This 20-hr online course is for fitness and health professionals who want to learn more about using exercise as medicine with patients who suffer from one or more chronic diseases including cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic, or orthopedic dysfunction. As a Medical Fitness Specialist, you will be able to prevent and/or manage numerous chronic diseases, and collaborate with clinicians.
Course Delivery and Assessment
This is an online course; all materials are delivered virtually.
This course is delivered through a written course manual, video narrated slide presentations, videos of sample exercises, and sample forms. Comprehension of the material will be measured via a mandatory, multiple-choice item, competency assessment requiring a minimum of 80% correct responses in order to pass.
System Note: We recommend students access courses using Firefox as their browser. The Google Chrome browser can automatically play all videos in a lesson at the same time, which may be an extremely annoying feature for some, and for which, at the present, there is no easy fix in the Google Chrome settings.
Course Prerequisite
The Medical Fitness Specialist online course is considered advanced level education, and is meant to be taken by fitness professionals who have previously acquired education and experience as a professional within the health and fitness industry. In order to receive the Certificate of Specialization that is conferred upon those who complete the course and successfully pass the competency assessment, you must show proof of the following:
- Evidence of a current certification, or vocational credential, from a reputable certifying or credentialing organization, and within the health and fitness industry; OR
- Evidence of an associate’s degree, or higher, from an accredited college or university in the field of exercise science, kinesiology, physical education, fitness, or a related field; AND
- Evidence of professional liability insurance; AND
- Evidence of 5 years of relevant work experience.
Maintaining this Specialization
This Certificate of Specialization will be considered valid for a period of two years, and to keep it current, you must complete ten (10) topically relevant, continuing education hours, prior to the date of its expiration, and you must formally renew the certificate. Professionals should anticipate and consider the cost of the required continuing education, as well a nominal renewal fee.
MedFit Classroom CEUs
This Specialist Course provides 10 CEUs for other MedFit Classroom Specializations.
Other Continuing Education Credits
This course is approved for credit by:
- American Council on Exercise (ACE) to provide 1.9 CEUs
- Canfitpro to provide 4 CECs.
- International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) to provide 20 CEUs.
- National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) to provide 1.9 CEUs
If your certifying body is not listed, you will be provided with a Certificate of Specialization at the end of the course that can be used to petition your certifying body for credit.
About the Course Author
Dan Mikeska’s mission is to improve population health and to increase the quality of life by connecting education, medicine, and fitness. This goal can be achieved by providing an educational pathway for fitness professionals who want to become respected members of the healthcare community, prompting clinicians to prescribe exercise, and encouraging patients to enlist the services of a qualified fitness professional.
Dan’s philosophy centers on the fact that human movement is a complicated and coordinated effort between your muscles, skeleton, and metabolism, and everyone is different. Knowing how each of the systems of the bodywork, independently and in concert, is essential in the development of an effective fitness program.
In addition to a doctorate degree in Health Science and a master’s degree in Human Movement, Dan has some of the most sought after certifications from The National Academy of Sports Medicine, the American Council on Exercise, the Cancer Exercise Training Institute, and the Exercise is Medicine credential from the American College of Sports Medicine.
His education and vast experience have given him the opportunity to work with notable organizations such as Life with Cancer and 2Unstoppable, as well as teach fitness and wellness classes at Northern Virginia Community College. He is currently adjunct faculty for A.T. Still University’s master’s of Kinesiology program, and is a member of the Industry Advisory Council for American Public University’s Sports and Health Science program.