Exercise Physiology Career...bad idea?

Sorry i don't have anything to add, but i just wanted to say that i am in your same position and i am wondering the exact same thing!

I have a buddy who does this. He has a Master's Degree only and makes $65,000 (in Toledo, OH - adjust for your area of the country). He works for a hospital and deals mainly with people who are either recovering from heart surgery or some sort of foot or leg injury although he works with other patients too. He puts them through the rigors of rehabilitation.

His thoughts as relayed to me:

1) He works with more elderly people than not elderly people

2) He says this a lot - "You can't eat that."

3) Most of the people hate him for putting them through the pain of the rehabilitation, but they are appreciative when it is all over.

Of course, there are different kinds of jobs out there with that skill set, but that's what he does.

Flagpole Willy's friend appears to be in cardiac rehab. However, it seems that the original question dealt with research jobs. These are two totally different areas of exercise physiology. Thing is, this isn't an easily answered question. Many Ph.D.'s in ex. phys. become faculty and do their research at the schools. If you get a good job at a good school, you can make plenty to be comfortable. There are also other types of research jobs available. Companies and other places such as gatorade, OTC, US military, etc., hire ex physiologists but I'm sure those salaries vary as well. I've heard that working for the military is pretty good. I'm finishing my Masters in the field this May and will be pursuing my Ph.D. in order to do research. If you get your doctorate, I wouldn't worry about eating Ramen for the rest of your life. You just need to decide if you want to teach or only do research. A lot of that will depend on your focus area as well. I believe that with my areas of research I could do either. However, I'll probably end up at a research 2 school teaching and doing research.

I left the Exercise Physiology field after eight years. I was tired of being considered a "pseudo-scientist" by the M.D.s and Ph.D.s I worked with (I have a MS). I considered the Ph.D. route for about 30 seconds, and realized that without any business training, I would always be a mid-range wage-earner.

Instead, I added an MBA to the mix. Shortly after receiving that, I went to work as a manager in the marketing department of a large, multi-state health care company, using my scientific knowledge to produce marketing & educational pieces for the company.

From there, I went to work for an advertising agency, which led to a job at a television station, which led to a great job at another television station, where I'm the head of a regional research department.

Ah. You're right. My bad. I missed the research part. Chances are that my buddy makes more doing what he is doing than you will in a research facility, but Runin is correct when he/she says that this isn't an easily answered question.

My general experience with research jobs though (my wife was a research scientist with two Master's Degrees, my brother was a research scientist with a Ph.D, and my sister was a research scientist with a Masters - all three no longer do that - brother became a lawyer and combined his knowledge to make tons of money - wife and sister are stay-at-home moms) is that the pay is very very little.

Hard numbers here - my brother was making $27,500 as a post doc in a lab at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1996 in the Washington DC area before he decided that was too much work for too little pay. My sister was making $35,000 in 2000 in Cleveland, OH as a quality control specialist/researcher for a biotech company. My wife was making $47,000 in 1997 in Washington DC, but only because she combined two Masters Degrees for the job she had. $47,000 in DC is not a lot of money at all, especially for someone with the educational background my wife has. Prior to taking that job she had been offered a job with the CDC in Atlanta making $28,000.

Granted these are not in the field you mention, but it gives you an idea. Most research jobs are funded in a similar way - grants or venture capital. You can't get rich off of these kinds of jobs usually. You won't starve, but you'll need to live frugally to have a comfortable retirement - in my opinion.

Go into research because you love the hunt, you love the discovery. Go into research because you feel you are contributing to society or you are contributing to your own knowledge and sense of the world. These are noble causes. Don't go into research to make money, retire early, work only 40 hour weeks, have much of a life outside of the lab.

Good luck with your decision. It has been my experience that les than 50% stay with research positions beyond what a post doctoral position would be. Most get out when they start a family.