Editorial Measuring Exercise  Physiologists with a 79-Year-Old Yardstick! Mark E. Kaelin, MS,CSCS Program Coordinator Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program Southern Indiana Rehab Hospital New Albany, IN   I read Brown’s (1) article with great interest in the June edition of PEPonline. He presented his views in a straight forward matter, and he provided some good points to consider as ASEP members move toward establishing the Exercise Physiology profession. However, a recurrent and disturbing theme prevailed throughout the article. That is, exercise physiologists (EPs) are not professionals.  Instead, from Brown's viewpoint, they are paraprofessionals. Furthermore, it appears that Brown was suggesting that any move to establish Exercise Physiology as a profession would directly impede and/or infringe upon Physical Therapy. To support the argument, he compared the current Physical Thearpy education curriculum with an amalgamation of Exercise Physiology - Exercise Science Masters programs and concluded that Exercise Physiologistss are not sufficiently educated to act as independent clinicians.  Unfortunately, a very important historical fact was not mentioned in the article.  I think it is important to analyze the development of the two professions in a chronological perspective. The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has been in existence since 1921, and has been accrediting programs since 1928 (2). By contrast, the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP) has been in existence since 1997. In three years, however, the ASEP organization and its members have made important strides in developing the profession of exercise physiology.  ASEP has also helped other healthcare practitioners and the public sector to better understand what exercise physiologists do. Currently, the ASEP Accreditation Committee, chaired by Dale Wagner of Vanguard University is finalizing academic curriculum guidelines and will soon travel to campuses across the nation to audit and to recognize curriculums that meet ASEP academic standards. Hence, the main point is that APTA has had 79 years to develop the Physical Therapy organization. Would their respected predecessors meet the same requirements as their current graduates?  No, it has taken three quarters of a century to mold the Physical Therapy profession into its current form.  Exercise physiologists deserve the same opportunity.  Regarding exercise physiologists as clinicians, Brown's stated: “How is the diagnostic ability imparted to exercise physiologists/science students in academic programs and are these medical, nursing, or movement dysfunction diagnoses? In either case exercise physiologists would be of violation of state licensure laws, because these diagnoses are under the purview of licensed physician, nurse, and physical therapist, respectively.” From this I assume that physical therapists are the only individuals who can measure and apply the theories of cardiovascular endurance and strength training. If this is exactly what Brown means to say, the view is very narrow indeed.  It is clear that exercise physiologists participate in the diagnosis and/or grade dysfunction through the application of cardiovascular endurance testing in hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and health centers across the nation. Furthermore, many exercise physiologists (certainly not all of them) are educated to assess dynamic strength and grade it within normal limits above or below average based on subject-comparative normative data. From this, exercise physiologists are frequently required to write a plan of treatment and to work on improving cardiovascular endurance, dynamic strength, and more importantly the subject's quality of life.  In conclusion, ASEP has made huge strides in the last three years.  It will continue to develop and enhance the exercise physiologists' role as an allied health practitioner and a provider of health related services. However, change takes time and, since other professional groups have had 75 to 100 years or more of time to grow professionally, it only seems right that exercise physiologists are given the same respect.  References 1. Brown, S.P. (2000). The Professionalization of Exercise Physiology: A Critical Essay.  [Online] Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline Available:www.css.edu/users/tboone2/asep/ProfessionalismCriticalEssay.html.  2. American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) (2000). A Historical Perspective. [Online] Available:www.apta.org/About/apta_history/history Copyright ©1997-2000 American Society of Exercise Physiologists. All Rights Reserved. Return to PEPonlineJuly 2000 Issue