The Parable of the Good Samaritan
Larry Birnbaum, PhD., EPC
Associate Professor
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN  55811

Many are familiar with the story of the good Samaritan.  A man lying along side a road had been beaten and robbed.  A priest and Levite passed him by.  They did not want to be bothered.  A Samaritan offers help to the victim, tending to his wounds and helping him to the next village.  He stays with him at an inn for a day and leaves extra money with the innkeeper and instructions to take care of him.  It is worth noting that Samaritans were despised by the “establishment.”

The following analogy may seem a bit harsh to some, but many undergraduate students majoring in exercise science or a similar field may find it all too real.  These students have spent four or more years working toward a bachelor’s degree with the expectation that they will secure gainful employment upon graduation.  They have paid tuition and fees for four or more years.  When they realize they are not employable in the field, at least not at a decent salary, they may feel as though they have been robbed.  After spending months if not years searching for a job, they may also feel beaten.  If they think of the good Samaritan story, they may wonder, “Who will help me?” 

It is precisely this scenario that motivated the formation of the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP).  This organization works very hard to help all exercise physiologists, especially the undergraduates.  Given the history of exercise physiology, it is unfortunate that this effort was not initiated decades ago.  The undergraduate exercise science/physiology majors have been left lying along side the road far too long.  Too many established exercise physiologists apparently did not care about the condition of these undergraduate students, or perhaps did not even notice.  Like the good Samaritan, ASEP is also despised by some members of the exercise physiology establishment.  There are likely a number of reasons for this, but it is difficult for me to find fault with an organization working on behalf of the mistreated and unrepresented segments of the exercise physiology community.

ASEP is tending to the needs of exercise physiologists.  The major need is professionalization of the field as a health science specialty.  Professionalization requires accreditation of academic programs as programs of study in exercise physiology, not related fields that only offer a couple of exercise physiology courses.  It requires certification and/or licensure of practitioners.  It requires research to continually push the limits of our knowledge.  All professions also have a strong ethical component embedded in their standards of practice.  ASEP has established all these professional features, but before the status as a health care profession can be fully realized, more programs need to be accredited and more exercise physiologists need to be certified (EPC).  Once employers recognize the competency of EPC exercise physiologists, employability and salaries will improve markedly.  At that point, the role of good Samaritan will no longer be necessary.  Rather, we will need good guardians to assure that the accomplishments of ASEP are not relinquished.