We see a lot of students who struggle with the differences of exercise science vs athletic training, and with good reason! These are related and intersecting fields. Both support physically active populations, but in very different ways. For example, graduates from an exercise science program and an athletic training program may work together in a secondary school; one as a physical education teacher, the other as an athletic trainer. One designs a curriculum to promote wellness and physical activity, the other serves student-athletes as a health care professional. Which role would you like to fill? As you can see, one may serve you better than the other, depending on your goals, personality, and interests. Let’s take a deep dive into both, and hopefully by the end you’ll see which one will best serve you in your career aspirations.
What is Athletic Training?
Let’s start with athletic training. Athletic trainers are healthcare professionals who work with physically active individuals. They may provide emergent care, examinations and clinical diagnoses, and therapeutic intervention. They also help with injury prevention, wellness promotion, and education. Athletic trainers rely on a solid foundation of exercise science, but they also learn and utilize skills in diagnostic imaging, splinting, emergency care, among others.
What does this look like? Athletic trainers have such a broad skill-set that it can be hard to pin down a specific job description. Yes, athletic trainers rush out on the field after an injury occurs in a sporting event. But they also see patients in a hospital clinic. Or consult at training facilities for police or military recruits!
How does one become an athletic trainer? The industry is moving away from undergraduate athletic training degrees. Most commonly, students receive an undergraduate degree in a related field (like exercise science!) and a Master’s in Athletic Training in order to qualify to sit for the Board of Certification Exam, and then for licensure.
Opportunities in Athletic Training
As I hinted at above, athletic trainers work in many settings and take on many roles. The traditional setting is with athletes, whether they are in a secondary school or professional league. In these settings athletic trainers are in a unique position to provide long-term care and develop working relationships with a relatively small, fixed population of athletes. However, “non-traditional” or “emerging” fields are a fast-growing part of the profession. Athletic trainers are in performing arts settings (such as dance, Broadway, or theme parks), and even in industrial settings, where they can help treat individuals performing repetitive motions, such as those working on manufacturing assembly lines. They are also found alongside physicians in hospitals and clinical settings. Depending on what setting they choose, athletic trainers may focus more on injury prevention, rehabilitation, emergency care, or other specializations.
What is Exercise Science?
Exercise science is a field of research on the human body, with a focus on wellness and health promotion. Researchers study the underlying mechanisms of the human body to understand how the body moves, functions, and adapts in active individuals, with a goal of understanding the links between fitness, exercise, diet, and health.
As exercise science is so broad, students usually choose a specialization. For example, students in the University of Idaho Exercise, Sport, and Health Sciences bachelor’s degree can choose to specialize in:
- Community Health Education and Promotion
- Fitness, Health, and Human Performance
- Physical Education Teacher Certification
- Pre-Athletic Training
- Pre-Physical Therapy
As you can see, exercise science encompasses many smaller fields. Within it are nutritionists, community health researchers, physical education teachers, and many others.
Opportunities in Exercise Science
Unlike athletic training, students can receive an undergraduate degree in exercise science. Depending on their goals, they can stop there or receive further education. After earning an undergraduate degree, students can get exercise science jobs in a fitness facility as a Personal Trainer, or Group Exercise Instructor. They can work in a school as a Physical Education Instructor or go into coaching and scouting. Master’s degrees in exercise science are available for students to specialize even further into fields such as nutrition, sport psychology, or wellness coaching. If interested in medical opportunities, exercise science students can go into specialized graduate programs for fields like physical therapy, occupational therapy… or athletic training! All athletic trainers have foundational knowledge in exercise science, but not all exercise scientists are athletic trainers.
Which one is better for you?
It can be a challenge to tease out which field is a better fit for you. The most important thing to consider is what you’d like to do after graduation. Degrees in either one will help you support physically active populations, but in different ways. What roles would best fit your personality? Would you like to be a Health Educator, Coach, or Fitness Trainer? If that is the case, your best bet is exercise science. Would you like to focus in on patient care, helping people prevent and recover from injuries and illnesses? Then you might consider athletic training.
Conclusion
As I said at the beginning, exercise science and athletic training are related fields with significant overlap. Both serve people who are physically active, and both rely on an understanding of how bodies move, adapt, and function under different conditions. However, I hope you can see now how they are different too. Here at the University of Idaho, our athletic training students lean on exercise science to help promote wellness and prevent injuries, but also move beyond exercise science with skills such as diagnostic imaging and emergency care.