PEPonline Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline An international electronic journal for exercise physiologists ISSN 1099-5862 Vol 4 No 5 May 2001   Breaking With The Past Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP, EPC Professor and Chair  Department of Exercise Physiolgoy College of St. Scholastica Duluth, MN 55811 THINGS ARE DIFFERENT TODAY from 10 years ago, 20 and of course from 50 years ago.  People are different.  They dress differently, and many aren’t the same people as they were even 5 years ago.  They think differently.  New technology, new books, and new thinking are changing everyday business and interaction with others.  The point is obvious: literally, everything has changed: academics (to a point), the way professionals think, the politics of organizations, the research technologies, and the job market.  Even more profound changes lie ahead, perhaps, next week or next month and most certainly next year.  The future is here and neither yesterday’s thinking nor yesterday’s possibilities will equip exercise physiologists with the skills to make it in today’s world.  Hence, the idea of staying in line with what we have been doing doesn’t work.  Something totally new is required to create and to move with change itself.  That something new in exercise physiology is the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP).  The more it changes, the more hope that all exercise physiologists will change.  The organization is an unprecedented change, not to demolish or forget the past, but to transform the old exercise physiology into the new exercise physiology.  The 21st century exercise physiologists require new rules for success.  The notion of some exercise physiologists not changing is amazingly a hopelessly outdated idea.  Few, if any, of the ASEP members would argue with the statement: “Neither a person’s position nor an organization will protect either from the problems inherent in traditional thinking.”  Solving problems, such as better jobs, more financial stability, increased respect, and more creditbility, begin with new ideas not false assumptions that are inadequate.  The good old days are gone.  Those days are now replaced by a set of shared assumptions, although not unquestioned, that exercise physiologists need their own professional organization, their own professional certification, their own academic standards, policies, practices, and procedures.  Their thinking is not inconsistent with other professions that have nourished and provided for their members.  It is a way of thinking that is right, and it is a necessity to pull exercise physiologists from the past into the future.  With few exceptions, most professionals understand the meaning behind the concept of “radical rethinking” – that is, the notion that exercise physiologists would create yet another organization much less one that would compete with a more powerful one from the past.  Strangely, the founding of ASEP should have been predicted but it wasn’t.  It is instead the shift from “what is” to “what should be” or should have been had the vision of men and women in the past understand the full impact of their work; a professional work that, in fact, requires a shift from “sports medicine” to “exercise physiology”.  That work is defined by the ASEP vision.  To fulfill the vision is to create what has never been considered before, that is, a force so powerful that it pulls all exercise physiologists into a new kind of thinking.  By thinking differently, the old views are understood in light of the past.  The new views help to integrate the new thinking that emerges from the efforts to increase accountability, political influence, and ethical standards. The element of absolute importance is the individual’s contribution (and development) as the new thinking becomes a more entrenched thinking pattern.  The power of a single person’s effort for a good cause can (and does) create new patterns of thinking unequal to anything in the past.  The new frame of mind reaches out and connects with other exercise physiologists, thus their collective beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions are important ways to connect and to make the leap of reality.  Put another way, George Land and Beth Jarman (1) maintain that, “the possibilities you imagine for anything actually make up half of its reality!”  In other words, the power of a single person and the reality of a new way to think create exactly the future that propels the person and others beyond the limits of their past.  Collectively, they find themselves in the middle of what has never been done before.  They are both happy and a bit confused.  Some submit to past thinking that allows them to feel more secure, thus better safe than sorry.  For others, they must give up a certain security and safety in the past beliefs to realize their dream. A single creative individual, such as Dr. Dale Wagner, the chair of the ASEP Accreditation Committee at the time of the development of the undergraduate accreditation procedures supervised its original development.  He and his committee as well as the ASEP Board of Directors challenged the old assumptions and put in place the “accreditation” solution.  The decision was founded on the new assumptions of personal and professional responsibility for professionalism.  The cornerstone foundation of the work was the ASEP vision, goals, and objectives.   When exercise physiologists are encouraged to think of the creative ones, they should think of Dale and the members of his committee. “The creative individual not only respects the irrational in himself, but courts it as the most promising source of novelty in his own thought.  The creative person is both more primitive and more cultured, more destructive and more constructive, crazier and saner, than the average person.  It follows that the creative environment is one that encourages this dichotomy through freedom of expression and movement, lack of fear of dissent and contradiction, a willingness to break with custom, a spirit of play as well as of dedication to work, and purpose on a grand scale.”  -- Frank Barron, Professor, University of California, Berkeley Dale didn't play it safe.  Instead, he took a chance, which is consistent with the notion that "Nobody can fail if he/she dares to try to do something worthwhile."  He has helped every member of ASEP tackle the problem of not-so-good exercise physiology programs.  It takes guts to make the decision he did.  Anyone and everyone is willing to give advice on what to do or not to do and, yet no one should be allowed the last word.  In short, he has done what he believed should have been done decades ago.  He is a person true to himself, his ideals, and his dreams.  Every member of ASEP has within him- or herself some idea of something that could help exercise physiology.  Maybe it's joining a committee.  Maybe it's writing an article for PEPonline.  Maybe it's starting an ASEP Student Chapter.  Maybe it's starting a state organization of exercise physiologists.  Maybe it's talking about ASEP with other exercise physiologists.  Maybe it's finding the time and/or money to attend the ASEP National Meeting.  Maybe it's writing a letter to a colleague about ASEP or encouraging a friend to become a member. Whatever it is, take action for improvement of exercise physiology.  It's a great next step to embracing the notion of professionalism. Commit yourself to ASEP and its vision for all exercise physiologists.  Commitment requires courage!  It is the courage to speak one's mind and the understanding of the risk involved. Indeed, there are always risks in getting involved in any new idea.  "It is a truth, recognizable in all of us, that when we don't want to become involved, when we don't want to confront even the issue of whether or not we'll come to the aid of someone who is being unjustly treated, we block off our perception, we blind ourselves to the other's suffering, we cut off our empathy with the person needing help.  Hence, the most prevalent form of cowardice in our day hides behind the satement I did not want to become involved." -- Rollo May (2) "Personal responsibility" has nearly lost its meaning when it comes to one's profession, and yet exercise physiologists should be responsible.  An informed choice is a new way of thinking about exercise physiology.  Now, at least exercise physiologists have a choice between the past and the future and, yes, what works best for all exercise physiologists (particularly, the non-PhDs).  However, moving beyond the past, breaking with the past, has proven to be more of a challenge than one would think.  The subtle beliefs of "what is" hold many from the obvious choice and power of the new thinking.  As a result, it is not surprising that articles like this one of merely telling the story of what to do is so often futile.  The ownership in one's profession is based in personalizing the connection between work, beliefs about exercise physiology, and an organization of exercise physiologists.  It's not enought to have just any organization or any thoughts about what is exercise physiology.  Chances are change comes with the right organization and the right thinking and, obviously, with time.  While it's hard to look deep into the future, it very hopeful that with consistency in effort and passion, as the guide for the ASEP organization, the wedding of the right beliefs and actions will be realized.  For some, the inspiration to break from the past thinking, like it or not, painful or otherwise, will come when the university directors, chairs, and deans state that they have had enough.  Either exercise physiologists will get their "exercise science" programs upgraded and accredited, if they persist in calling them exercise physiology programs of study, or otherwise the programs will be marketed specifically for what they are!  The academic exercise physiologists will be inspired then because their jobs and salaries will be on the line.  A choice confronts the exercise physiology community.  Shall they continue to embrace the old thinking that has a certain predictable paralyzing effect on the career opportunities for students, or will they surrender to the new thinking, even as radical as it might seem, on behalf of their students?  It will take courage and commitment to move ahead.  Rollo May (2) said it best:  "...if you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself."  In summary, just as the ethical conduct of research is grounded in the principles of respect for good science, fairness in thinking, and "full consent" of the subjects, the ethcial conduct of teaching is grounded in the principles of truthfulness, understanding, beneficence, and nonmalfeasance.  The latter two principles are particularly important in understanding the importance of breaking with the past.  Beneficence refers to the benefits and to the balancing of benefits aganist the risks of participation (3).  The point is simply this, the balancing of risks (such as not being able to locate employment, loss of goods due to an insufficient salary, stigmatization, or social isolation) and benefits (such as employment, good salary, respect, and self-confidence) by the college (given its publications about the program of study), the director (given administrative understanding of the program), and the exercise physiology faculty members (given their teaching of the program) requires an examination of the potential risks and benefits of majoring in the program of study.  It also requires an examination of the consequences for actions (such as misleading statements that bear directly on future employment and financial stability of the students) during their course of academic study and tuition and other expenses for the opportunity to plan and anticipate their future work. In agreement, the principle of nonmalfeasance requires acton on behalf of the "director, dean, chair, and/or faculty member" to avoid causing harm.  Isn't it logical that the risks inherent in non-accredited programs of study might be minimized by having the exercise physiology faculty certified as exercise physiologists and the academic program accreditated in addition to the necessary laboratory equipment and teaching facilities to legally argue against questons that might arise regarding the obligation of the college, department, and faculty in providing an education consistent with the assumptions underlying the ethical conduct that governs the academic institution and its employees?  Perhaps one of the reasons why exercise physiologists are slow in shifting from old, sports medicine views to new, exercise physiology ones is because the shift is more than merely a change in one to the other.  Fundamentally, it represents a profound shift in how exercise physiologists think about exercise physiology which raises the question:  "What do exercise physiologists think about exercise physiology?"  For members of ASEP, it seems appropriate to end this brief article with the following statement by Allen (4): "Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the bearty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."  References 1. Land, G. & Jarman, B. (1992). Breakpoint and beyond: mastering the future – today. New York, NY: HarperBusiness 2. May, R. (1975). The courage to create. New York, NY: W.W.Norton & Company, Inc. 3. Loue, S. (1999). Gender, ethnicity, and health research. New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. 4. Allen, J. (1992). As a man thinketh. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble. Copyright ©1997-2001  American Society of Exercise Physiologists All Rights Reserved. ASEP Table of Contents Questions/comments