- Target:
- Texas Legislature, TMA, other critical individuals in the process toward passing CEP license bill
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.acsm-cepa.org
Clinical Exercise Physiologists (CEPs) are certified healthcare professionals that design, implement and supervise exercise programming for those with chronic diseases and conditions.
CEPs have a unique scope of practice and many other established elements of a profession: a national professional organization, an accreditation process for graduate programs, a national certification exam, and a distinct body of knowledge and skills associated with competency.
Currently, in the United States of America, there are licensed doctors, dietitians, nurses, and physical therapists, but there are no licensed CEPs outside of the state of Louisiana. CEPs are typically found working in cardiac stress testing labs, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation centers, diabetes care programs, and bariatric centers.
It is imperative that those with the authority to take care of patients in these settings have a fully qualified background in order to provide the highest quality care and to protect the patients, the doctors, the clinic/ hospital, and the healthcare provider. Licensing CEPs means that the scope of practice and the qualifications would be legally delineated. The qualifications would entail a Master's degree in clinical exercise physiology or closely related area in conjunction with the American College of Sports Medicine Clinical Exercise Specialist certification (CES) and/ or Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist (RCEP) certification.
Legislation would include a carefully delineated, one-year grandfather clause for those that have long term occupational experience as CEPs but do not satisfy all criteria as denoted above.
CEPs have been practicing the "exercise as medicine" philosophy for a while, and just like a medical doctor needs a license to prescribe a blood pressure medication, it is imperative to license CEPs who recommend medical exercise to their patients.
Because of the enhanced respect, credibility, trust, and quality of CEPs in addition to the enhanced protection of the patients upon licensing CEPs in Texas, we ask your support of this petition to have the Texas Legislature pass a clinical exercise physiologist license law.
By my signature below, I am illustrating my support for a clinical exercise physiologist license law within the state of Texas.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Support for Texas Exercise Physiologist License Law petition to Texas Legislature, TMA, other critical individuals in the process toward passing CEP license bill was written by Anonymous and is in the category Health at GoPetition.