Career Opportunities

Most majors in Health and Exercise Science pursue careers as health professionals, including allopathic and osteopathic medicine, dentistry, optometry, physician assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, and pharmacy.  Other interests are in public health, nutrition, exercise science, health research, corporate fitness, medical sales, and personal training.  You can read about many of these and other specific careers at http://www.naahp.org.   

Professional and graduate schools in these areas routinely require additional biological and social science courses outside the Health and Exercise Science Department.  The specific requirements for these programs vary depending on the program and the school.  General guidelines for pursuing postgraduate degrees are detailed below. 

Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine

You can obtain specific information regarding allopathic and osteopathic medicine on the WFU Health Professions Program website (http://www.wfu.edu/~lane/hpp/), at  http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2320.html, or at http://www.aamc.org/.  Dr. Hugo Lane is the faculty advisor for these students.  He can be contacted at lane@wfu.edu.  Generally, courses required for these medical programs include 4 semesters of chemistry (plus biochemistry for many programs), 2 semesters of physics, 1 or 2 semesters of calculus, and 2 semesters of biology.  

The national standardized test for medicine (the MCAT) is an exam based on one year of introductory biology, one year of general chemistry, one year of organic chemistry (although the Wake Forest sequence of four chemistry courses – see below - is different though acceptable to medical schools), one year of introductory physics and one year of English. These courses must be completed, or be in the last stages of completion, by the end of your junior year typically, or before or during the semester you plan to take the MCAT exam.  You can find more information regarding the MCAT at http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/. 

The Health and Exercise Science Major has the second most pre-medical students in the University (Biology major has the most).  The six year average (2001-2006) for acceptance into medical school by Wake Forest students is 72.3%, compared to the national average of 46.6%.  The performance of all Wake Forest graduates who were accepted to allopathic medical school for 2001-2006 was an overall GPA of 3.54 and a science/math GPA of 3.48. The GPA of the matriculates to allopathic medical school nationwide for the 2006 entry class was a 3.64 overall (3.57 science/math, non-science 3.71), and you should strive to maintain at least this level to remain competitive. Nationally, applicants’ GPAs were: 3.48 Overall, 3.38 Sci/math, 3.61 non-science. You will be marginally competitive with GPAs below a 3.3. Veterinary entry levels are as competitive, dentistry less so.

Below you will find one sample course schedule for premedical HES majors.  There may be many adaptations to this, including taking HES 350 – Human Physiology as a sophomore and rearranging physics, chemistry and biology courses.  In addition, students who elect to study abroad during a semester may need to alter their schedule.  If you plan to take the MCAT during or following your senior year you may be able to spread out the premedical science courses into the senior year. 

Dietetics/Nutrition

Suggested courses to take at the undergraduate level:

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Statistics
• Economics

Educational Requirements for Dietetics/Nutrition:
There is a great deal of variety in the academic requirements for the transfer of programs to an undergraduate or graduate Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) or eligibility to complete a Dietetic Internship Program (DI).  Both of these programs must be approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) before eligibility to order to write the CDR registration examination for dietitians is granted.  For a listing of these programs, contact the American Dietetic Association website at http://www.eatright.org. For more information on a specific program, contact the program director.

Professional Organization Website:
The American Dietetic Association (http://www.eatright.org)

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy schools require a bachelor’s degree from a university for admission.  You will then earn a clinical doctorate (DPT) or a master in science (MS) in physical therapy.  The majority of physical therapy schools now offer only a DPT degree with the MS degree being phased out in all programs.  You can learn more specifics about this field at http://www.apta.org or http://www.naahp.org/prof_links.htm.  The length of school for this program ranges from 2.5 to 4 years, after you earn your bachelor degree.  Each graduate program in physical therapy may have different prerequisite courses.  Generally though, schools require chemistry (1 to 4 semesters), biology (1 to 3 semesters), human physiology (HES 350), human anatomy (HES 352), statistics (HES 262), and physics (1 to 2 semesters).  Additionally, psychology (1 to 2 semesters) may be required.  Students must also take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for entry into the graduate physical therapy programs.  You can find more information on this entrance examination at http://www.gre.com. 

A sample schedule of classes needed for this discipline is shown below.  There may be many modifications to this based on several factors, including the school requirements where you are applying and whether you will be studying abroad. 

Physician Assistant

Being a physician assistant is rated one of the top 5 jobs in the US by Money® Magazine.  According to this publication, the advantages are that they do not need to fill out the paperwork that are occupying much of the doctor’s time and they can provide routine health care to patients.  They can specialize, from emergency medicine to pediatrics to orthopedics, and they can switch fields. Thanks to an aging population and demand for more cost-effective care, this job offers a level of security other professions can't match.
They have doctor’s work and bankers' hours.  Physician assistants average 35 to 40 hours a week and they can work part time and in a variety of settings.  The downside is that you are not the ultimate decision maker on patient treatment; and there is little room for advancement.  The top paying job in this field is in cardiothoracic surgery with specialists earning over $100,000.
The majority of schools which have a physician assistant program offer a master in science degree (MS).  You can read more about the profession and specific degree programs at the American Academy of Physician Assistants (www.aapa.org) and the Physician Assistant Education Associations (www.paeonline.org).  These programs range from 2 to 2.5 years after your bachelor degree.  There are approximately 145 programs in nearly all US states, including the District of Columbia. 

The general academic requirements needed for entry into a physician assistant program are chemistry (4 semesters plus biochemistry for most programs), biology (at least 2 semesters plus microbiology), statistics (HES 262), human physiology (HES 350), human anatomy (HES 352).  Students must also take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for entry into the graduate physician assistant programs.  You can find additional information on this entrance examination at http://www.gre.com.  Most physician assistant programs also require students to obtain clinical experience.  This is typically as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA).  The amount of time required for this experience may be as high as 2,000 hours by the time of application.  Consequently, many students work or volunteer for one or more years after their undergraduate education to earn the hours needed to   apply to a physician assistant program.  However, it is possible to accrue some hours through some of the internship or applied field study experiences in the HES Major.

As a general guideline, the following statistics were obtained from the WFU physician assistant program for their class beginning June 2007:

• mean overall grade point average on prior college work of 3.33• mean science GPA on prior college work of 3.20
• mean Graduate Record Exam (GRE) Verbal score of 496
• mean GRE Quantitative score of 593
• mean GRE Analytical Writing score of 4.4
• mean health care experience of 25.4 months (4,414 hours)
• mean age of 27 (range from 21 - 49)

A sample schedule of classes needed for this discipline is shown below.  There may be many modifications to this based on several factors, including the school requirements where you are applying, if you study abroad, and if you plan to  take time off after your undergraduate degree and before applying to accrue experience hours. 

Pharmacy

This profession is consistently ranked in the top 10 of Best Jobs in America by Money Magazine mainly because demand for pharmacists is exploding as the population ages and new medications are developed. By 2010 the number of prescriptions filled is expected to rise 27% to 4.1 billion.  Pharmacists also give advice on over-the-counter meds and help patients manage chronic conditions like diabetes. About 60% work in retail settings, the rest in hospitals and nursing homes and in research or sales for drug companies.  Pharmacists are in such demand that graduates today can expect multiple job offers, signing bonuses and $90K-plus salaries.  The major drawbacks are limited advancement and dealing with insurers and disgruntled patients..