Programs in exercise science and kinesiotherapy prepare people to teach others how to exercise. Students learn to treat health problems such as disease, disorders, and injuries using exercise as therapy. They study body mechanics and learn to manage exercise programs.

Do your friends call you an "exercise nut"? Do you pore over fitness magazines and give workout advice to your friends? If you answered "yes" to these questions, and are interested in applying your passions for fitness and exercise to the field of healthcare, then exercise science and kinesiotherapy might be the right program of study for you.

Kinesiotherapists and exercise scientists often work under the supervision of a physician. Using exercise, they help patients who suffer from health problems such as a chronic disease, a spinal injury, or even just the effects of aging. Sometimes an exercise program helps strengthen a patient against pain or immobility. Other times, the program actually helps eliminate the health problem altogether.

As an exercise scientist, you might conduct aquatic conditioning classes at a gym for the residents of a local nursing home. Or you might work one-on-one with a patient who recently suffered a heart attack and needs to start an exercise program to strengthen his heart and improve his health.

This program combines basic science knowledge with courses in exercise science and its clinical applications. As a student, you might learn about neurological, cardiovascular, or geriatric diseases. You would also study methods of using exercise as therapy. Then, you would apply your understanding of using exercise as therapy to the variety of different health problems that you studied.

Many schools offer programs in exercise science and kinesiotherapy. These programs fall under many different department names besides "exercise science" and "kinesiotherapy." These names include "movement science," "sports medicine," "sports science," and "physical education."

You can get a certificate, or an associate, bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree in this program. A few schools offer undergraduate certificates, which typically take between one to two years of full-time study after high school. A postgraduate certificate means that you first have to earn a bachelor's degree in a related field before you can get a certificate in this program. This would mean about five or six years of full-time study after high school.

An associate degree usually takes about two to three years, a bachelor's degree four years, a master's degree about five or six years, and a doctoral degree about ten to eleven years of study.