Tag Archives: Colleges & Universty

Sports Medicine Colleges – Getting the Right Education to Launch Your Career

Posted on by

Staring your sports medicine career is going to require getting your sports medicine education underway. You will need to spend a little time researching and exploring your options for sports medicine colleges. You choice of college should be based on a few simple criteria, which include:

· Matching your career choice and college curriculum.

· Cost of the school.

· Location of the school

· School Reputation

Defining Your Career Choice is the Starting Point of the Search

One thing to be very cautious about when choosing a sports medicine college is to not lose sight of your personal goals and ambitions. You may have made a decision to become a Physical Therapist with a specialty in sports medicine and during your search you suddenly get distracted by all the other career choices and their potentially lower costs. Stick to your plans or you may discover you have headed into a career you will not enjoy.

The choices for certain specialties become limited very quickly. As an example, to pursue a sports medicine education to become a Sports Medicine Physician means you will be acquiring a four year Bachelor of Science degree, spending 4 years in medical school, 3 years in residency, and possibly more time in a fellowship to acquire acceptance into your specialized field. Since only a small percentage of schools are accredited medical schools your choices reduce rapidly. You must first qualify and be accepted into the college. Here are couple examples of top medical programs for Sports Physicians:

· Stanford University – The University offers one of the few fellowship programs in the nation for specializing in this field. The program offers access to their Human Performance Laboratory which explores sports medicine using cutting edge technology and works in partnership with the Stanford University athletic teams and departments.

· Ohio State University – Another fellowship program offered through a top medical university. The program offers many of the same advantages as Stanford.

It is important to note both of these programs require you have already finished college, medical school, and your residency. Sports Medicine Physicians are not created in medical school but in their continuing training after becoming a Doctor. These two programs make Stanford and Ohio State the two top sports medical universities in the nation.

Schools for Medicine – Other Career Areas

When you change your focus away from being a physician to selecting other careers within medicine your choice of schools expands rapidly. As an example, if you wanted to pursue a career as a massage therapist working with athletes you can find schools in many states including the following schools:

· Denver School of Massage Therapy

· Woodridge School of Massage Therapy in Chicago

· Omaha School of Massage and Healthcare at Herzing University

· Nevada School of Massage Therapy – Las Vegas, Nevada

· Arizona School of Massage Therapy

Is Sports Physical Therapy the Right Direction for Your Career?

Another educational pursuit is in becoming a Physical Therapist. This is one of the better paying careers in medicine. You can choose from one of the 212 accredited colleges. Of these 212 schools for sports medicines 203 offer doctorate degrees in Physical Therapy with the other 9 offering Masters Programs. Your requirements to become a Sports Physical Therapist are as follows:

· Complete a Bachelor Degree program. No specific degree is required but including courses on biology, anatomy, physiology, and other related sciences is highly recommended.

· Earn your graduate degree in Physical Therapy. The doctorate programs take approximately 3 years to complete, with masters programs averaging 2.5 years.

· Residency in Physical Therapy – An average 1500 hours of on the job work under the supervision of a licensed therapist is required.

· Pass Licensing Exam – This is administered on a state by state basis.

· Pass Exam to Become a Physical Therapy Specialist in Sports. This specialty designation is offered through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties and requires you have practiced physical therapy for 2000 hours plus passed their exam. This is not required to work in sports medicine but does give you added credentials.

With the slight difference in time to receive a doctorate or masters it would be in your own best interest to pursue a doctorate degree. With over 200 schools offering specialties in Physical Therapy you will be able to find a school within your budget and in a location near you.

As can be seen by our three examples your choice of sports medicine degree colleges is highly dependent on the career path you select. Your starting point is choosing whether you wish to be a trainer, doctor, physical therapist, or other choose a different career. You can then quickly uncover the right sports medicine colleges for you.

College Success – What Does it Take?

Posted on by

College success is not as difficult for most young students as learning how to take on adult responsibilities. Letting go of adolescence and becoming an adult is more challenging according to Carl Pickardt, Psychologist and adolescent specialist. If you take responsibility for showing up to class regularly, turning papers and work in on time, and sacrificing some of the time spent with friends in favor of more study time, you have won half the battle for achieving college success. Being responsible for meeting the demands of college (ability to respond and step up to the plate) is one of the keys to college achievement.

You already have been using some of the higher level thinking skills needed to succeed in college. You use these skills when you solve your life problems and overcome obstacles. Your lack of success in college will not be because you are not smart enough. There are many different types of intelligence and my experience in working with hundreds of students has shown that practically every student is smart in one way or another. For more information on different types of intelligence other than IQ, you can read the theories of Howard Gardner (Multiple Intelligences), Robert Sternberg (Successful Intelligence) and Daniel Goleman (Emotional and Social Intelligence).

In addition to self-responsibility, there are three other factors you will need to succeed in college:

1. Learning how to learn and study skills — You need to learn how to learn effectively and the ways that you learn best. Most colleges offer at least one college success course which can teach you these skills. These courses also need to be taught to high school students, but sadly few high schools provide them. A good college success course will teach you: how to study and learn, reading comprehension strategies, your best learning styles and types of intelligences, how to set and reach your goals, time management, discovery of your talents and strengths, career exploration, writing skills, note taking, problem solving, and more.

2. Work Ethic — Good study and work habits will lead you to success in college and in the work force. Good study skills will only be effective if you apply them. They will be worthless to you if you do not use them.

3. Motivation — Without motivation you will not consistently use good study skills, work habits and your intelligence and potential. There are two types of motivation, the carrot (pleasure) and the stick (pain). When you use these together you will have a powerful motivational combination. Keep your long-range goals for achieving a college education in your mind’s eye. For example, let’s say you want a degree in secondary education to become a teacher. Visualize and imagine yourself as a teacher who is making a positive difference for your students. Enjoy the positive feelings that come when you see yourself as a great teacher. This is the carrot and a reminder of one of the benefits (pleasure) you will experience by achieving your goal. Also remind yourself of the stick (pain) or the consequences if you do not achieve your goal of completing a degree in secondary education. It can deprive you of becoming a teacher. Reminding yourself of the benefits and consequences will help you to stay motivated and persistent. Also break your long-range goals into small steps. Every step accomplished provides you with positive feedback and will increase your motivation to reach your long-range goals.

You can succeed in college, in your career, and in your life. Where to begin? Start with college success by taking responsibility, learning how to learn effectively and how you learn best, using good study skills and work habits, and by fueling your motivation to succeed. Use these four keys and you will open the door to college success and the gateway to your dreams.