What to study at university?

Basically this thread is asking people for advice regarding exercise science/ human movement studies at uni ( or just uni/career stuff in general). Below is my situation:

this month I finished my first semester doing a bachelor of arts (in Australia) and I'm thinking of changing courses next year to something more human movement related. (I did a human movement subject last semester and I enjoyed it more than my other subjects). I'm thinking of maybe physiotherapy (which seems good because there's a specific job it's training you for) or Bachelor of exercise science (not to sure what specific jobs). I'm also interested in nutrition so I guess a bachelor of exercise and nutrition sciences is an option.

I'm also wondering what the difference is between exercise physiology and exercise science (from what I gathered it's a mix of physio and exercise science, but I'm not sure what specific jobs would require exercise physiology).

Thanks Guys

well i've little knowledge of which kind of movement/training/sportscience career are in your country.

also, i dunno what kind of speciality you prefer the most.

it's not something that you can fix with a simple choose

actually, i've been studying an engineering in mechatronics, but i love more human development/health than that, so i decided to quit that career and i'm beginning with chiropractor, and preparing for the cscs certification from de NSCA. also i'm planning to get certified by GB...

Hope i could help in something budyy

gretings from Mexico

Hi Mr jones

I just finished a bachelor of exercise science and a bachelor of nutrition with honours at Sydney university last year (2012) so I would be glad to offer my experiences and answer any questions you might have.

To clarify most but not all exercise science degrees provide you the option to become an exercise physiologist provided you complete the required 500 hours of outside uni peace hours. This does need to be confirmed with the university though as ESSA, the peak body, has been changing the requirements a lot lately over the last few years. Also all exercise physiology degrees should allow you to be an exercise scientist.

Now the difference between these 2 is that exercise science does not allow you to work with unhealthy populations and hence you cannot get a Medicare provider number. Thus there are less jobs for exercise scientists. But this isn't a concern if you don't want to work with people suffering from heart conditions, diabetes etc.

Now I could write a lot more but so I don't waste our time could I ask a few questions? This way I can be sure on giving you the information you need.

What did you enjoy while doing the movement subject? The knowledge, its applications, problem solving?

What do you want from your first degree? Ie why would change from arts?

What type of job do you think you might be interested in? Ie do you want to help people get fitter, recover from injuries? This one can change a lot so don't worry if the answer is vague.

Lots more questions I can ask but this should be a good start.

Also make sure if you do a course on nutrition that you are qualified as a dietitian at the end of your degree. Nutritionists in Australia have less job opportunities at this time.

Hope I can help. Hopefully those who have been out in the field can also bring a more long term view to this.

I've got a bachelors of exercise science and am currently completing a masters in physio. ariendl covered it pretty well. I'll just add that exercise science is more geared towards training with (elite) athletes, while physiology is unhealthy population - e.g. cardiac rehab, designing exercise programs for obesity, diabetes etc.

I'd say UNSW has the best ex phys course, but it is 4 years. Alternatively you can do a 3 year ex sci + 1.5-2 year masters in ex phys (used to be 1 year but I'm pretty sure they're making it 1.5 years minimum soon if not already)

Thanks for the answers so far, the've definitely helped. Now to answer adrienl's questions.

1. I enjoyed the knowledge gained from my exercise science subject (Biophysical foundations of human movement at University of Queensland). Lots of the content was stuff I already knew from the internet (such as this website) and books etc.

There was only a little bit of basic problem solving and application, which I liked.

2. I think I'll change from arts as not much human movement is offered as part of arts and I would like to do more. Also a bachelor of arts doesn't seem to be great regarding career prospects. 

3. I like the idea of helping people recover from injuries, the knowledge gained and application of it seems interesting. However helping people get fit also seems good. But I'm not sure if I'd like to be a personal trainer helping people "get fit for summer."

Not to sure if I want to focus too much on nutrition because I'm pretty average at chemistry and I prefer to learn about human movement. 

You'll never be out of a job with anything related to geriatrics & keeping elderly moving and on their feet...

Also, does anyone else know what a types of jobs a physiotherapy degree can get you that an exercise physiology degree can't, and vice versa? I looked at the career outcomes on different university pages for both degrees and the job opportunities seem very similar.

So looking at the answers to my questions if you can swing it I would recommend doing a physiotherapy degree and completing a cert 3 and 4 along side it. This would provide you with the opportunity to work in facilities that rehab injuries, including hospitals, while also qualifying you enough that if you want to work as a pt on the side you can. 

If you do choose this path I would recommend a lot of self reading outside of your university texts and the same for placements. As you already noted what a university teaches won't be nearly as broad and as interesting as what you can find out on your own. Ie if I did placements with Coach, Kit, my Gymnastics Coach and a  local Weightlifting coach and a Powerlifting Coach in North Sydney I would have done zero hours of placement per my uni degree. Just something to be aware of if you want to be better then average. 

The biggest difference between physiotherapy and exercise science can be seen by looking at Seek. Basically in my view a physiotherapist works with patients  in the initial stages of rehab and focuses more on joints, bones and muscles. An exercise physiologist is most prevalent in prescribing exercise programs for those either recovering from diseases that require aerobic exercise or in patients requiring programs to restore their physical capabilities to return to work. In reality these lines can blur depending on the facility, patient and practitioner. 

Hopefully if I wasn't very clear, Art can step in again and say what I am trying to say in a more clear and succinct method. Thanks Art. 

Also Fred is pretty spot on, so if your aren't a fan of working with the elderly that will change you options as a physio pretty drastically.

Edit: hopefully this doesn't overlap too much as I just saw your reply adrienl

An exercise science degree is sometimes said to be a glorified personal training course. Half true if you don't go on and do extra study or do ex phys. Its pretty broad and is more of a pathway degree. You can do PE teaching, coaching, training (elite) athletes, personal training, sports management, sports psychology. Exercise physiology I'm not as sure I'll leave that to someone else.

A Physiotherapy degree is more straightforward for career pathway. Musculoskeletal (e.g. back pain, sports injuries), neurological (e.g. brain trauma) or respiratory "chest physio" (e.g. COPD, cystic fibrosis etc) are the main areas. You can apply for allocations after completing your degree where you are handed a 1 year contract with a hospital where you'll see a bit of everything. 

They are pretty different, although in some settings they can overlap. I've seen Physios and EP's run cardiac/pulmonary rehab programs, and give basic exercise programs to elderly. In general an EP would give more general exercise prescription, whereas a physio would look at whats causing the problems, and try and fix it with hands on techniques as well as exercise prescription. 

EP's aren't well known and some doctors don't even know what they are. Although the profession is growing fast.

Depends on where you want to go. Im guessing you want to work in the sports area.  If you want to work with athletes getting them to peak performance then Exercise Science would be the place to start. If you want to get athletes from injury back to pre-injury level thats the physios job. You could always do both like I've done and get the best of both worlds so to speak, as I dont think physios learn exercise prescription very well, nor the biomechanics/physiology behind it in as much depth.

I had the same question 23 years ago. I loved exercise and wanted a job in that field. Then I read about Physio in a university guide (no Internet back then) and knew it was the solution to my answer. As a Physio who has been obsessed with exercise I have the practical and theoretical education to treat musculoskeletal injuries and train healthy people to get fit.

Physio is all about getting people to move pain free and optimally so they can perform at any level.

As a Physio you will never be out of work. There has always been plenty of job vacancies. You can work in any town or country, part time or full time. It is a well paying job that you can do at any age.

It is also a rewarding job where people really appreciate your help.

Yes I am biased.

Regards

Mark

Mark Collins said:

I had the same question 23 years ago. I loved exercise and wanted a job in that field. Then I read about Physio in a university guide (no Internet back then) and knew it was the solution to my answer. As a Physio who has been obsessed with exercise I have the practical and theoretical education to treat musculoskeletal injuries and train healthy people to get fit.

Physio is all about getting people to move pain free and optimally so they can perform at any level.

As a Physio you will never be out of work. There has always been plenty of job vacancies. You can work in any town or country, part time or full time. It is a well paying job that you can do at any age.

It is also a rewarding job where people really appreciate your help.

Yes I am biased.

Regards

Mark

This is a bias I am not interested in modifying

When you have physiology credentials AND PT credentials you can make some very interesting choices about what you do in your practice, because you can legally treat multiple aspects of health at the same time.

Most health care professionals cannot do that. When possible, the most fun thing to do is to create a team that attempts to work with patients on as many aspects of their health as possible. There is nothing better than the moment a patient or client looks at you with that look of appreciation for helping them learn how to make their life better.

I don't know about other countries, but here in America this is not a standard approach.

Well This thread has certainly made physio seem enticing, I'll try and pick my marks up this semester so I can transfer next year with exercise science/physiology as back ups. 

Something I'm concerned about with physio is the academic requirements. I haven't done advanced maths since year 10 in high school and didn't choose chemistry or physics as subjects for my final 2 years of high school. how competent would I have to be with these subjects not to fail? I was good at maths and science in high school (in the top classes for both and my marks put in the middle of my class). I guess I might need to do some catch up courses in the holidays.

mr jones said:

Well This thread has certainly made physio seem enticing, I'll try and pick my marks up this semester so I can transfer next year with exercise science/physiology as back ups. 

 

Something I'm concerned about with physio is the academic requirements. I haven't done advanced maths since year 10 in high school and didn't choose chemistry or physics as subjects for my final 2 years of high school. how competent would I have to be with these subjects not to fail? I was good at maths and science in high school (in the top classes for both and my marks put in the middle of my class). I guess I might need to do some catch up courses in the holidays.

Refresher courses are good. If you were good at it before, you'll be good at it again.

Exercise science and physiology are really different words for the same area of study, yet they are different professions. As mentioned, exercise physiology will allow you to work with certain clinical populations. Exercise science tends to be more research oriented. There are very few places that will actually teach you what you need to know to achieve high level results with athletes, but they do exist. There are actually graduate degrees in applied training and athletic performance, though I don't know where or what they are called. I believe there are two or three in the US.

I found chemistry came in handy to understand biochemistry. There were plenty of people that did not do chemistry and passed easily.

If you get accepted you will have the ability to pass all subjects with enough study.

Joshua Naterman said:

This is a bias I am not interested in modifying

 

 

 

When you have physiology credentials AND PT credentials you can make some very interesting choices about what you do in your practice, because you can legally treat multiple aspects of health at the same time..

It's like a key that opens many doors.

I don't know how open you are about changing directions Mr Jones, but with such a name, you could maybe consider Archaeology...

mr jones said:

Well This thread has certainly made physio seem enticing, I'll try and pick my marks up this semester so I can transfer next year with exercise science/physiology as back ups. 

 

Something I'm concerned about with physio is the academic requirements. I haven't done advanced maths since year 10 in high school and didn't choose chemistry or physics as subjects for my final 2 years of high school. how competent would I have to be with these subjects not to fail? I was good at maths and science in high school (in the top classes for both and my marks put in the middle of my class). I guess I might need to do some catch up courses in the holidays.

I did G-unit (general) maths in high school, and general sciences which only touched on chemistry and physics. The maths was hard at first in biomechanics, but really its pretty simple and you'll pick it up fast. The physiology and neuro anatomy I found really interesting, so studying for it wasn't too bad. Theres lots of helpful videos on youtube that explained it far better than what I got at uni. The people that failed those courses were the ones that didn't apply themselves at all and were at uni just for the sake of it.

Art Vandelay said:

Theres lots of helpful videos on youtube that explained it far better than what I got at uni.

That would have been helpful when I did Physio. Some of the anatomy lecturers with English as a second language were terrible. We just had a paper and pen and if you missed what they said you just hoped it wasn't in the exam.

If you're looking for lectures/videos on various academic subjects, there are a lot at LearnersTV.com. Highly recommend it.

FredInChina said:

I don't know how open you are about changing directions Mr Jones, but with such a name, you could maybe consider Archaeology...

Hahaha! Just don't go looking for the Ark... that always seems to go poorly.

Mark Collins said:

That would have been helpful when I did Physio. Some of the anatomy lecturers with English as a second language were terrible. We just had a paper and pen and if you missed what they said you just hoped it wasn't in the exam.

I don't know how anyone studied before us. No e-books/pdfs and ctrl-f, google, youtube. Even online social media to share notes etc.

I'm still a bit old fashioned though and bring pen and paper to my lectures.

Art Vandelay said:

I don't know how anyone studied before us. No e-books/pdfs and ctrl-f, google, youtube. Even online social media to share notes etc.

 

I'm still a bit old fashioned though and bring pen and paper to my lectures.

I always bring paper and pencil. Always. The combination of listening and writing does imprint the information more deeply into your memory.

I think that the availability of information is why this area, as well as many others, is expanding so quickly. I can tell you 100% for sure that if I hadn't been able to expose myself to information on the internet I would not know at least 80% of what I know now.

I'm going to bump this thread with my own question.  If I wanted to open my own gym, what kind of degree would be most beneficial?  I'm looking for something that's 1) going to impress clients and 2) guarantees 100% that I know what I'm doing.

I would also try to pick up certifications where possible, like for example if Coach offered a GB certification...

I know that I probably don't need much of any qualifications to run a gym, especially not a degree, but I want to make sure I do this right...