PEPonline Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline An international electronic journal for exercise physiologists ISSN 1099-5862 Vol 2 No 4 April 1999   The Dynamics of Change Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP Professor and Chair Department of Exercise Physiology College of St. Scholastica Duluth, MN At exactly 5:58 p.m., the 17th of March, 1999, I suddenly realized that the April issue of the PEPonline was just days away.  As Chair of the Department of Exercise, it isn't hard to get swallowed up by thoughts, things, and forces.  Once inextricably trapped in the fractured moments of "doing this and then that" it isn't easy to get rid of the chaos.  At 6:14 p.m., you can see that writing at the very end of the work day is challenging.  Words are slow to come and thoughts are mixed, some times without direction.  But, the work towards exercise physiology professionalization goes on. This article is about change.  It is about the fusion of two things that have not been previously joined: exercise physiologists as professionals.  It is also about innovation and interaction with the public at a level that has not been done before.  However, some exercise physiologists still don't get it.  They appear unwilling, if not, unable to prepare for that which is new.  They haven't adjusted to the concept of ASEP, and it appears to be a crisis in self-esteem. ASEP members understand that change is "taking a step" that may be uncomfortable.  No one likes to be forced to change, whether in thinking or action.  But, where is this force?  No one from ASEP is forcing anything on anyone.  The organization exists for those who want to belong.  In fact, for the first time, it is their institution to build and preserve what they feel is good for exercise physiology and, yes, to protect themselves. In so doing, however, it appears that they have disturbed the equilibrium of other exercise physiologists.  Is this a problem?  Of course not.  The problem is that with the increase in the  number of ASEP members, it will become a powerful force for change.  Seen this way, non-exercise physiology organizations will loose their dense concentration of exercise physiologists!  When will this happen?  The answer:  "It is happening now."  Also, within the easily foreseeable future, the present trend will multiply many times. It has altered the "established order" of thinking.  We can look for the future acceleration of change to come in part from the understanding that change is inevitable.  The old ways won't work any more.  In fact, if we were to try and stay with the sports medicine connection, my feeling is that we will be rendered professionally immature and unfinished.  We will become perishable talents, untried, and inconsequential. Change comes in many ways.  The face of change is generally young.  It is driven by the goals and challenges of the new professionals.  Their concerns are not the concerns of the older professionals.  Their issues are not interchangeable with what has been done or even the continued turbulence of those who have worked for years.  Instead, it is about a new order of thinking and the explosion of possibilities driven by "newcomers" with new ideas. The message is simple , and it is clear.  Exercise physiologists deserve the chance to lead a life of satisfaction and purpose, to achieve in life more than mere existence.  Since sports medicine is not exercise physiology, it is leaching away the future, hope, and dreams of exercise physiologists.  We are just beginning to understand this point.  The ASEP organization is very new, but it is not invisible.  Others are aware of what it stands for.   It is an unprecedented movement in exercise physiology to fill ourselves with hope.  The size of what we accomplish is directly related to our faith and the efforts of an association of exercise physiologists.  It is about change and what comes with it -- a new identity.   It is also about a collision course with political forces and economic realities of the sports medicine world.  The effort, therefore, to create the "new identity" will be far greater than we might imagine.   But, it is possible and it will be done. Still another aspect of the ASEP new identity is the question, "How long will it take?"  It is interesting that the question is so quick in coming when our present circumstance is an unfolding of 50 years of collaboration under the title of sports medicine and exercise science.  But, of course, the balancing act between sports medicine and exercise physiology depicts the journey to the wrong place.  Our awareness of the psychological confusion and even injustice of what we can't do in many clinical settings dictate that the change is now not later.  The incompatibility of what we are and the public's designs on us require that we resolve the conflict however extraordinarily complex. It is a journey of some challenge, but with hope and expectation of a new identity, it won't be a lonesome one.  Exercise physiologists are poised to cluster closer together where they can talk with each other.  Where?  The next ASEP national meeting in Albuquerque, NM in October, 1999.  Imagine if you will, an organization largely unknown to exercise physiologists, where increasingly the communication serves to expand the special needs of all exercise physiologists.  One of the dreams of ASEP members is that it is an idea to which everybody can respond enthusiastically.  There is almost no limit to the assembly and execution of ideas. The most immediate observation regarding the dynamics of change is that it is extremely important and proper.  This is the heart of it -- with change, the possibilities beyond even what we can imagine today are limitless.  The power of change and of the imagination is evident in the steps toward the professionalization of the exercise physiology. 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