To Be a Professional
SHANE PAULSON, MA
Exercise Physiologist
and Professional Member
- ASEP
I am an exercise physiologist
and I work for the United States Department of Defense. I serve the
U.S. Air Force on a base in the northeastern United States. I oversee
and advise over 2000 active duty soldiers in regard to their physical conditioning
requirements. I am available to dependants, retirees, and other civilians
employed by the government for a myriad of services that range from educational
classes to fitness evaluations and exercise prescriptions.
There are many changes happening
in our field. One significant change is ASEP. I believe we
all have a good sense of the difficulties that students and recent graduates
are facing (apparent in the ASEP Public Forum postings). Exercise
physiologists are currently experiencing a sort of revolution in the way
we are perceived and received. It might be argued that we are poorly
received due to a general lack of recognition in the public. In other
words, people don’t know what we do. When people don’t know about
something, they generally don’t just accept it or make it part of their
life.
As we undergo the changes
that allow others to recognize us, their perception of us will become more
accurate. As the accuracy of that perception grows, so then do the
expectations that will be placed on exercise physiologists. It seems
that we almost put the cart before the horse in respect to expectations.
Students and graduates alike expect to find jobs with reasonable pay and
professional recognition. However, not until the founding of ASEP did an
individual organization step forward to address the expectations that exercise
physiologists must live up to.
Professionalism is a mindset.
If you believe that you can do something and you do it well, you are an
expert. If others believe you to be an expert, you are probably considered
a professional. Academia and the public must also agree that everyone
in the professional classification deserves to share the same respect (albeit
on different levels according to degree). One way to be know that
we deserve the respect we get as professionals is to have academic standards
and professional criteria for calling ourselves exercise physiologists.
ASEP’s established Code of Ethics and a standardized curriculum plan are
a very good start.
It is not my intent to get
into the common disagreement of ‘whom’ is an exercise physiologist.
Until employers only hire certified EPs from accredited programs, there
will be people with other credentials in the exercise physiology career
field. It is clear that ASEP is oriented to the goal of standardizing exercise
physiology in the United States as well as the rest of the world.
To current EP students, I
remember the fear of limited job prospects. I remember purposely
forgetting about my student loan balance for the sake of my sanity.
I still wonder at the expense of it all and how long it will take to pay
off. I take solace in the fact that others have invested more for
much less.
My advice is this:
If your curriculum does not
meet the requirements set forth by ASEP, strive to get it changed.
Become a member of ASEP.
Take an active role in changing
your future and the futures of those who will follow.
Encourage others to become members.
By joining this cohesive network
of professionals, you will also come into contact with more career opportunities.
Attend the annual meetings and
become certified.
Use the ASEP Public Forum to
ask questions and respond to your colleagues.
Submit articles to be published
in the ASEP journals.
All of this will help to cement
your standing as a professional exercise physiologist.
Although I am not the official
word, I believe opportunities for continuing education that lead to eligibility
for certification will be available. This would facilitate the transition
to program accreditation by allowing everyone access to the profession
while still upholding the qualification criteria.
Obviously, membership will
have its privileges. Don’t let the profession get too far ahead of
you! There will inevitably be some that refuse to see the utility
in this, and unfortunately, they will be left behind. Get into the
mindset of a professional, become an expert, and become a member of
ASEP.