Constructing
a Profession
Tommy
Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP, EPC
Professor
and Chair
Director,
Exercise Physiology Laboratories
Department
of Exercise Physiolgoy
College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
WHAT IS A PROFESSION?
What is exercise physiology? How does exercise physiology evolve
to the point where it can be identified with other professions? Part
of the answer is tied to evolution, and another part depends on the collective
members. The matter of professional competence is particularly important.
To achieve professional status in any field is not an easy accomplishment.
There are a huge number of obvious obstacles to the emergence of a full-fledged
profession. Exercise physiology is no exception. If exercise
physiologists want a profession (vs. a discipline), then they must follow
the long-established procedures followed by the other recognized professions.
This is not an easy course of action. There are many roadblocks.
However, no one really expected exercise physiologists to be their own
worst enemy. The slow involvement of academic exercise physiologists
in the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP) is either a clear
case of apathy or ignorance. Or, is it simply a failure in understanding
the criteria of a profession?
Think about it. Do
practitioners need to belong to a profession to be good at what they do?
Not really, and so even now there are far too many exercise physiologists
willing to continue what they have been doing for decades. The discipline
approach to their professionalism is enough. But, apparently, this
may also be why electricians and other members of different occupations
and trades believe that they, too, are professionals. To be a professional,
does it mean that a person belongs to a profession? Most people think
so. Professions are based on scientific and philosophical facts acquired
through scholarly endeavor (1). Individuals who
enter a profession do so for reasons that distinguish them from other work
or vocations. They understand that their work renders a unique public
service with a scientific or philosophical basis and/or body of knowledge
that requires an extended period of academic and hands-on preparation.
Professions are also based on specialized skills necessary for the professional
to perform the public service.
While most exercise physiologists
understand the importance of improving the mind, body, and spiritual wellness
of society, they don’t get that a very important quality of a profession
is the improvement of the profession. In other words, while there
is a moral obligation to improve society, they have not come to terms with
the improvement of exercise physiology by exercise physiologists!
Stated somewhat differently, exercise physiologists are faced with a choice.
Either they join together and forfeit the idea of being a discipline or
they choose to remain outside of the definition of a profession.
Clearly, they have a demonstrated knowledge of research, understand the
promotion and dissemination of research, and have made a major contribution
to the physiology of athletics, disease management, and lifestyle changes.
They now have a code of ethics that is self-imposed and self-regulated.
This fact alone amounts to a new thinking about exercise physiology since
for decades a code did not exist. A code and a standard of practice
help to raise the bar of standards of performance to encourage exercise
physiologists to achieve their potential.
Another characteristic of
a profession is that it has a professional organization to promote its
own interests. The organization places emphasis on credentials that
ultimately are important to professionalize exercise physiologists.
The professional organization of exercise physiologists in the United States
is the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP). Members,
through different committees and boards, have outlined the specifics of
how to ensure professional competence through certification of members,
the acceptance of a code of practice, including the procedures for accreditation
of exercise physiology undergraduate programs of study. As stated
earlier, what is lacking the obvious necessity of the professional who
participates in the organization. Belonging is not enough.
Dedication is an absolute imperative, especially since it increases the
awareness of the professional’s destiny as a function of personal responsibility
and behavior.
Interestingly, in 1977, Barrow
(1) stated the following about physical educators. “The
lowest level of leadership displayed in a profession is merely paying one’s
dues and belonging to a professional association. The second level
might include some passive participation by merely showing up for meetings
and conferences without assuming any other responsibility. The third
and highest level of participation is to take part in an active manner.”
If all members, who are in position to do so, would take part in yet another
quality of a profession, accreditation, it would lead to the elimination
of the sub-standard institution or program. To do this, all that
is needed is participation of the ASEP members in initiating the accreditation
process at their institution. The ASEP Board of Directors and the
ASEP Board of Accreditation believes that accreditation should be in the
hands of the exercise physiology profession and, therefore, in the hands
of the exercise physiologists. Similarly, one of the final qualities
of the true profession is that there is some form of national certification,
such as the “Exercise Physiologist Certified” (EPC) exam created by the
ASEP Certification Committee and approved by the ASEP Board of Certification.
All of this is in agreement
with Sullivan (2) who believes that “Constructing a profession
is similar to building a physical structure. It’s a slow, tedious,
and often discouraging process. But just as a building is assembled
brick by brick, so is a profession similarly constructed.” In an
organization such as ASEP, each piece of work, effort, and performance
of each individual and/or collection of members stand on the one major
effort laid before it. That is, what exercise physiologists do today
can have long-lasting effects. Collaboration is important if exercise
physiologists are to accomplish their goals. They must get beyond
the idea that no one will listen or that their ideas will not work.
Hence, whatever the controversy might be, it is possible that even one
exercise physiologist can make a difference in positioning just the right
brick in building the exercise physiology profession.
References
1. Barrow,
H. M. (1977). Man and movement: principles of physical education. 2ndedition.
Philadelphia, PA: Lea & Febiger, p. 353.
2. Sullivan,
E. J. (2001). Editorial: brick by brick. Journal of Professional
Nursing. 17:67-68.
Copyright
©1997-2001
American
Society of Exercise Physiologists
All
Rights Reserved.
ASEP
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