ASEPNewsletterOctober2004.html

ARTICLES

DEPARTMENTS

October BOD Editorial
The "New Cardiac Rehab."
Aliisa Criffield, MA, EPC, ATC/L

JEPonline
A Critical Analysis Of The ACSM Position Stand on Resistance Training: Insufficient Evidence to Support Recommended Training Protocols
Michael R. Mcguigan, Jeffrey M. Mcbrideenkata

PEPonline
The Power to Choose
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, MA, FASEP, EPC

Contact Information
New web page (click) and new email address: contact@asep.org

Clinical EPs: Will You Lose Your Position?
ASEP Joins Coalition to Protect your Job!
The Editors

Seventh Annual Meeting Abstract Submissions
Meeting Date: April 8-9, 2005
The ASEP Editors

Ask the Professor
Have Your Question Appear Online!
with Dr. Don Diboll

An area of growing interest in wellness is cancer recovery and survival. It has been coined the new cardiac rehab. I believe this is an area we, as exercise physiologists, need to market our abilities.

Just as the traditional cardiac rehab has tremendous benefits regarding rehabilitation of the heart and body, likewise, it is the same for cancer patients undergoing and recovering from treatment. Exercise has been shown to benefit cancer patients by reducing fatigue, improving immune function, and facilitating a regaining of flexibility. There also seems to be some kind of healing effect exhibited by cancer patients who exercise in a group compared to those who go about it alone.

Such cancer rehabilitation programs are beginning to become a more common addition to health care. Most of these programs are set up around exercise as the main modality, along with other added educational components. What a perfect opportunity for exercise physiologists to think outside of the box and put their knowledge of exercise and the body to use! Unfortunately, many schools do not teach about exercising cancer patients as part of their curriculum and I hope that this will change in the near future. Such an expansion of existing curricula will better meet the needs of future exercise physiologists as the demand for such services increases. We, as Exercise Physiologists, are pigeonholing ourselves if we just stick to cardiac rehab as our main focus.

Ask the Professor is an opportunity for individuals to submit questions related to the realm of exercise physiology and have them answered by experts in our profession. Each issue of the newsletter will feature a question previously submitted along with a response. Question topics can range from exercise physiology related theory and research to clinical application and professional issues. Please do not ask any questions that can be interpreted as requesting medical advice or diagnosis. Due to professional responsibility within our scope of practice, ASEP will not respond to such inquiries. Questions can be submitted (one question per individual, please) via email to asktheprof@asep.org. Please provide your name. If you are a professional practicing exercise physiology, please provide your name and city/state in which you practice. If you are a student in an exercise physiology related major, please provide your major, academic classification (e.g., junior, graduate student), academic department, and institution.

ASEP recently joined the Coalition to Preserve Patient Access to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Services in an effort to protect clinical exercise physiologists. A letter was sent September 24, 2004 to legislators by a dozen organizations regarding the following (as quoted from the letter itself):

"The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published in the August 5, 2004 Federal Register, pages 47550-47551, a proposal that would limit reimbursement of physicians for Therapy-Incident To to a narrow group of providers: physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. Currently CMS regulations allow the physician the freedom to choose any qualified health care professional to perform therapy services at the physicians office or clinic."

Formal opposition to this type of proposal (that is, that excludes EPs as legal members of a healthcare team) is yet another reason why exercise physiologists need to unite under an EP-exclusive organization (ASEP). Without formal opposition to such movement from other professional groups, your clinical job may soon become a thing of the past.