Advancing the
Role of Exercise Physiologists in the Clinic
Mark
E. Kaelin, MS, CSCS
Exercise
Physiologist
Southern
Indiana Rehab Hospital
New
Albany, IN
and
Adjunct
Faculty Member
University
of Louisville
Exercise
Physiology Department
The
formation of ASEP is a crucial step in establishing exercise physiologists
as a collective body of unified professionals. One of the purposes of the
PEPonline
is to further advance the goal of professionalism and to help exercise
physiolgists who work with a variety of individuals (such as the apparently
healthy, cardiopulmonary diagnoses, cancer patients, individuals with low
back pain, and so forth) in differnt settings including hospital clinics
and health and fitness centers. As one of the editors of this journal and
as a contributor, I look forward in helping to advance our profession and
in the development of an international network of exercise physiologists.
To do this, the editors of PEPonline
need articles that provide blueprints for successful programs, instructions
on how to cultivate referrals sources, and success stories on how other
exercise physiologistss have advanced their careers.
I’m
a member of ASEP and a master-prepared exercise physiologist. I’m employed
at Southern Indiana Rehab Hospital in New Alabany,IN. Over the past 4½
years, I have been able to develop a position as a staff exercise physiologist
involving greater responsibility and interaction with health care providers.
At this time, my primary duties are in our pulmonary rehabilitation program.
However, I plan to develop additional programs that utilize the principles
of exercise physiology to improve the quality of life with people with
chronic diseases.
Until
I joined ASEP, I had very few resources for guidance and ideas. After attending
the 2nd Annual Meeting in October 1999, I realized that the organization
has come a long way. But, there is still a great deal left to do.
As our profession evolves, exercise physiologists will move into more clinics,
hospitals, and health and wellness centers. To do so, we will be asked
"What need do we fulfill?" What positive attributes do we bring to
a facility and its staff? Why should the administrator add more positions
to the rehabilitation staff at a time when payments levels are decreasing
and it is harder to justify length of stays. In other words, what can the
exercise physiologist do that other professionals don't or shouldn't do?
The
answer is simple, but getting others to understand hasn't been easy.
By using the principles of exercise physiology in therapeutic exercise,
exercise physiologists can elicit significant improvements in functional
mobility. The results can be easily quantified and presented to payor sources.
Increased tolerance of exercise in METs or ml/kg/min and improvements in
dynamic strength increase physical function and well-being. In short,
there are two tenets of exercise physiology and life: (1) if you can’t
metabolize oxygen, you can’t function (thus, the essence of cardiovascular
endurance); and (2) life requires dynamic strength (specificity).
Exercise
physiologists are trained to measure and enhance these variables in a wide
range of populations making them indispensable in the coming millennium.
Why? People in America and across the globe are living longer. More importantly,
they want to live as active a life as possible. Furthermore, we can demonstrate
the efficacy of our treatment regimes to payors. Within our scope of practice,
exercise physiologists are ideally suited to work with all types of individuals;
however, the onus of proof is on us. To do this we have to demonstrate
our value.
The
PEPonlinejournal
can help exercise physiologists understand their worth to the public sector.
However, to make this an effective medium the editors need your help. Tell
us about yourself. What is your work like? Job responsibilities?
What are the patients populations that you work with? Do you have any research
projects going on? How about any interesting case studies? Any successful
private pay programs? We believe this journal can help in the cultivation
of successful programs across the nation and globe. However, again, to
do this we need your input. Additionally. We are interested in posting
guest editorials (pro and con) with comments from differnt allied health
professionals to provide a forum for clinical concerns and a place to exchange
ideas.
In
sum, we believe that this journal will continue to be a source of professional
knowledge and guidance for exercise physiologists who work “in the trenches”.
Please consider forwarding any questions, comments, articles, and suggestions
to me. I will work with the Editor-in-Chief of PEPonlineto
post your ideas and so forth where apprpriate and consistent with the journal's
manuscript guidelines.
In
addition to letters, comments, and professional articles that you might
want to submit to the PEPonline,
please
consider the following
"Case
Study" as an example of what we are also interested in publishing
to help others understand the professional-clinical side of the work of
exercise physiologists.
Copyright
©1997-2000 American Society of Exercise Physiologists. All Rights
Reserved.
ASEP
Table of Contents
Questions/comments
