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When it comes to sports, today’s colleges do not just offer exhilarating spectator experiences for students and visitors alike. Many institutes of higher education have crafted programs that are designed to help students forge career paths in everything from sports performance and sports injury rehabilitation to chiropractic and nutrition. One such school is Life University, which offers several options for students, including a graduate program in Sport Health Science and undergraduate studies in exercise science, health coaching and nutrition, all available on institute’s Marietta campus.
According to Dr. Keith Rau, associate professor of Sport Health Science at Life University, the division has evolved over the years from its origins in the 1990s, when athletic training alone was emphasized. Today, the 52-credit hour master’s program has expanded to offer tracks in the professional fields of clinical exercise physiology, sports chiropractic and rehab, nutrition and sport science and sport performance. Overall, the program is geared towards those who want to learn about the science behind human performance, with each focusing on a different aspect of sports medicine.
For instance, Rau, who holds a doctorate in chiropractic, instructs sports chiropractic and rehab, which integrates the discipline of sport science and chiropractic. Students learn about arthrokinematics, or how joint surfaces move, and proprioception, which is how people perceive locations and movements of body parts. He explains, “We focus on how the body works and moves and then apply chiropractic principles and techniques to help athletes or just active people.” Students apply these principles during internships and practicums that help pave the way for them to build careers in the space.
Clinical exercise physiology instructs students on applications used in an exercise physiology lab or a cardiac rehab facility and prepares students for careers as cardiac rehab professionals, clinical exercise physiologists and strength and conditioning coaches, as well as in the areas of health club management, preventive medicine, corporate fitness or further study in doctoral programs. What’s more, nutrition and sport science integrates nutrition and sport science disciplines for research and careers in both of those fields, while sport performance helps prepare the sport injury provider, such as a chiropractor, for sport injury management at a high school or college level. All together, these areas of study provide a comprehensive foundation for employment opportunities across the sports medicine arena.
Students in the master’s program benefit from hands-on lab work at Life University’s Sport Science Institute (LUSSI) and Center for Health and Optimum Performance (C-HOP), which together help students hone the skills they will need to work in the exercise physiology world. Through these facilities, which include a living laboratory, students are able to work directly with athletes under the direction of the school’s faculty. The lab offers access to such tools as an array of Biodex equipment (which screens for concussions, helps with balance assessment and more) and the Bod Pod, which measures body composition, body fat, lean tissue and bone mineral density. As Rau states, “We have a lot of great equipment to look at everything an exercise physiologist would examine in human performance or in a clinical exercise physiology setting working at a cardiac rehab facility, testing someone to see how their heart is functioning.”
To secure their master’s degree in the program, students complete a practicum in athletic care, assisting the director under his supervision. For example, students work with athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches, developing programming for student athletes with weightlifting and exercises. According to Rau, this focus on sports performance, which is geared toward coaches, gives students comprehensive knowledge of exercise physiology, kinesiology, nutrition and a vast array of topics involved with coaching and a foundation for successful careers upon graduation.
Additionally, students are able to obtain real-world experience outside of the campus itself. One such opportunity is with Rau, who has served as the team chiropractor at Kennesaw State University for more than 20 years and regularly brings Life University students to KSU to assist him. “One of the coolest things we offer to students is the opportunity to work with athletes at the NAIA and NCAA levels,” Rau says. That experience bolsters students’ resumes and helps land them jobs where that experience is needed. He continues, “We’ve had great success where our students immediately start working with high-level athletes because they had that on their resume.”
For those students just beginning their journeys into the sports medicine—and general health—arena, Life University offers several undergraduate study programs that act as building blocks for their future careers.
This program studies the disciplines of anatomy, biology, biochemistry, physiology and kinesiology. Students learn skills to work in cardiac and pulmonary rehab, corporate fitness programs and community-based programs. These students often pursue careers later as fitness center managers, corporate fitness officers, strength and conditioning specialists and sports trainers.
Graduates of this program serve as liaisons between patients and clinical specialists, identify providers with appropriate expertise, communicate with clinics and advocate on patients’ behalf. Health coaching students pursue careers at holistic health centers, health education facilities, community health centers, corporate health and wellness centers and fitness training centers.
Nutrition students prepare for careers in the food industry, performing duties such as designing meal plans, counseling clients and writing recipes. Students learn about the interconnection between food and health and work in six teaching kitchens that allow them to prepare for careers at holistic health centers, community centers and nonprofit organizations.
Many students studying exercise science or health coaching are athletes who are interested in those topics, Rau says, noting that “many master’s students are co-enrolled in our chiropractic program. Many athletes stay and get a master’s, but they are not going to go into the chiropractic program; they just want to know more.” He adds that some students in particular want to enter a physical therapy program, noting, “It’s very difficult to get into a PT school, so they’ll get a master’s degree which facilitates them getting into PT school.”
Rau enjoys seeing the interactions among the students, athletes, coaches, trainers and strength and conditioning coaches, calling them great learning opportunities. He concludes, “It’s a blast working with healthy, motivated young people who want to perform at their best. That’s always a fun group to work with. The older I get, I think I enjoy it a lot more. It’s hard not to be energized when you are around motivated young people.”
Physical therapist assistants (PTA) play a vital role, working directly with physical therapists to impact patients’ lives by helping them reduce or manage pain, restore function, prevent disability and achieve movement and recovery from injuries or surgeries.
Students who want to receive an associate of applied science degree as a physical therapist assistant can apply at Chattahoochee Technical College. Offered at the North Campus in Acworth, the program teach students how to work with a licensed physical therapist and assist with hands-on treatment utilizing therapeutic exercises, manual therapy, pain relieving modalities and other activities.
Those interested in the competitive PTA program must complete pre-admission courses, which are available through the college’s healthcare science certificate program or the interdisciplinary studies health track. The competitive admission process requires that all students must have a minimum grade point average of 2.0 to be considered for program admission.
Occupational courses are completed in four semesters. Students are required to complete three clinical rotations, which includes being assigned to work with a licensed therapist. In the end, program graduates are eligible to sit for a state-administered national licensure exam for PTAs.
