Chair: Dr. Ivan Mulligan
Program Coordinator: Dr. Stephen LoRusso
The American College of Sports Medicine and exercise physiologists define an Exercise Physiologist as one who studies the acute and chronic physiological responses and adaptations resulting from physical activity. An exercise physiologist can apply this knowledge to improve or maintain health, fitness, or performance. Traditionally exercise physiologists worked and studied only with athletes to improve performance. Today, however, exercise physiologists also work and study in commercial, clinical, and workplace settings to increase health, fitness, and quality of life in the general population. For example, an exercise physiologist may work as a cardiopulmonary rehabilitation specialist, a personal trainer, or direct an employee fitness program. (www.acsm.org)
The Exercise Physiology program’s curriculum, faculty, and resources are consistent with the standards and guidelines of the American College of Sports Medicine.
The Saint Francis University Exercise Physiology Program allows students to select exercise physiology and non-exercise physiology elective courses to concentrate their studies based on their post baccalaureate career goals. The possible concentrations are a Fitness Professionals concentration, a Pre-Allied Health concentration, a Graduate Research concentration, and a Pre-Professional/Pre-Medicine concentration.
The Fitness Professionals concentration is designed to prepare students for immediate employment in the burgeoning wellness, health promotion, and fitness industries, graduate education in strength and conditioning, while the Pre-Allied Health concentration is designed to prepare students for graduate education in clinical exercise physiology, physician assistant sciences, physical therapy, or occupational therapy. The Research Graduate Concentration is designed to prepare students for a career in research or advanced graduate education in exercise physiology with a focus in the cellular and molecular basis of exercise physiology. The Pre-Professional concentration is designed to prepare students interested in careers in Medicine, Dentistry, Optometry, Podiatry or Veterinary sciences. All exercise physiology and in particular, Pre-medical students are encouraged to participate in undergraduate research. Additional course work may be required as prerequisites when applying for professional education at Saint Francis University and other institutions. Non-majors may minor in exercise physiology with the approval of the Program Coordinator.
Progression Standards
In order to maintain a high quality program and to encourage students to perform at their best, each Saint Francis University Exercise Physiology Major is expected to meet a minimum cumulative QPA standard in all Exercise Physiology required and collateral courses in order to maintain their standing in the major. The standards are progressive in that the requirements are higher as one advances through the curriculum from the freshman to the senior year.
The Standard:
- 2.00 QPA at the end of the freshman year
- 2.50 QPA at the end of the sophomore year
- 2.75 QPA at the end of the junior year
- 2.75 QPA also required for assignment to internships
Prior to the fall semester of the junior year, 40 hours of documented volunteer experience or paid employment in two different exercise physiology settings.
The Courses utilized for the QPA are as follows:
- All Exercise Physiology Courses (EXPH)
- The following collateral electives:
- BIOL 111 , BIOL 205 , BIOL 206 , BIOL 301 *, BIOL 401 *, BIOL 405 *
- CHEM 113 , CHEM 114 , or CHEM 121 *, CHEM 122 *, CHEM 221 *, CHEM 222 *
- PHYS 104 , PHYS 105 *
- MATH 110 or higher
- STAT 205
- PSYC 206
*(not all students take these courses, as it depends on their concentration.)
Further, these standards require earning no grade below “C” in any major or collateral course, and require if the earned grade is below a “C” that the course(s) be repeated. Courses may be repeated only once.
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