Medical Exercise Training is NOT THERAPY
I received this comment this morning on our Medical Exercise Specialist “Facebook” page. This is a long-time concern I have with the fitness industry since we started the MES in 1994. As the industry promotes more collaboration with medical professionals, we should also be very cognizant of the laws related to the use of terms and titles in the medical community.
This is the initial comment: “Doc, you should change the title of your Medical Exercise Specialist to Medical Exercise Therapist, instead.”
My response: "The use of the title - Medical Exercise Therapist would be inappropriate. In the majority of states here in the US, the use of “therapist” in a title is illegal without passing a state licensing exam. It is also unethical because "therapist" denotes a medical treatment being provided. The Medical Exercise Specialist (MES) nor any other fitness-based certified professional provides any aspect of medical treatment. The MES...