Non-Qualified Health Care Professionals have taken over the Field of Exercise Physiology!

From cardiac rehab to corporate fitness RN's, PTA's, COTA's, etc., are now running many of these programs. My point on NON qualified is that the majority of these health care professionals do not have a background or education in exercise physiology, exercise prescription, etc., just as I (an Exercise Physiologist) would not be qualified to do many RN duties.

How can these Health Care Professionals Practice a Discpline that they have little if any education / experience in?

The reason for this is very simple. Nurses, PT's and OT's have extremely strong Associations. They are unified. They are licensed (registered) in all 50 states. They have decided as a profession that they needed to come together and support their profession. Because of this, they can command high salaries and have many career opportunities available to them. Good for them! They are proud of their profession as they should be and because of that pride, they have professionalized their fields.

Exercise Physiologists on the other hand have gone in the opposite direction. We have no unity. We have been fighting with each other for decades. Because of this, we find ourselves lost without a profession. We call ourselves exercise physiologists, fitness specialists, fitness directors, fitness consultants, personal trainers, and a cast of other non-unified names. We command very little power within the healthcare setting and it shows in our salaries. NO MORE!!! It is time for us to come together to legitimize the field Exercise Physiology that many of us are extremely proud of and have work so hard to earn a living in. We have done the research to show the tremendous effects that exercise can have on every physiological system in the body. We have research supporting the positive effects exercise has on the quality of human life. Everything is in place (except for the exercise physiologists themselves) for us to claim a stake in the health care profession. With that said, I think you can see where I am coming from, and like you I will be direct about my vision of the profession of the EP.

Why ACSM, AACVPR, etc., are NOT Exercise Physiology Organizations!!!

In regards to a national exercise physiologist organization, until 1997 (ASEP), one did not exist. This has probably been the biggest downfall for the profession of exercise physiology. It is a fallacy that ACSM or AACVPR are exercise physiology organizations, I once truly believed that ACSM was an exercise physiology organization. Now before you blast me for being anti-ACSM/AACVPR, just hear me out.

Since I have founded the IDAEP, I have been slammed for being anti-ACSM, therefore I have had to do a tremendous amount of research and have had many fine debates about the subject.

First of all I am a big supporter of both ACSM & AACVPR. I believe they are wonderful organizations and are doing a tremendous amount of good for the profession of exercise physiology. With out ACSM, exercise physiology would still be in the dark ages.

Exercise physiologists do not understand that these organizations are not exclusive to the exercise Physiologist. ACSM and AACVPR are multi-discipline organization. ACSM and AACVPR will never advance the profession of the exercise physiologist. They always have and always will continue to advance the field of exercise physiology. There is a big difference there - to advance a field and to advance a profession.

Let me try to explain this to you, because I truly believe that this is one of the biggest reasons that the exercise physiologist has not advanced. I have been reading everything I can on other successful health care organizations and what they did to legitimize their profession and this is what I have found. A "true" profession is characterized by many features, some of which include - representation by a profession organization, adhering to professional standards and ethics, self-regulation of education, training, and professional certifications/licensure, etc.

On the other hand in a professional organization the organization is formed and exists to represent the PROFESSION. The organization consists solely of members who are, or intend to be, working in the profession, or have been allowed special membership status.

American College of Sports Medicine

Now lets dissect ACSM's membership. This is based on a 1996 membership statistics, ACSM is comprised of approximately 25 different membership groups ranging from students, Ph.D. exercise physiologists, medical doctors, physical therapists, nutritionists and biochemists. Based on professional membership groups, ACSM has 33.6% (4,435) of its membership from clinical and applied exercise physiologists, 29.3% (3,869) from medicine, and 22.5% (2,970) from "other" miscellaneous professions.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is an association of people and professions sharing the commitment to explore the use of medicine and exercise to make life healthier for all Americans.

ACSM is the largest sports medicine and exercise science association in the world. Nearly 18,000 members worldwide work in a wide variety of medical specialties, allied health professions, and scientific disciplines such as: (1) Medicine: Cardiologist, orthopedic surgeon, family practitioner, internal medicine, and other specialties. (2) Basic and Applied Science: Exercise physiologist, Exercise program director, and biomechanist. (3) Education and Allied Health: Physical educator, nurse, athletic trainer, and physical therapist.

So Is ACSM an exercise physiology organization? Based on the previous 1996 membership statistics, the answer is a clear NO. ACSM is no more an exercise physiology organization, than it is a cardiology, orthopedics, family and general practitioner, applied physiologist, or applied biochemist organization.

There is no doubt that ACSM is and will continue to promote and advance the field of exercise Physiology, but they will never promote the profession of the exercise physiologist. They could not and will not because for them to promote one profession within their organization would alienate over 13,500 members that are from other "PROFESSIONS".

American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation

As for the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. Lets look at there mission statement: The mission of the AACVPR is to reduce morbitity, mortality, and disability from cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases through education, prevention, rehabilitation and aggressive disease management. Central to the mission is the improvement of the quality of life for the patients and their families.

Now lets look at their Membership Requirements. A member of the AACVPR shall be any interested person of majority age who is a nurse, physician, medical scientist, allied health-care practitioner or educator, and who in his or her professional endeavors, is regularly involved in some aspect of cardiovascular and/or pulmonary rehabilitation. Members have AACVPR voting privileges.

The Exercise Physiologist is not even listed on their Membership Requirements. I am sure we fall somewhere in the allied health-care practitioner area.

So Is AACVPR an exercise physiology organization? Based on the membership requirements and their mission statement , the answer again is a clear NO. AACVPR is no more an exercise physiology organization, than it is a cardiology, nurse, physician, medical scientist, allied health-care practitioner or educator organization.

Again, and I want to make this very clear to you, there is no doubt that AACVPR is and will continue to promote and advance the field of exercise Physiology, but they will never promote the profession of the exercise physiologist. I do not have their membership statistics, but like ACSM they could not and will not because for them to promote one profession within their organization would alienate a great deal of their members that are from other "PROFESSIONS".

Lets take the most successful organizations from within these two multidisciplinary associations and look at their "TRUE" organizations.

The American Nurses Association is a full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 53 constituent state associations and 13 organizational affiliate members. Its mission is to advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

The ANA exists for the "SOLE" purpose of promoting and advancing the field of Nursing. Its members are comprised of Nurses ONLY. Therefore it is the only "TRUE" nursing association. It fought for and successfully lobbied for Licensure and respect in the Health care field. Because the ANA was able to unify the Nurses it gained great strength and power and today Nursing is considered one of the top Health care careers to go into because of their mobility, salary and flexibility of their jobs/careers.


I could take each and every profession within ACSM & AACVPR and show you that each have a "sole" organization - each and every profession - EXCEPT the exercise physiologist - We finally have are own National Organization and Governing body - the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGISTS (ASEP) is the only true Exercise Physiologist organization. It is an organization that is 100% made up of exercise physiologists. Its mission is simply to promote and advance the "PROFESSION" of Exercise Physiologists.

Until now (actually 1997) we didn't have a governing body or National Organization - that is why we could not advance as a profession. That is why we were not unified. That is why for so long we have not had a voice or have been recognized as a true health care profession. That is going to change and we are going to be the ones to change it.

We (the exercise physiologists) could not or would not exist without organizations like ACSM & AACVPR. They are both wonderful associations that will give our field a tremendous both. We need them. I am not saying at all that Exercise Physiologists need to stop supporting these organization, what I am saying is that the exercise physiologist can function successfully within these organizations while continuing to support our National Organization and Governing body.

Do you believe that Nurses would be where they are today without the American Nurses Association. Do you think Dr.'s would be where they are without The American Medical Association or the Physical therapists without the American Physical Therapy Association. No successful Health Care professional would be where they are today without their own EXCLUSIVE national organization.

So now I have laid it all out on the line for you. ASEP is here to promote and advance the profession of exercise physiologists in the US. Idaho Association of Exercise Physiology is here to promote and advance the profession of exercise physiologists in Idaho.