I'd like to transition my career into health & fitness? What's the best way?

Question

I'm interested in going back to school for a different kind of career. I'm interested in the health and fitness field and/or a degree in Sports Medicine. I have a certification in personal training, but would like an official degree to confidently move into a specialized area of study. Any advice would be great! I could imagine myself working as a high school coach on the humble side or for a Sports team of some kind on the more extravagant side. Even physical therapy sounds interesting.

Answer 1

I am a physical therapist and I think it is a great field, but I started as an athletic trainer - I think this might be a good idea for you if you want to work with a sports team. You would need to go to an accredited school, work in the field to gain experience, and pass the exam to become an ATC (Certified Athletic Trainer). Then you could work for a high school or college, in a physical therapy clinic, maybe even teach a sports medicine class at the school you work at. There are very limited opportunities for working in professional sports, but it is possible too. The ATC's role is prevention (taping, wrapping, educating), assessment (on the field and in the training room), treatment and rehabilitation of the athletes/student athletes' injuries (acute or chronic). I had a lot of fun when I worked as an ATC and often miss it.

Hope I helped! Good luck.

Answer 2

If you are interested in physical therapy, the best thing to do is to start by observing in a clinic...most PT schools in the US require some sort of observation (50 hours at minimum). This will help you to determine if this is, in fact, what you wish to do. The path to physical therapy is a very big commitment and requires significant prerequisite coursework in biology, physics, chemistry, anatomy, math and psychology before you can even apply to a program. It would be best to find out if you would like to do this before starting down the pathway.