Where did you complete your undergraduate and/or graduate academic studies? CSUN
What did you major in as an undergraduate? Kinesiology
What would you be doing now if you were not involved in kinesiology? Sports medicine for pro athletes; the Olympics
Did you always know you wanted to be a kinesiologist? No
Are you involved in any form of formal or informal research? If so, what kind? No
What factors were crucial to your decision to attend and earn a degree in the university and program of your choice? I love sports so I went in with a mindset of working at a sports clinic rehabilitating athletes
What did you like best about the academic program you were part of? What did you like least? Explain. Learning the anatomy and physiology of the human body was what I enjoyed most. Chemistry was definitely at the bottom of my list.
What courses that you took in college best prepared you for your current job? What other courses would you have liked to have taken? Explain. Clinical lab was what best prepared me for my current job, I’m a kinesthetic learner so having the hands on experience was beneficial. , I would like to have gone more in depth in Pharmacology and psychology courses
What common characteristic do you see in fellow professionals you interact with? Given the profession, common characteristics include: Professionalism and compassion, alongside those would be a fit and healthy lifestyle
What advice do you have for aspiring future professionals in your field? As cliche as this sounds, make sure this is something you really want to do and you will enjoy every moment
If you had to hire a person in your position, what qualifications and qualities would you look for in this individual? Willingness to learn, there’s always something new and something better on the medical field. In order to be a great clinician, he/she must be open learning
What professional organizations are you an active member of? How do you keep up with new developments in your field? I used to be part of the APTA but right now I’m not in any organization. I keep up by attending continuing education classes year round.
Where do you see yourself in five years? Because of the ever changing medical field, growth is always the goal. I’m currently researching programs to further my education and become an osteopathic doctor, specializing in Sports medicine.
What do you think the future for your career is? Beyond specializing in sports medicine, my future goal is to treat Olympians
How long have you been a kinesiologist? I’ve been a therapist for almost 6 years now.
Kinesiology is the study of human and nonhuman animal-body movements, performance, and function by applying the sciences of biomechanics, anatomy, physiology, psychology, and neuroscience.
What is kinesiology used for? Kinesiology is used to understand the mechanics of the body. As a kinesiologist, professions include, physical education teacher and/or personal trainer
What are some benefits of kinesiology? Knowing proper body mechanics, ergonomics, and occupational health and safety
What health conditions can you treat with kinesiology? Orthopedic and neurological conditions
What is the difference between the various types of kinesiology? See question 14
Why did you choose to pursue kinesiology? I love sports and being active, I can’t picture myself having a desk job
What does a typical day at work look like? (steps)
1. Check my schedule of patients
3. Verify treatment order
4. Coordinate treatment time with nursing to ensure optimal efficacy of therapy (I.e. medication administration time)
5. Assess patient cognition, state of mind, and BP, SPO2, HR
6. Treat patient while simultaneously checking vital signs
7. Post treatment: return patient to bed
8. Give report to charge nurse
9. Document treatment time, ability to tolerate, functional mobility, gait, distance, and level of assistance
What are some pros and cons of being a kinesiologist? Pros: seeing my patients improve, that my approach and plan is working. Cons: family/patient who thinks we’re miracle workers.
What is your favorite and worst part of being a kinesiologist? My favorite would definitely be seeing my patients walk out of the hospital from being in bed for weeks. Worst part is not having enough time rehabilitating my patients.
What did you have to do in order to become a kinesiologist? Pass my exit exam, the licensure board exam and jurisprudence test
How long have you been a kinesiologist? I’ve been a therapist for almost 6 years
Interview with Valerie Guerrero
Where did you complete your undergraduate and/or graduate academic studies? - I completed my undergraduate studies at Cal State University Northridge
What did you major in as an undergraduate? - I majored in Kinesiology (Exercise Science)
What would you be doing now if you were not involved in kinesiology? -I am not sure since I have always wanted to be a physical therapist.
Did you always know you wanted to be a kinesiologist?- I always wanted to be a physical therapist and when I looked into the schools offering the physical therapy program, I was told that kinesiology was a good option.
Are you involved in any form of formal or informal research? -No I am not involved in any research.
What factors were crucial to your decision to attend and earn a degree in the university and program of your choice? When I was looking into the physical therapy programs, I found out it had a good physical therapy program.
What did you like best about the academic program you were part of? I loved that there was a lot on hands on opportunities. What did you like least? What I didn't like was since CSUN was know for offering a great PT program there was a lot kinesiology program and sometime it was hard to get into classes.
What courses that you took in college best prepared you for your current job? I don't remember the exact name but it consisted of preforming simple exercises on people from the community.
What common characteristic do you see in fellow professionals you interact with? - I see a lot of caring individuals and people wanting the patients to get better.
What advice do you have for aspiring future professionals in your field? -Being a physical therapist can be hard at times but it is very rewarding to see your patients go home more with more strength and more mobile.
If you had to hire a person in your position, what qualifications and qualities would you look for in this individual? - I would look for someone that is 1) licensed, 2) caring, 3) motivated to help people and 4) a team player.
What professional organizations are you an active member of? I am part of APTA (American Physical Therapy Association). How do you keep up with new developments in your field? Email.
Where do you see yourself in five years? I see myself continuing to work as a physical therapist
What do you think the future for your career is? I believe the demand will continue to increase. Due to more people are understandingthe importance of Physical Therapy.
How long have you been a kinesiologist? 10 years
What is kinesiology? It is the study of body movement.
What is kinesiology used for? -It can be used to diagnose and treat the nervous system problems and scientific muscle testing.
What are some benefits of kinesiology? Understaning what kinesiology is, it will help you understand how the human body works.
What health conditions can you treat with kinesiology? Some conditions are stroke, diabetes, arthritis and joint problem.
What is the difference between the various types of kinesiology? They all study the body in motion but depending on what you want to do will depend on the option. Example if you want to do physical therapy the majority will do exercise science and if you want to do athletic training you do Athletic training option.
Why did you choose to pursue kinesiology? - because I wanted to became a physical therapist.
What does a typical day at work look like? 1st I come into work and get the list of my patients day. Next I do a chart review on all my patients to get an idea of any condition I need to be careful with and what they have been doing on revious treatments. Next I get clearance from nurse and go to my patient's room. I provide a treatment. I then endorse to the nurse what the patient was able to do and type up a note so that the doctor is able to see what I have done with his or her picture
What are some pros and cons of being a kinesiologist? Pros: helps me understand what i have to do to help my patient and educate them on the proper way to move
What is your favorite and worst part of being a kinesiologist? I am able ti understand my patient conditions and how to help them.
What did you have to do in order to become a kinesiologist? Study a lot and love it.
How long have you been a kinesiologist? 10 years
I was honestly really looking forward to these interviews to get help from an outsider, aside from my own physical therapists.These interviews were really lackluster and they didn’t seem like they were interested in being interviewed at all. It’s just that they agreed and seemed all excited and then I sent the interviews to them a long time before I actually needed the answers and they didn’t respond until the day I needed them. I told them to be as thorough as they could which is why I gave them so much time to actually do them and they answered some with one word answers. I honestly felt disrespected because I made sure that I gave them enough time so they could give me decent answers and they gave me nothing. They also attributed to the fact that I don’t really want to pursue a job as a physical therapist or a job anywhere in the kinesiology field. All they wanted was to become famous trainers and work in the Olympics and that’s the only reason they entered the field and now they’re sad people with sad lives.
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