Anyone else here major in Kinesiology/Ex-Phys?

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RogueBanana

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I was a Kinesiology major with a focus on biomechanics and a minor in Organic Chem. I love kinesiology, and I'm really interested in fitness and the physiology of exercise, in fact, my fascination with physiology was a large contributing factor to me pursuing medicine!

However, I wouldn't want to try to work in the Kin field, too many graduates with too few jobs. My school even told us flat out "if you want to get a career with this major, you need to go to grad school".

I was also the only student in my school's kin program's history to go the med school route, many of my classmates are personal trainers or applying to PT school.

Anyone else here go the Kinesiology route? How did you find it? Why did you go medicine instead? Did you feel you couldn't really relate with your peers who wanted to be personal trainers and gym teachers?

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I majored in ex phys and know of many other fellow classmates who are pursuing medicine.

I was the same as you - my lifelong athletic career got me interested in the healthcare field, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do, specifically.

A PT internship gave me the realization that I wanted to challenge myself more, and that PT or OT was not for me. I shadowed and got involved with doctors, and i realized my passion.

I saw your other posts that you are planning on reapplying next cycle. I have always heard that undergrad major doesn't really matter when you are applying. If you have weaknesses in your app, focus on those. Don't be self conscious about what you majored in. Own it and proudly say why you chose it. I find ex phys fascinating, and think exercise should be emphasized more in the treatment process and in preventative treatment, and that's what I talked about in interviews.

Good luck


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I majored in ex phys and know of many other fellow classmates who are pursuing medicine.

I was the same as you - my lifelong athletic career got me interested in the healthcare field, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do, specifically.

A PT internship gave me the realization that I wanted to challenge myself more, and that PT or OT was not for me. I shadowed and got involved with doctors, and i realized my passion.

I saw your other posts that you are planning on reapplying next cycle. I have always heard that undergrad major doesn't really matter when you are applying. If you have weaknesses in your app, focus on those. Don't be self conscious about what you majored in. Own it and proudly say why you chose it. I find ex phys fascinating, and think exercise should be emphasized more in the treatment process and in preventative treatment, and that's what I talked about in interviews.

Good luck


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Thanks for the response!,

I actually got another II recently, so I'm cautiously hopeful that this will be a successful cycle (3 interviews usually = 1 accept)

My weakness was a lack of volunteering which I have been working to address for the past three months and will continue until I enter med school..

Your story is remarkably similar to mine! I had a PT shadowing gig that opened my eyes to how I wanted to be a high-level care provider and not a PT...
 
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I have a kin degree. Honestly I didn't even really choose it because I had to do a diy post bacc after my bio degree, and it just so happened that I was able to get a kin degree given the classes I took in my post bacc. The experience of being in a kin program was....unpleasant for me, since I was the science nerd surrounded by jocks and models (literally, someone in my class won a national pageant). Let's just say I never really thought of myself as being part of the kinesiology family. Funny enough, I found a full-time permanent job in kin before I was able to find a job in biology, and I think it's because there are so few kinesiology majors, so there are fewer people competiting for jobs. I love my kin job! I get to work extensively with the patient population and I am so happy going to work everyday.
 
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I have a kin degree. Honestly I didn't even really choose it because I had to do a diy post bacc after my bio degree, and it just so happened that I was able to get a kin degree given the classes I took in my post bacc. The experience of being in a kin program was....unpleasant for me, since I was the science nerd surrounded by jocks and models (literally, someone in my class won a national pageant). Funny enough, I found a full-time permanent job in kin before I was able to find a job in biology, and I think it's because there are so few kinesiology majors, so there's fewer people competiting for jobs. I love my kin job! I get to work extensively with the patient population and I am so happy going to work everyday.

Interesting, my school's kin program was SATURATED.

From the time I joined as a freshman with about 75 students per class the current freshman class has nearly 300.

I found initial work at a local gym/rehab facility, but nothing that would be a "career". Just a short term job. If I didn't have medical school I'd probably end up doing grad school for chemistry since I cant be a personal trainer for a living. But I get the whole "science nerd" among jocks scenario. I was on the powerlifting team so I had some athletic experience, but I definitely felt as though I was more serious in my studies than most of my classmates.

Kin is very much a "what you make of it" major.

Most kids have low goals so they don't try too hard. But if you put the effort in there's actually a lot to learn in the field.

Though I guess that holds true for bio and the other pre-med majors as well.
 
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I'm a Kinese major and it is also very saturated at my state school. Almost all of the athletes choose it so there is well over 700 people majoring in it. I chose Kinese because I love working out and being active. However, from the start I planned the med school route so I actually never planned on getting a job that required my Kinese degree. All of my backup plans also require grad school so I just picked a degree that I thought would be enjoyable.
 
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I have a physiology degree which gets mistaken for ex-phys on a semi-daily basis. Do I count?
 
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Exercise Science here. Would be utterly f**ked if I wasn't going to medical school. Felt like it was a fantastic transitional major though with biomechanics, applied/exercise phys, pediatric exercise physiology, anatomical kineis, etc. I feel very well prepared for med school.
 
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I have a kin degree. Honestly I didn't even really choose it because I had to do a diy post bacc after my bio degree, and it just so happened that I was able to get a kin degree given the classes I took in my post bacc. The experience of being in a kin program was....unpleasant for me, since I was the science nerd surrounded by jocks and models (literally, someone in my class won a national pageant). Let's just say I never really thought of myself as being part of the kinesiology family. Funny enough, I found a full-time permanent job in kin before I was able to find a job in biology, and I think it's because there are so few kinesiology majors, so there are fewer people competiting for jobs. I love my kin job! I get to work extensively with the patient population and I am so happy going to work everyday.
\

Compound that with the fact that most students don't try very hard in it and you got yourself a very nice situation :)
 
Exercise Science here. Would be utterly f**ked if I wasn't going to medical school. Felt like it was a fantastic transitional major though with biomechanics, applied/exercise phys, pediatric exercise physiology, anatomical kineis, etc. I feel very well prepared for med school.
+1

I already know anatomy/phys and all about muscular function, the sliding filament theory etc...

I didn't know how well kin prepped me for medical school until I interacted with Bio major pre-meds.
 
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+1

I already know anatomy/phys and all about muscular function, the sliding filament theory etc...

I didn't know how well kin prepped me for medical school until I interacted with Bio major pre-meds.
True that. Brb learn about squirrel eating habits vs human phys.
 
+1

I already know anatomy/phys and all about muscular function, the sliding filament theory etc...

I didn't know how well kin prepped me for medical school until I interacted with Bio major pre-meds.
I prefer to call it "hobbling filament theory"
 
dem powerstrokes doe
dat calcium troponin interaction really gets my engine going.


I remember when we were taught why rigor mortis happens. mind blown.
 
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dat calcium troponin interaction really gets my engine going.


I remember when we were taught why rigor mortis happens. mind blown.
Isn't it just because the SR is like "welp, no point in keeping all this Ca2+ anymore"?
 
Isn't it just because the SR is like "welp, no point in keeping all this Ca2+ anymore"?
Pretty much, death= no ATP = no way for the actin and myosin to unbind.
 
Ex-phys major here too, has anyone whose taken the mcat or been prepping for awhile thought that this major has helped them at all with it? Our program seems to hammer a lot of biochemistry topics like glycolysis/glucose transport, fatty acid oxidation, enzyme kinetics, etc on top of the usual repetitive physiological concepts, so I was kinda hoping this would pay off come May
 
Ex-phys major here too, has anyone whose taken the mcat or been prepping for awhile thought that this major has helped them at all with it? Our program seems to hammer a lot of biochemistry topics like glycolysis/glucose transport, fatty acid oxidation, enzyme kinetics, etc on top of the usual repetitive physiological concepts, so I was kinda hoping this would pay off come May

Covering the physiological and biochemical topics in my Ex-Phys classes paid off in spades on the MCAT.

I honestly don't know how people who didn't take physiology do well on the MCAT.
 
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Pretty much, death= no ATP = no way for the actin and myosin to unbind.
^yes. The lack of atp causes the tetanus which just seems crazy to me.
 
Ex-phys major here too, has anyone whose taken the mcat or been prepping for awhile thought that this major has helped them at all with it? Our program seems to hammer a lot of biochemistry topics like glycolysis/glucose transport, fatty acid oxidation, enzyme kinetics, etc on top of the usual repetitive physiological concepts, so I was kinda hoping this would pay off come May

Omg yes. I actually had a couple passages that were about exercise and how they changed some pathways. Aka things I had directly learned about in my ex phys classes. It was amazing
 
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