The EP Professional
Saturday, August 26th, 2006Recently, I read that Mary E. Kolb, who delivered the 1966 APTA presidential address, said that: “Before deciding on a definition of [physical therapy], physical therapists must decide whether they really want to be professional or just make believe they are by paying lip service to professionalism.”
The comment is right on target with exercise physiology. I am also aware that if exercise physiologists want to be recognized as something more than a personal trainer, they must stop giving lip service to their professional development.
After all, the leadership of the American Society of Exercise Physiologists has created the infrastructure for professionalism. Why are the exercise physiologists, given that they have a definition to embrace, giving lip service to professionalism?
But, perhaps, to be consistent with the quote, please appreciate that the ASEP leadership did in fact “decide that they wanted to be professionals.” It was later they accepted the ASEP definition of an “exercise physiologist.” That definition is easily located on the home page of the ASEP organization, http://www.asep.org/