Stretch your legs with exercise science program 

Alisa Chmerenko | Contributor 

WCC has an exercise science program that is designed to give students practical and theoretical knowledge of health and fitness for the workforce or prepare them to transfer to a university to get a higher education for more opportunities.  

Patrick Johnson, a full-time biology instructor of the exercise science program, has a lot of experience in the health field and teaching, which he uses to improve the program and give students more opportunities. Right now, Johnson is working on expanding the program and its prospects: recruiting a tutor for the students, improving the transfer process to the universities, obtaining more high-tech equipment, finding smoother ways to get working experiences and much more. 

Johnson said that WCC has advanced technology in the labs that help students do measurement tests such as VO2 max, which is the maximum oxygen consumption during intense exercise, resting metabolic rate, and respiratory exchange ratio, providing students with hands-on experience. In addition, the lab has an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) to measure electrical signals in the heart. 

Johnson shared that students who want to get a job right away after completing a WCC exercise science degree have two main career options: group exercise instructors or personal trainers. In addition, scholars can find jobs in the healthcare industry related to exercise science with an associate degree.

On the question of continuing a student’s education after getting an associate degree, Johnson said, “It really does depend on what your end goal is, and there is a lot you can take in exercise science.”

Catherine Gammon is an associate professor of exercise science and undergraduate coordinator of EMU’s Exercise Science Program She visited the BIO 110 Introduction to Exercise Science class and described the opportunities for career and transfer opportunities for future students. 

Gammon explained that students typically fall into two categories: people who want to enter employment right after a bachelor’s degree, such as strength and conditioning/sport performance, personal training and cardiac rehabilitation or people who want to pursue jobs that require further degrees, such as athletic training, occupational therapy, orthotics and prosthetics, physical therapy, physician’s assistant, university teaching and researching.

“For students of WCC, you have two options for coming and joining us in the Eastern (EMU) and obtaining a bachelor’s degree. Option one is that you can complete the Washtenaw and EMU’s Articulation Agreement. Option two is taking courses directly equivalent to the advanced exercise science program,” explains Gammon. 

For scholars who decided to take Eastern Michigan University’s articulation agreement route, the requirement is 44 hours at EMU, instead of the usual 60 hours. After taking required courses at WCC, students can obtain a bachelor’s degree from EMU in about four semesters. There are three groups of classes: general education courses at WCC (31 credits), exercise science courses at WCC (45 credits), and exercise science courses at EMU (44 hours). The students taking the second option must take WCC courses equivalent to EMU courses, transfer, and complete at least 60 hours at EMU.

In addition, EMU allows students to complete the combined programs (combined exercise science/orthotics and prosthetics, exercise science/athletic training, and exercise science/exercise physiology), which allows complete bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years. 

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