Competencies

Competencies describe activities or behaviors you should be able to demonstrate after completing your program.

  • Articulate evidence of and for causality; develop hypotheses.
  • Use, interpret and explain statistical methodology.
  • Use information systems to conduct efficient searches of scientific literature
  • Critically analyze relevant scientific literature.
  • Explain how exercise impacts diverse physiological, biophysical and metabolic systems in humans.
  • Describe how physical activity and exercise performance are impacted by disease, disability, and aging through lifespan.
  • Explain how physical activity and exercise can be used in the prevention and management of chronic disease and disability through lifespan.
  • Describe the implementation of functional assessment evaluations (exercise, or motion analysis).
  • Interpret the results from functional assessment evaluation (exercise, or motion analysis) as they apply to healthy, disabled, or diseased populations.
  • Identify the long term benefits of regular physical activity and exercise on lifespan and population health.
  • Implement appropriate training and nutritional strategies to improve physical performance.
  • Describe the mechanisms of injury and repair and the use of exercise as a therapeutic agent.
  • Describe the use of physical activity as a means to achieve public health goals as established by local, state and federal agencies.
  • In oral or written form, communicate ideas and exchange constructive criticisms.
  • Develop a personal plan for ongoing education and professional development after graduation.
  • Describe the basic concepts of research design including selection of appropriate observational and experimental models; design of experimental interventions for animals and human subjects.
  • Comprehend principles of ethics, laboratory safety, issues in individual and community trials; demonstrate and value ethical principle in authorship of proposals obtain approval from review boards.
  • Write a grant proposal; develop a budget for a grant proposal; Review and analyze grant proposals on the basis of their intrinsic strengths and weaknesses.
  • Research, write and defend a dissertation proposal and a dissertation.
  • Be able to perform functional assessment evaluations specific to the discipline or sub-discipline of exercise science and nutrition.
  • Be able to design experiments related to exercise science.
  • Describe the impact of the environment on exercise performance.