Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology

General Information

Exercise physiology is a rapidly evolving field that is becoming increasingly important in the delivery of health care. Exercise physiologists are trained to evaluate people in the areas of cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, neuromuscular integration, and body composition. They are also trained to provide exercise programs based on the results of these evaluations that are designed to increase the functional capacity of the participants.

Exercise physiologists work to prevent or delay the onset of chronic disease in healthy participants or to provide therapeutic or functional benefits to patients with known disease. Services may be offered in a variety of medical settings such as hospitals, rehabilitation centers, out-patient clinics; in nursing homes and senior citizens centers; in community, corporate, commercial and university fitness and wellness centers, as well as in research and academic settings. Employment opportunities are expanding and increase with experience and level of education.

Bachelor of Science

The Bachelor of Science program in Exercise Physiology meets the knowledge, skill and aptitude (KSA) requirements for students to be eligible to take the American College of Sports Medicine Health and Fitness National Examination and the National Strength and Conditioning Association Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist Examination. The bachelor of science is also an excellent preparatory program for graduate or professional school. Graduates continue their education in areas such as exercise physiology, physical therapy, dentistry, pharmacy, occupational therapy, or medicine. The program is designed to provide students a background in basic science and exercise physiology as well as courses in nutrition, athletic training, personal fitness, first aid and emergency care.

Admission Requirements

Students must meet the minimum requirements for WVU for admission to the program. All coursework completed prior to transfer to the exercise physiology program requires at least a 2.75 cumulative grade point average and a grade of C or better in all required courses.

Program Requirements

I. University Requirements

Students must complete the University requirements for the general education curriculum.

II. Program Requirements

Students must complete the following courses or course equivalents in theory and foundation to meet the exercise physiology program requirements.

COURSES

• CHPR 172 First Aid and Emergency Care

• PSYCH 241 Intro to Human Development

• ATTR 121 Sport Injury Control / Management

• ATTR 219 Gross Anatomy

• EXPH 240 Medical Terminology

• EXPH 100 Orientation: Exercise Physiology 1

• EXPH 101 Introduction to Exercise Physiology

• EXPH 364 Kinesiology

• EXPH 369 Strength/Conditioning Methods

• EXPH 370 Writing for Exercise Science

• EXPH 393 SPTP: Physiology of Ex Phys 1

• EXPH 393A SPTP: Physiology-Ex Phys Lab 1

• EXPH 393B SPTP: Physiology of Ex Phys 2

• EXPH 393C SPTP: Physiology-Ex Phys Lab 2

• EXPH 491 Professional Field Experience

• EXPH 475 Indstry Orgnztn-Exrcise Physio

• EXPH 496 Senior Thesis:Capstone

• PHYS 101 Introductory Physics

• PHYS 102 Introductory Physics

• CHEM 115 Fundamentals of Chemistry

• CHEM 116 Fundamentals of Chemistry

• CHEM 231 Organic Chemistry: Brief Course

• CHEM 233 & CHEM 235 *** Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratory

• CHEM 234 & CHEM 236 *** Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Laboratory

• BIOL 101 & 103 ** General Biology and General Biology Laboratory

• BIOL 102 & 104 ** General Biology and General Biology Laboratory

• PSIO 241 or PSIO 441 Elementary Physiology or Mechanisms Body Function

• HN & F 171 Introduction to Nutrition

• STAT 211 or ECON 225 Elementary Statistical Inference or Elemntry Busness/Economcs Stat

• MATH 128 * Plane Trigonometry

• MATH 126B * College Algebra 4-Day

Suggested Electives

• BIOL 219 The Living Cell

• BIOC 339 Intro To Biochemistry

Students must have a grade of C or better in all required courses. Students must have a minimum of 128 hours to graduate. Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or better to remain in the program.

Students may choose the general curriculum tract or health professionals’ tract. Students who intend on applying to medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, or graduate school should take the health professionals tract. Students applying to physical therapy can choose either the general or health professional track.

FAQ

What do I need to get into the program?

As a student entering directly from high school, you must meet the minimum requirements set forth by West Virginia University.

How do I transfer into the program?

As a current WVU student or a transfer student from another school, you must have a 2.75 cumulative grade point average and no required coursework with a grade lower than a “C.”

What are my career options?

Opportunities exist to work with athletes, patients, and healthy participants in the areas of disease prevention and cardiovascular rehabilitation in a variety of medical settings such as hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and out-patient clinics, in community, corporate, commercial and university fitness and wellness centers, in nursing homes and senior citizens centers, as well as in research and academic settings.

Can I go to Medical school, graduate or other professional schools with this degree?

A high percentage of the graduates of our undergraduate program choose to go on to professional schools for additional training including: medical school, schools of dentistry, pharmacy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. Our undergraduate program is the ideal and preferred pre-medical and pre-professional training program because it provides training in human anatomy, human physiology, human pathophysiology, all of the pre-requisites for medical school and also provides a sound clinical training with patients (e.g., patients with cardiovascular disease, diabetes etc.) in our human performance laboratory, under the supervision of clinical faculty and the medical director.