Careers
The Health and Exercise Science degree program is ideally placed for introducing graduates to an extensive range of solid vocational outcomes. To give you some idea of some of the possible career directions graduates can choose from, consider the following list of industry sectors and professional positions:
Sports Medicine Clinics, Rehabilitation Clinics and Hospitals
- Exercise physiologist: exercise prescription for those at risk of or diagnosed with obesity, insulin resistance, Type II diabetes, elevated cholesterol, osteoporosis.
- Health and fitness consultant: exercise prescription for those wishing to increase their level of physical activty and improve their health profile and preventing the onset of risk factors associated with a sedentary lifestyle
- Biomechanist / ergonomist: monitoring & measuring movement in those with disease & disability. Movement analysis allows for more effective treatment and rehabilitation to reduce movement difficulties.
- Cardiac / Respiratory technician eg stress testing, lung function testing: Performing cardiac stress testing under the supervision of a cardiologist for the purpose of diagnosis of coronary heart disease. Stress testing is also performed for the diagnosis of respiratory disorders.
Commonwealth, State and Local Government Departments
- Health promotions officer: Implementing health promotion policy among the population. This may be in general health promotion or may specifically relate to the promotion of physical activity.
- Program development officer: the development of specific health promotion package for a targeted population group.
- Coaching development officer: overseeing the development of a sport coaching model. This will require the systematic implementation of principles of sport and exercise science to ensure progressive and accountable outcomes for the organisation.
- Media liaison officer
- Local area health service: see health promotion.
Corporate Health
- Fitness/health/exercise consultant: implementation of a health package tailored for the specific needs of an organisation. This organisation may have needs for both "white" & "blue" collar working populations. Physiological testing can help an employee identify their capacity to perform the required tasks with minimal risk to themself.
- Health promotions officer: Promotion of health topics specifically related to the needs of the workplace. This may be for example: safe manual handling.
- Program development: analysis of a workplace population and designing a package of assessment and promotion for improving the health and risk status of employees.
- Exercise physiologist: performing any testing or exercise prescription relevant to the specific population.
Professional Associations
- Development officer
- Executive director/administrative officer
- Research Officer (eg. National Heart Foundation)
Universities and Colleges
- Research officer/assistant
- Research scientist
- Sports Coordinator
- Recreation program officer
Private Practice
- Development officer
- Executive director/administrative officer
- Research Officer (eg. National Heart Foundation)
Health and Fitness Centres
- Exercise physiologist
- Fitness assessor and counsellor
- Facility manager
Further Study
- Research Masters and PhD degrees
- Rehabilitation
- Undergraduate or graduate medicine
- Nutrition
- Public health
- Education
Graduates from this program will be eligible to apply for membership to the professional association for exercise scientists. The Australian Association for Exercise and Sports Science (AAESS) sets standards for ethics, professional capabilities, responsibilities and award salaries. For further information about the industry visit the AAESS website.