The Exercise
Physiologist as an Entrepreneur
Tommy
Boone, Ph.D., MPH, FASEP
Professor
and Chair
Department
of Exercise Physiology
College
of St. Scholastica
Duluth,
MN
While
the Ph.D. degree is the ticket required for academic positions in university
institutions, it isn’t a necessary requirement to be an exercise physiologist.
Students from my institution graduate with an academic degree in exercise
physiology either at the bachelor level or master level. The tuition
expenses the students pay for the opportunity to attend St. Scholastica
clobbers the tuition paid by students from most institutions. For
the last six years, as Chair of the Department of Exercise Physiology,
I have been forced to replace much of my earlier thinking about “What organization
should exercise physiologists belong to?” and “How is it possible that
exercise physiologists can’t understand or accept the fact that they have
a right to their own organization?”
I have
been privileged to meet and become friends with a lot of exercise physiologists
who believe as I do. We share the same frustration and mindset that
exercise physiologists have the right to their own professional organization.
That right has resulted in the creation of ASEP as the exercise physiologists’
right to professional freedom. The freedom to have ideas about professionalism,
and to make those ideas into reality.
Does
anyone think that a non-exercise physiology organization is going to support
exercise physiologists? Some apparently do, while increasingly more realize
it that exercise physiologists have to support themselves. The product
of any organization is its members. It is about accountability to
the members. If that accountability is missing, as non-Ph.D. exercise
physiologists have concluded, there isn’t a product. In short, that
means non-Ph.D. exercise physiologists do not exist because the product
is all about those with the Ph.D. degree. It is this unaccountably
of sports medicine to exercise physiologists that has resulted in the development
of the exercise physiologist as an entrepreneur.
It
isn’t easy starting a new business, looking for customers, and marketing
yourself as the product of interest to the public sector. Hopefully,
I will never need to do so because my passion is college teaching.
I love what I’m doing, but there are other exercise physiologists
with as profound an interest in exercise physiology who are not doing what
they love. Yet, their interests hasn’t faded into oblivion even in
face of their difficulty in locating a good job with good pay. The
important thing is that they believe the dream will come true, as it has
for others. I have a lot of respect and admiration for them.
Meantime,
there is a certain terror with the constant bumps before the right job
comes along. It is during this time period, however long it may be,
that the entrepreneur needs support from other exercise physiologists.
Competition for health, fitness, rehabilitation, and sports-related jobs
has become more energized. Everyone with any experience much less
an education in these areas are seeking out these jobs. From the
physical therapist to the psychologist, from the occupational therapist
to the personal trainer, from the kinesiologist to the physical educator,
and so it goes on and on with every potential healthcare practitioner reexamining
their expertise in the public sector.
No
longer are professionals looking just for jobs in their respective areas.
Moreover, with the 21st century, we can expect everyone with ideas and
opinions favoring a revolution in job possibilities. Hence, no longer
can the non-Ph.D. exercise physiologist ignore the simple fact that finding
that right job will become increasingly more difficult. To survive in the
years to come, exercise physiologists themselves plus their organizations
will have to undergo a profound change in planning for work. Not
only will they need to think quicker, be smarter, consider all types of
jobs, they will need to support each other in professional ways.
The exercise physiologists of tomorrow will have to establish their own
professional importance, communicate what they do, and motivate the public
sector to accept their talent, expertise, and creativity.
ASEP’s
message to the non-Ph.D. exercise physiologist is don’t try to copy what
others have done unless that is where your heart might be. Instead,
build a new kind of exercise physiology, one dedicated to your liking,
one that you can nurture, and one with your personality embedded within
it. Equally important, never stop being yourself. The public
sector will come to understand your motivation and professionalism.
All you need to do is communicate well and exceed the expectations of your
client. If you do, and they get what they want, you will get what
you want. The public sector’s input is important if the customers
needs are to be satisfied and your product sells. Obviously, it doesn’t
take a genius to understand this point. Remember, your ideas can
help you make it financially if they are shared and understood by the person
who listens to them. Remember also that while exercise physiologists
everywhere are hardwired to work in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation,
there are other jobs equally important, equally as sophisticated, and as
equally as rewarding.
Given
that the market (public sector) hasn’t caught up to the product (exercise
physiologist), you must have something very unique and different to get
a solid grip on the future. The point is, some exercise physiologists
feel that they are a failure if they haven’t by a certain point after graduation
landed a particular type of job. Obviously, the business of landing
a job is a full-time endeavor. Meantime, it might be helpful to read
the following comment by Howard Marguleas, the chairman of a produce company
called Sun World. “Never cease to pursue the opportunity to seek
something different. Don’t be satisfied with what you’re doing.
Always try to seek a way and a method to improve upon what you’re doing,
even if it’s considered contrary to the traditions of an industry.”
Always
seek a way and a method of improving yourself, even if it should go against
popular thought. Take proud in announcing yourself before the world,
when asked, “Who do you work for?” Answer, “Nobody, I’m an entrepreneur.”
Such a comment before others isn't always easy, however, given the impression
of business is usually expected to work at graduation. Yet the 20th
century has resulted in a new form of exercise physiologists. They
are flourishing with increased intensity throughout the past few years
and, if the web interest in entrepreneur activity is an indication, it
can no longer be referred to as a passing fad. The trend is now global
with entrepreneurial ventures in health and fitness.
In
the not too distance future, the Ph.D. academic exercise physiologist,
who probably knows little to nothing about entrepreneural ventures as an
emerging trend in our economy, will be expected to offer entrepreneurship
courses for undergraduates and master level prepared exercise physiologists.
The question is whether they will find the time to leave the laboratory
to address the new opportunities in the public (service) sector.
Another question is whether they will help their students form the necessary,
strategic alliances with other entrepreneurs, locally and otherwise.
Students who develop entrepreneurial, negotiation, and legal skills will
be prepared for the 21st century.
Suggested
Readings
Harrell,
W. (1994). For Entrepreneurs Only. Hawthorne, NJ: Career Press.
Kotter,
J. P. (1988). The Leadership Factor. New York, NY: The Free Press.
Levine,
S. R. & Crom, M. A. ( 1993).
The Leader In Your. New York, NY:
Simon & Schuster.
Murray-Grohar,
M. E. & DiCroce, H. R. (1997). Leadership and Management in Nursing.
Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange.
Copyright
©1997-2000 American Society of Exercise Physiologists. All Rights
Reserved.
ASEP
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