A
Look to the Future
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
The only
thing we know about the future is that it will be different.
--
Peter Drucker
STUDENTS REPRESENT a significant driving force behind the economic survival of
colleges and universities throughout the United States. These academic entities employ an important
number of faculty and staff from the community.
As employees, they make a respectable income that is spent on products
and goods throughout the business sector.
Academic institutions also account for new jobs and opportunities that contribute
to the economy.
Future economic success depends on attracting
students to the institutions. One factor
found to predict business success has been the quality of the students’ education
and hands-on laboratory training. Much
of that training comes from existing academic departments with one or more
academic degrees. As an example, at St.
Scholastica, the Department of Exercise Physiology offers an academic degree in
exercise physiology and nothing else.
More traditional departments are
more likely to offer several degree programs, such as the University of
Minnesota Duluth. The department offers a
degree in athletic training, exercise science, physical education, health
education, and recreation/outdoor education).
Whether more than one degree program benefits the Department of Health,
Physical Education, and Recreation or the students remains an open question.
I did a
little calculation. I looked at the average cost in the mid-'70s of going to
college. It was less than $3,000 for a
typical public university, including books and everything. If you multiply that
times four, the cost of a degree is $12,000.
Whereas now, multiply the cost of a year at a public university --
$16,000 -- by six and, if tuition keeps rising at its current rate, it's about
$115,000. A college degree could cost
almost 10 times as much as it did 30 years ago.
-- Marc Silver
How to
Earn a Degree without Going Broke
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6376343
Today,
the cost of a college education isn’t cheap.
Many students spend decades paying back their tuition loans. The problem is that not all degree programs
set the stage for career opportunities with good paying salaries. Some, such as the exercise science degree,
are simply meaningless degree programs.
More often than not, graduates of these problems must return to school
to get additional academic course work to apply to another academic major in
hopes of landing a job after their second graduation.
It is reasonable to conclude that
the physical therapy major and the nursing major fulfill the career needs of
the students. Exercise physiology is a
similar degree, although there remains work to be done. Board certified exercise physiologists are
credible healthcare professionals. However,
it is anticipated that EPCs will need entrepreneurship courses to operate their
own healthcare businesses. The incentive
comes from several concerns.
One such concern is the idea of
being your own boss. After all, that is
the American dream of many students. A second
concern is that starting one's own business is an extremely important measure
of success. A third concern is the disillusionment with “Bob’s Gym” or even cardiac
rehabilitation. In many cases, neither job
pays a salary comparable to more established professions. Also, many exercise science jobs in the
public sector do not offer meaningful healthcare benefits.
There are other benefits to being
your own boss. Working for your self
helps to correct for the occasional hiring freeze, downsizing by the employer,
and other considerations that make it difficult to keep from being dismissed. There is the added benefit of personal flexibility
and a particular way of thinking and working that are not usually available
when employed by another person or business entity. Also, it is more than reasonable to conclude
that when women start their own business, they are on a more equal footing with
men.
One way to increase success in
starting a business is through demonstrating to others the exercise
physiologist’s credibility. To move in
this direction though, department chairs will be expected to create and offer entrepreneurial
and business courses along with exercise physiology courses in the very near
future. Academic exercise physiologists,
in particular, will need to work with the department chair to create the
courses.
This raises several questions: Do exercise
physiology students see themselves as future healthcare entrepreneurs? If not, are the academic exercise
physiologists expected to create the courses to get the students on the right
career track? Also, do women see
themselves as becoming healthcare entrepreneurs? If not, then, are they more likely to work
for another person or company?
There are more questions, but
consider for now a vision of the future.
Every vision, whether it is an organization or a business helps the
members and employees, respectively, to get excited about and to act on behalf
of the future. Courage is everything,
but not everyone is courageous. A good
vision helps with the passion to succeed, to make things better, and to believe
that things can be better.
The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams.
-- Eleanor
Roosevelt
Part of every vision is a new way to
think about change. That is why the ASEP
leaders put in place a new and credible infrastructure; one design to support
the professionalism of exercise physiology.
It will take a lot of work and imagination to rethink exercise
physiology, to get past the politics of sports medicine, and to view the
profession in healthcare terms and not in specialist or technician terms.
Exercise physiologists can begin by
restoring their sense of individuality they had decades ago when they split
with physical education. Imagine a way
of thinking that is supported entirely by an exercise physiology-specific
education. Imagine professors who are
driven by their passion to teach rather than one more research paper at the
expense of the students’ needs. Imagine
exercise physiologists as healthcare professionals to get the importance and
the power of understanding the mind-body interconnectedness. Imagine the expansion of exercise beyond the
trainer’s mentality to exercise as medicine to increase the consumer’s control
over life’s issues and challenges.
The
soul never thinks without a mental image
-Aristotle
All of these things and more
represent the mental image, hope, and expectation of the ASEP leadership. Remember the words of Oliver Wendell Homes,
“…the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what
direction we are moving: to reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes
with the wind and sometimes against it -- but we must sail, and not drift, nor
lie at anchor." It is just a matter
of time, but that is exactly what constitutes the future.
Time is on the side of exercise
physiologists to improve the education of students, to raise educational
standards, and to articulate the ASEP revolutionary ideas of healthcare. A key issue is to understand that change is
not easy or simplistic, and it cannot be underestimated. There are enormous difficulties involved in
bringing about systemic change in those who embrace sports medicine. However, it is the desire of the ASEP
leadership to do whatever is necessary to hasten the change process to avoid
further student hardship.
Hence, it is imperative that
exercise physiologists look unflinchingly and honestly at the realities of
failing to change and what it means for the profession of exercise
physiology. There are big differences
between exercise physiology and sports medicine (including exercise science) that
have become apparent since the 1997 founding of the American Society of
Exercise Physiologists (ASEP). These
differences must be resolved if students of exercise physiology are to thrive
and collaborate on the same level with other healthcare professionals.
What is needed is a new way of
thinking and feeling about the profession, if not an emotional rebirth to
separate from the inertia of yesterday’s thinking. With this in mind, the ASEP organization
represents the 21st century educational change that which is transformational. The leaders are committed, which will help
only those who develop and share new ideas, new images, and new possibilities. Look to the future.
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