professionals, bumping into colleagues who know little of what we know, forgetful of our years of academic experience in anatomy, biomechanics, and nutrition.  When viewed this way, we seem rather pitiful.  No wonder our students think maybe an inch beyond their nose.  They are very much an image of us.

Oh yes, we can recite how many publications we have and the meetings we have attended.  We can even talk about those we spoke to.  Names, dates, and facts of that sort are easy compared to thinking about exercise physiologists as “the” experts in the application of exercise as medicine.  It’s rather bizarre.

Answer:  Perhaps a few hundred.  There is only one accredited undergraduate exercise physiology program (by title) in the United States.  Okay, were you fooled by what appealed easy to answer?  You probably were because people often forget the obvious.  Even bad language can become accepted (or, at the very least, overlooked) if people don’t stop to think about it. 

Becoming insensitive to the problems that associate with the transition of physical education to exercise science is much like the bad language issue.  To change, to think differently, we have to stop and take a serious look at where we are.  This can be done by most of us.  Only the rigid and inflexible minds are locked into keeping things as they have been.

Needless to say by now, the path of professionalism is full of uncertainty and decisions. Not every curve in the road is free of problems. There will be blind turns, often in the form of indifference [1] among those who cannot commit to the ASEP vision [2]. Commitment to healthcare tends to raise fears associated with the change process.

To those who cross the threshold of a new view of exercise physiology, there is no turning back. They become inspired, and it is inspiring to be in the company of such people. Their transformation is humbling, knowing that negative thinking can be reshaped and applied without anger or greed. They learn to cultivate a disposition of professionalism and without even thinking about it, they move in a way that is instinctively healthy for exercise physiology and, ultimately, the United States.

Now is the time to start. Too much time has already been lost. Our sense of identity and our sense of reality must transition from yesterday's thinking [3] to the ASEP 21st century of exercise physiology. It is only natural and fitting, therefore, that exercise physiologists focus on doing those things that will maximize their efforts as healthcare professionals.

Clearly, every decision and every action is felt to have consequences with the shift from fitness towards its own sustainable future in healthcare of which exercise physiologists are an integral part. This shift is much more than a switch from one set of values, thoughts, and concepts to another. Anyone who is not supporting ASEP has not understood the paradigm shift. It is not an overstatement to frame the ASEP initiatives as an innovation that has completely reconfigured the structure of exercise physiology.

Maxwell [4] said that, "Learning begins with listening. But it doesn't end there." Change always requires learning. Why not become genuinely interested in learning about the ASEP organization? Why not believe the best in the ASEP leaders? All students have a right to the best education possible. Think about what exercise physiologists can do to make a difference. Change is work. It is also a vision of something better and it requires a willingness to risk something to gain something. In conclusion, remember what Leo Buscaglia said:

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