|
|
Editor-in-Chief
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, MA, FASEP, EPC
|
|
|
The
Entrepreneurship of Exercise Physiology
Tommy Boone
Professor and Chair
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
“The best way to guarantee your
future is to create it yourself.” – Stephen G. Haines [1]
INCREASINGLY,
exercise physiologists have grown tired of the failed opportunities of promised
jobs in the public. They are now thinking about having their own businesses.
The challenge is coming to terms with what is entrepreneurship? The
exercise physiology curriculum is not usually a place to study small-business
management and entrepreneurship. Perhaps, it should be. Who would
teach the courses? Without question, exercise physiologists will (and
should) teach the mechanics of small business and how to start entrepreneurial
health, fitness, rehabilitation, and human performance businesses.
Hence, in years to come, with the gentle push of the ASEP organization, students
will graduate with knowledge about market economics and new market niche
opportunities. They will graduate with an understanding of entrepreneurship,
which is defined as the process of initiating a business venture, organizing
necessary resources, and assuming the associated risks and rewards [2].
As
entrepreneur exercise physiologists recognize that their specialized body
of knowledge is the equivalent of a business product or a healthcare service,
they will get involved in the business of applied exercise physiology.
There will be financial and legal risks, but there will be profits too.
There are very real rewards of entrepreneurship. Working on your own,
being in control of making decisions, and making a living as a “solo professional”
are all valued outcomes. Our students need information about downsizing,
decentralizing, and sending out work to other firms. This information
is not new. Today’s economy is ready for new, exciting, and creative
ideas. This is an excellent time for entrepreneurship in exercise physiology
and, therefore, for new career opportunities. New businesses with increased
focus on the exercise physiology body of knowledge should speed important
changes in our academic courses. Unlike the past where computer technology
did not exist for the average person, we now have increased opportunity to
integrate new technology in the overall health and physical assessments.
College
professors ought to get in step with the anticipated entrepreneurial explosion
in the next 10 to 15 years. The net number of new businesses created
by exercise physiologists will no doubt increase dramatically, even should
our academic researchers disagree. Among the most notable products
for which exercise physiologists will be recognized as credible healthcare
professionals is our “physiological niche”. Virtually every application
to either health or non-health issues, recreational or athletic goals, or
disease or non-disease conditions will represent a new product or service.
How the service is judged will depend on our credibility, created and sustained
by the ASEP certification and accreditation efforts. That is the responsibility
of the academic faculty, and it may well be more of a growing experience
for the collective body more so than their students.
Like
most successful ventures, they begin in the minds of men and women who believe
they can make things happen. Their imagination creates mental pictures
with details that define the desired vision and outcome. Being an entrepreneur
is no different. It begins with a vision [3], which is likely to be
a problem for exercise physiology students. No where in the curriculum
are they taught visionary thinking or that a good idea can start with one
person [4]. No wonder they don’t have any idea about their own personal
strengths or what they can do after college. This is a perfect example
of a failed system. To ASEP members, it is now abundantly clear that
this problem must be corrected. The tailoring of the details of key
stakeholder involvement has unfolded in the development of the ASEP Board
of Accreditation. In other words, the set of rules and regulations
governing undergraduate curriculum has changed. This ASEP paradigm
shift has fundamentally changed exercise physiology.
“Measure an organization by its
boldness and imagination.” – William T. Boone, Jr.
The
business of academic exercise physiology is different from the business of
exercise science. The mission of exercise physiology is to educate exercise
physiologists as critical thinkers with a strong applied physiology base
like other established healthcare professions (e.g., physical therapy and
nursing). The mission of exercise science is to provide a general science
education (such as health science) for students who don’t know what particular
professional field of work they want to do and, thus they are generally unprepared
to find employment after graduation. It is clear that the vision for
exercise physiology is pivotal to the design of entrepreneurial thinking.
Nothing is more obvious than the work related directions stated in the ASEP
Standards of Professional Practice [5].
At
first, the Standards of Professional Practice may appear as everything exercise
physiologists are already doing. With a much closer examination, it
can be determined that this isn’t the case at all. The document defines
the exercise physiologists’ practice beyond any document previously written.
In its development, special attention was given to the primary objective
of entrepreneurship. The collection of ideas rests on the assumption
that exercise physiologists “practice” exercise physiology. The concept
of a practice is new; it allows for capitalizing on market leadership positions
to sell exercise physiology to the public and to service a broad range of
public concerns. The trick is to expand the powers of imagination,
to think bigger, and to turn impossible thinking into possible thinking.
It takes a lot of courage, but with a plan our dreams are within our reach.
Exercise
physiology students should be encouraged to think in a business manner.
Professors should pursue coursework that will help their students think creatively,
run with an idea, develop a business plan, find financing, and blend exercise
physiology content and laboratory skills with a market niche. Special
attention should be placed on “how to borrow money” and “how to repay at
a later date”. How much money is needed, debt financing, starting a
business from scratch, buying into an ongoing business, finding a good accountant
and attorney, planning for different stages of growth, marketing, and promotion
are all topics of educational importance to our students. Our burden
as professors is to rethink our education and adapt to change. It is
not just right but a requirement of educators everywhere to recognize that
today is different from yesterday, the students share an immense challenge
in claiming their fair share of the healthcare market, and that we, collectively,
must become competitive in the world economy.
“We create our own destiny by the
way we do things. We have to take advantage of opportunities and be
responsible for our choices.” – Benjamin Carson
We can
make a difference. It is as straightforward a process as one could
possibly imagine, and it is simple as believing in ourselves. When
we come to fully understand the power within us [6], we can then know that
we are responsible for creating our own future. Entrepreneurship of
exercise physiology is critical to our success [7]. Our power lies
within us to become our dreams. By believing and living these affirmations,
we can change our thinking about exercise physiology that has been deadlocked
for decades. It is also a significant part of our ability to think
critically. Together, we should promote the educational reform of our
undergraduate and graduate programs if we are to get to the root of our problems
and develop reasonable solutions.
In
closing, the mind-set of entrepreneurial possibilities is critical to the
continued quest for change within exercise physiology and the ASEP organization.
It is based on an entirely different way to think about exercise physiology.
The “do-nothing” approach has resulted in doubt in our students and many
faculty members. It has set the stage for “I can’t” instead of “I can”
and problems without solutions. The shift towards entrepreneurial thinking
changes the way exercise physiologists go about solving their problems.
I believe this, and I think our students need to believe it too. They
need an attitude of hopefulness, not an attitude of hopelessness. College
professors should make changes in their students’ curriculum to give them
direction. After all, the quality of our students is determined by
the quality of professors’ thinking, self-reflection, and open-mindedness.
Their integrity and perseverance are important to a critical thinking [8]
and intellectual environment.
“Nothing happens unless first a
dream.” -- Carl Sandberg
References
1. Haines, S.G. (2000). The Systems Thinking Approach to Strategic Planning
and Management. New York, NY: St. Lucie Press.
2. Kuratko, D.F. & Hodgetts, R.M. (1989). Entrepreneurship: A Contemporary
Approach. Chicago, IL: The Dryden Press.
3. Daft, R.L. & Marcic, D. (1998). Understand Management. 2nd edition.
New York, NY: The Dryden Press.
4. Nadler G. & Nibino, S. (1994). Breakthrough Thinking. 2nd edition.
Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing.
5. American Society of Exercise Physiologists. (2003). ASEP Board of Certification
Standards of Professional Practice. [Online]. http://www.css.edu/ASEP/StandardsofProfessionalPractice.html
6. Boone, T. (2002). The Power Within: The Integration of Faith and Purposeful
Self-Care in the 21st Century. 1st Books. http://www.thepowerwithin.org/
7. Boone, T. (2000). The Exercise Physiologist as an Entrepreneur. Professionalization
of Exercise Physiology – Online. Vol 3 No 1 January 2000. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/jan2.html
8. Boone, T. (2001). Where is the Skeptic Exercise Physiologist? Professionalization
of Exercise Physiology – Online. Vol 4 No 5 May 2001. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/SkepticExercisePhysiologists.html
|
|
