Exercise Physiology Curricula:  Moving Beyond Content II
Larry Birnbaum, PhD, FASEP, EPC
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN  55811

As stated in the previous article (August), content is critically important in professional programs, but mastering content is only part of becoming a professional practitioner in the health care setting.  Several behavior characteristics are also important.  Respect was the behavior addressed in the August article.  Responsibility is the focus of this article, more specifically the integration of responsibility into the exercise physiology curriculum.

To begin with, let’s review responsibility as a component of professionalism [1].  Responsibility covers a lot of territory.  Professional responsibility is concerned with the manner in which exercise physiologists and other health care professionals interact with clients, peers, and supervisors.  It is also a matter of appropriate behavior.  For example, professionals do not steal from their employers (or any one else for that matter).  They wear proper attire, show up for work on time, do not leave early, and perform their duties competently.  They participate in continuing education to maintain competency.  They are safety conscious.  They do not do anything that would endanger anyone, including themselves.  They hold themselves accountable for their own actions.  Regarding responsible interaction with others, the key word is respect, which was addressed in the previous issue (August, 2008).  Part of responsible interaction with clients is helping them achieve their goals.  If clients have goals that are outside the expertise of exercise physiologists, the exercise physiologists must acknowledge that and refer the clients to the appropriate practitioners.  Responsible interaction also includes having and showing genuine concern for clients.  Just going through the motions, doing what is necessary to get the paycheck, is irresponsible and will adversely affect the quality of care.  Furthermore, clients treated in that manner will seek services elsewhere.

Surely, exercise physiology programs want to graduate responsible practitioners.  Faculty in professional programs can incorporate responsibility into the curriculum by discussing responsible behaviors in the classroom and labs.  Some responsible behaviors in an academic setting are the same as some respectful behaviors discussed in the previous article.  For example, unexcused absences, tardiness, and turning in assignments late or not at all, are not only disrepectful but also irresponsible.  Irresponsible behavior may be observed in laboratory settings.  Faculty must correct unsuitable behavior when it occurs and possibly use such a situation as a learning experience for all students.  This must be done tactfully so that it is a learning experience and not a put down.  Role playing has been used for decades as an effective technique for teaching skills and behaviors.  Students can be given clinical situations to role play.  The scripts may be highly structured or open ended.  After completing the role playing exercise, a discussion follows during which students evaluate the behaviors of the participants.  In this case, the behavior of the exercise physiologist would be the focal point.

Students can be assessed for responsible behavior at least indirectly through affective evaluations.  Typically such evaluations include specific behaviors that reflect responsibility.  Use of these evaluations will make students aware of the importance of characteristics other than just course content.  They can be used as both formative and summative evaluations.

As with respect, faculty must also model responsible behavior.  The primary responsibility of faculty is to facilitate student learning.  So, modeling responsible behavior means helping students learn.  Without getting into various teaching strategies for different learning styles and a host of other teaching issues, suffice it is to say that facilitating student learning is not an easy task.  It is a challenge that requires persistence and fortitude.  Other than facilitating student learning, faculty can also model responsible behavior by returning assignments and exams in a timely fashion, by providing accurate feedback to students, by being available to students outside of class, and by treating all students fairly.  It is worth mentioning that the hard work of faculty is appreciated by students.  They know which faculty members consistently make a sincere effort to help them, and which ones just put in their time.  Obviously, the former strategy models responsible behavior. 

Faculty can also model responsible behavior outside the classroom in their interactions with colleagues, adminstrators, staff, and students in general.  This should be relatively easy as such relations are typically congenial.  Furthermore, if disagreements arise, they are usually resolved in privacy. 

No doubt, responsible behavior is an implicit expectation faculty have of students.  Ideally, that expectation should be clearly communicated to students throughout the curriculum, and it should be assessed.  In this manner, exercise physiology programs will improve the overall quality and competency of their graduates.

References

1.  Birnbaum, L.  (2008)  Components of Professionalism for Exercise Physiologists.  JPEPonline 6(3).  http://www.exercisephysiologists.com/JPEPMar2008ComponentsofProfessionalism/index.html