Advertisements[4.21.04]
Editorial: The Sixth
Annual ASEP Annual Meeting
The 6th Annual American Society of Exercise
Physiologists Annual Meeting and Conference took place in Indianapolis,
Indiana on April 1 - 3. Participants came from across the country as far
away as California, Idaho, Florida, Maryland and elsewhere. Everyone at
the meeting received valuable information related to recent research, clinical
exercise physiology, and new events in the development of many professional
issues related to exercise physiology. The meeting was a great opportunity
for an emerging profession which continues to build on the foundation laid
by ASEP over the past six years. It proved to be a busy three days that
provided ASEP great momentum.
EPC Exam
The events began with the Exercise Physiologist
Certification exam held on April 1. Nine Exercise Physiologists successfully
completed both parts of the exam, and are Board Certified Exercise Physiologists.
Congratulations to Yaron Brill, Carmen Garringer, Amanda Johnson, Amy Krebs,
Chris Melton, Annie Mossak-Johnson, Amy Sell, Nik Vilamaa, and Kim Vonderahe.
Great job!
Board of Directors Meeting
On the evening of April 1, the ASEP Board of Directors
(BOD) convened to discuss current issues and future plans for ASEP. Many
important discussions took place during this meeting, such as establishing
a new mission statement. While this may appear to be a minor achievement,
an effective mission statement will quickly educate people about ASEP and
remind old and new members of the purpose of ASEP.
The new mission statement is
as follows:
The American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP),
the professional organization representing and promoting the profession
of exercise physiology, is committed to the professional development of
exercise physiology, its advancement, and the credibility of exercise physiologists.
Also during the BOD meeting, the board selected officers
for the upcoming year. Matt Wattles (Idaho) will serve as President. Matt
Lehn (Indiana) will be the President-Elect for the current term. Tommy
Boone (Minnesota) and Lonnie Lowery (Ohio) will remain as Treasurer and
Secretary, respectively. Steve Jungbauer (Indiana) will assume the role
of Past-President following the conclusion of his Presidency. Additionally,
the Board decided to extend the term of the President to two years, therefore,
Matt Wattles will be the ASEP President for the 2004 – 2006 term.
In addition, the Board also discussed the current
status of several of the committees, as well as goals and activities for
many of these committees. Below is a list of the committees and the chairperson(s)
for each. Anyone interested in becoming involved in ASEP can do so by contacting
any of the following committee chairs.
Accreditation
Dr. Rob Robergs and Dr. Tommy Boone
Annual Meeting
Matt Lehn and Pat Ayres
Certification
Dr. Tommy Boone and Aliisa Criffeld
Licensure
Matt Wattles and Steve Jungbauer
Marketing and Sponsorship
Matt Lehn
Membership
Dr. Don Diboll
State Associations
Jason Young
6th Annual Meeting and Conference
The meeting proved to be informative and motivational
on many levels. Exercise Physiology topics including: Inflammatory Heart
Disease, Muscle Fatigue in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis, Exercise and
Cancer, the Future of Diabetes Treatment, Emerging Cardiovascular Risk
Factors, Heart Failure, Anatomy, Functional Training, and Nutritional Support
for Athletic Recovery and Overtraining.
Research presentations demonstrated some of the newest
research being done by exercise physiologist. Research topics included
Ergogenic Effect of Runner's Advantage Creatine Serum on Running Performance,
Reliability and Validity of Diagnostic Ultrasound in Estimating Body Density,
Using the Inversion Table to Improve Learning in the Undergraduate Exercise
Physiology Curriculum, Central and Peripheral Components of Oxygen Consumption
Improvement via Aerobic Training in Premenopausal Women, Magnetic Resonance
Techniques in Skeletal Muscle Research, Evaluations of Fitness Characteristics
of Collegiate Soccer Players Before and After a Pre-Season Strength and
Conditioning Program, The Validity of Cadence Based Sub-Maximal Fitness
Fields Test for Wheelchair Users, and Physiologic Response to Hot Water
Immersion.
Professional topics were at the forefront of many
issues discussed at the meeting. Presentations included an update on State
Associations, Certification, and Accreditation. Matt Wattles discussed
why EPs need licensure, the current state of the exercise physiology profession,
why EP licensure efforts have failed in the past, why ASEP will succeed
in licensing EPs, and what each EP can do to help. Steve Jungbauer reviewed
some historical perspectives and milestones on the direction, barriers,
successes and failures related to past, present, and future attempts to
build exercise physiology as a profession. Special emphasis was placed
on understanding the professional needs of exercise physiology, market
and economic trend analysis, and the future direction of ASEP as it continues
to gain substantial "working-class" support.
The roundtable discussions proved to be a valuable
tool to allow input and open discussion regarding topics of interest to
exercise physiologists. Roundtable discussions included licensure, the
growth of ASEP, and new trends in research. Each of the roundtables provided
an excellent opportunity to interact with other exercise physiologists
on important topics.
There were two highlights to the conference, the
keynote address by Dr. Victor Katch and the Lifetime Achievement Award
presented to Dr. David Costill. Dr. Victor Katch’s presentation of “Overfatness
and Children” was a refreshing, energetic presentation of a familiar topic.
Dr. Katch, who has done extensive research and is widely published in the
field of exercise physiology and weight control, took an in depth look
at the latest epidemic facing our nation. Dr. Katch’s presentation focused
on the growing number of those with obesity, diabetes and other chronic
diseases. Dr. Katch established a link between these diseases and the number
one cause, physical inactivity.
Participants at the conference were also able to
hear from one of the most influential figures in exercise physiology, Dr.
David Costill, who received the ASEP Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Costill
was introduced by one of his protégés, Dr. Rob Robergs. Dr.
Robergs presented a brief look at who Dr. Costill is, including his early
interest in swimming, and early influences in the field of exercise physiology.
Dr. Costill then reminisced about his early influence in athletics, school
and exercise physiology. He included a look at the first days of the Human
Performance Laboratory at Ball State University in a trailer, to its current
status as a state-of-the-art and world-renowned lab. Dr. Costill’s presentation
was an interesting and motivating look at the past, and he gave ASEP words
of encouragement for the future.
The meeting was a great success. Excellent speakers
and an outstanding meeting location provided the backdrop for a busy and
successful three days. Plans are already underway for the 7th ASEP Annual
Meeting and Conference in Minneapolis, MN. Start working on your abstract
and getting ready for the spring of 2005. See you in Minneapolis.
Sincerely,
Matt Lehn
President-Elect
ASEP
The Quagmire in
Exercise Physiology
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
“My
friend, we have been lead astray, said Jesse as he took Jennifer's
hand and lead her from the sports medicine meeting”. – William T. Boone
There are obvious tragic examples of students
who have devoted hard earned dollars for college courses to realize that
the academic degree is not linked to a recognized career niche, that earning
a non-accredited college degree brings on unwanted pressures and conflicts,
and that the department chairs and faculty are seldom willing to deal with
the problems. My friend, we have been lead astray! What we
were lead to believe has caused us to pay the maximum price for not planning
for our future. And, we continue to pay a large price for believing
in sports medicine. Too many of us think alike, as fueled by the
solutions to sports medicine’s need for growth and power and, therefore,
there are very few of us who are thinking. We are victims of the
pressure to conform to the rituals of the academic exercise physiologists.
“If fifty
million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.”
-- B. Russell
As a result, exercise physiologists are working
twice as hard as other dedicated professionals to prove themselves in healthcare.
They know there are still huge voids to fill, claims from fraudulent fitness
supplement practitioners to dispel, and equality of career and professional
opportunity to be established. They understand that, at times, it
is natural to catch yourself suspecting that the challenges are just too
big to get under things control? Growing impatient is a hard thing
to deal with. It causes anxiety and frustration and all kinds of
uncomfortable feelings. It is easy to stay the same, but hard to
change. The equalization of career opportunity for exercise physiologists
is not found in staying unchanged or in doing business as usual.
However, my experience is that when we find our roots, we get down to work.
Ours is the right to think about what we do as members of a profession.
The “right” to think independently as evoling
professionals is a strategy for solving our biggest political problems?
And, in particular, when members of sports medicine display their strategy
(and big arms), it is only more important that we get serious and down
to business. The illusion of an organization doing something good
for exercise physiology is sports medicine’s oldest con. Barely a
decade goes by without a new plan unveiled to keep non-academic exercise
physiologists hoping for something better. My only comment is: "Get
serious". The reality of sports medicine doing something serious
on behalf of students all across the United States is zero! Deception
exists at many levels. Only the most engaged can see through the
shenanigans. The students, unfortunately, end up thinking about the
“what if” possibilities. Is sports medicine actually going to solve
their problems? How about licensure? Is sports medicine going
to get licensure for exercise physiologists in the clinical settings?
This illusion of action coupled with the academic exercise physiologists
acting “as if” they are serious about helping students cut too close to
the bone. Look around you: Do you see a lot of non-academic
exercise physiologists who are laughing and happy?
There are only a few honest academicians
willing to debate the difficult issues and concerns that face exercise
physiology. Most of the hardcore researchers have turned their heads
from ASEP. The students' problems are not their concern. It
is all rather disappointing. And, it is the most vivid illustration
of groupthink I can come up with. When personal ambitions are more
important than doing one’s job, when exercise physiology is left unattended
and/or unregulated by the administration and/or a professional organization,
and when the academic conditions of today’s failure to address yesterday’s
problems can’t get anything but worse (i.e., if left unattended), why wouldn't
somebody try to do something to correct the quagmire. The ASEP leadership
is certainly giving its best shot to ensure a future for exercise physiologists.
For certain, the new President of ASEP, Mr. Matthew Wattles, is not going
to allow those who don't get it to keep their strong hold on the new exercise
physiology. His strength of character and conviction will guide us
in the right direction. He understands that organizational growth
is not about power but about doing the right thing for the right reasons.
“Power
tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” -- Lord Acton
Interestingly, what is so stunning about the
sports medicine officials is their willingness to offer at a time of critical
importance a proposal (e.g., fitness professionals) that further embarrasses
the years of fantasy and trashed academics. The rising roll call
of today’s unemployed exercise physiologists (if we can be so forgiving
to call them by that title) is both a reckless and unflattering outcome
of cheap mechanics by sports medicine. Today’s policy of yet another
certification on top of the hundreds of meaningless certifications is justification
in itself to stand up and fix the problem by saying to everyone:
“Too hell with their political clout.” This is exactly what my wife
said as I was explaining the bizarre job conditions my students find themselves.
Fifty years of failed work on behalf of undergraduate students and programs
of study is enough. My wife said: "Maybe the students should
speak to a good lawyer. I think they stand a good chance of success
in court. Sports medicine and the academic exercise physiologists
who continue to benefit from students who have been lead astray should
be held accountable."
Fortunately, now, there is an alternative
to the sports medicine failures. The founding of the American
Society of Exercise Physiologists in 1997 is that alternative.
Otherwise, it would be hard to imagine a more demoralizing condition if
students were still 100% under the sports medicine spell. By all
accounts ASEP is bringing sincerity and passion to the professional development
of exercise physiology. Some students say, “It’s a fabulous alternative.
It is what we needed from the beginning.” Others say, “ It didn’t
take long to figure out which organization is for exercise physiologists.”
Still others believe that ASEP is all too obvious “the” professional organization
of exercise physiologists. Every exercise physiologist ought to understand
the shameful burden students must bear when leaders fail to do the right
thing.
Perhaps the most important result of having
attending college is to think as an educated individual. This is
the first “Law of Education”. When it is violated, it is a moral
absurdity since any education is about paying college tuition for packaged
programs of study. It makes little sense to link payment for a product
to a notoriously difficult application. This is why standards and
accountability must reform what is an obviously outdated outcome of failed
physical education and kinesiology programs throughout the nation’s colleges
and universities. To judge what I’ve said as true is a simple matter
of talking to hundreds of graduates in the public sector. Don’t take
my word for it. Take the word of Robert Robergs, Steve Jungbauer,
or Matthew Wattles. They are men with new ideas and hope for better
academic programs.
“A man
with a new idea is a Crank, until the idea succeeds.” -- Mark Twain
Instead, they are critical thinkers out in
front of the majority. They are leaders symbolic of today’s “change
agents” in business that exist to correct dysfunctional debates, failures,
and the paralysis of yesterday’s thinking. Change agents are unwilling
to go backwards. They focus on growth and, where necessary, shift
from understandably negative thinking to positive thinking and, in particular,
the chance to talk about the ASEP agenda and uniting exercise physiologists.
Every new, evoling profession needs somebody who’s willing to support it.
All of this is plain enough; what is especially important to the ASEP leadership
is the robust energies that new members bring to exercise physiology.
Simple as it sounds, many organizations would say this is exactly what
is important to them.
“If you
don’t know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else.” – L. Peter
The clock is ticking. To date, of course,
the ASEP results are impressive. In one sense, to be sure, more can
(and will) be done on behalf of the professional development of exercise
physiology. This doesn’t mean that ASEP per se needs reform
or serious questioning. The cumulative impact of just six years of
work leaves little room for “whining”. A huge amount of work has
been accomplished in such a short period of time, yet a new moment is upon
us. Though few leaders realize it, the development of most organizations
requires a little luck to see it through. ASEP really is not that
different since it is guided by human beings with similar issues and concerns
that other human beings experience and live everyday. The ASEP’s
exercise physiologists’ temperature, measured pulses, and blood pressure
are just like other leaders of different organizations. Life itself
is part luck and, yet there is no doubt that hard work and learning how
to stay the course are critical to improvement in all areas of of the organization.
The clock is ticking is a good thing.
Time will prove to everyone that the ASEP vision is right on course.
Sir William Osler said it best, “Everywhere the old order changeth, and
happy those who can change with it.” Exercise physiologists of the
past decades defined the technological and clinical aspects of exercise
physiology. The exercise physiologists of the 21st century is noted
for being knowledgeable, competent, and prepared to practice the four foundational
pillars of exercise physiology (i.e., health, fitness, rehabilitation,
and athletics). It is no longer the vision of non-doctorate exercise
physiologists working just in cardiac rehabilitation. It includes
now the vision of a more complete and comprehensive view of advanced thinking
and practice that benefits all members of the evolving profession and society.
This is a powerful difference between what ASEP believes is important to
all exercise physiologists and what sports medicine believes. As
educated professionals who are board certified versus the fitness professionals
who may not be a college graduate, the ASEP model is founded on accountability
and credibility.
In fact, the ASEP model is defined by the
belief that much of exercise physiology will be delivered by non-doctorate
exercise physiologists who will provide early functional analysis to promote
health and fitness. As this thinking increases, the role of exercise
physiologists in managing new career opportunities will increase significantly
across the entire population of individuals with and without documented
disease and/or dysfunctions. Exercise physiology-healthcare programs
of practice and attention to diverse members of the population (e.g., pediatrics,
diabetics, cardiovascular problems, and geriatric issues) will be much
more understood during the next decade. This will provide demonstrated
quality of care by exercise physiologists. Other healthcare practitioners
will come to an important understanding of our practice and delivery of
educational measures as the hallmark of exercise physiology research.
In other words, the current quagmire in
the regulation of exercise physiology is largely due to the illusion of
exercise physiology subservient to sports medicine. Establishing
clarity about the role of sports medicine in its own development and the
ASEP focused definitions of what is exercise physiology and who is an exercise
physiologist will greatly assist in understanding that both are regulated
by entirely different reasons and for different purposes. Currently,
there is real personal, professional, and economical harm being experienced
by members of both organizations because they cannot come to terms with
the “rights” of each organization. From the ASEP perspective, it
is inappropriate for sports medicine to deny ASEP its right to exist as
[the]
professional organization of exercise physiologists. It is imperative
that in the future fewer exercise physiologists at all levels must feel
less captured by past thinking, and that they will be delivered from feelings
of being disenfranchised because they feel it is important to belong to
ASEP.
.
This synthesis, when properly understood
and marketed, can move exercise physiologists past yesterday’s tyranny
of debates to an understanding of the fundamental rights of exercise physiologists
to their own profession. This thinking fundamentally will alter the
entire path of exercise physiology for decades to come despite the political
squabbling and hard choices by some disappointed sports medicine personalities
and a certain number of academic exercise physiologists. The question
now is how exercise physiologists can learn to stop the make-believe existence
under a different forum and get with the critical virtues of the ASEP organization
that has in place the infrastructure for professional development.
While it is possible to imagine several different approaches (or answers)
to the question. The bottom line is rather simple: “By faith
we learn to take the right step.” All of us within ASEP look forward
to your decision to take that step!
“We bcome
what we think, what we talk about, and what we do. If we think our
work is for the right reason, if we think that our actions will bring forth
positive results, and if we start living as professionals, we will become
our vision.” – William T. Boone
EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST
1st Shift
The Department of University Cardiologists at Rush University Medical
Center,
seeks an Exercise Physiologist to perform and interpret stress testing
under physician supervision using predefined stress protocols. Exercise
physiologist will ensure the safety of each patient receiving stress testing
by closely monitoring each test.
Requires a BS or MS in Exercise Physiology, Cardiac Stress Test experience
and current applicable State Professional License. ECG experience required.
We offer excellent compensation, top benefits and full tuition reimbursement
for you or a family member at Rush University. To be considered, please
send
curriculum vitae to:
Tracey Colantonio
Rush University
Medical Center
729 S. Paulina
Chicago, IL 60612
Fax: 312-942-8271
Email: tracey_colantonio@rush.edu
EOE M/F/D/V
Abington Memorial Hospital
Abington, PA
Job Title: Exercise Physiologist - Part-time
Job Type: (Full-Time, Part-Time, Internship, or Contract):
Part-time
Job Location: (City and State) Abington, PA
Job Description: (Duties and Responsibilities) Part-time position
available in Rehab Medicine. Individual will prepare patients and equipment
for treatment and assist therapists in administering treatment to patients
of varying ages ranging from infancy through late adulthood.
Job Qualifications: (Experience and education required) Bachelor's
degree in Exercise Science or related field required. Must have flexible
schedule to work morning or afternoon shifts. Experience preferred, along
with ACLS and ACSM.
Response Information: Please write this in paragraph form. Include
any or all of the following information: Company Name, Address, Contact
Name, Phone, Fax, E-Mail, and Beeper. Abington Memorial Hospital is a 508-bed
community teaching hospital and comprehensive regional health center located
in the Philadelphia suburbs. AMH offers a highly competitive salary and
benefits package. On-site child care facility now open!
Apply online at www.amh.org/
E-mail: aobrien@amh.org
or send resume to:
ATO, Personnel Department
Abington Memorial Hospital
1200 Old York Road
Abington, PA 19001
Fax: 215-481-4289
Equal Opportunity Employer
