Ep. 84 - What is the Kinesiology Health Promotion concentration?

In Episode 84 of the CSUSB Advising Podcast, Matt Markin chats with Dr. Nicole Dabbs, professor and department chair of Kinesiology about the new Health Promotion concentration within the Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. Learn about what students are learning within Health Promotion, what types of career fields students can go into, resources available, and more!

Check out the Kinesiology Health Promotion concentration website!

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Transcript

Matt Markin  
Welcome back to the CSUSB Advising Podcast. This is Matt Markin, an academic advisor at Cal State San Bernardino, and on today's episode, we're learning more about the new health promotion concentration within the Kinesiology major, and we have returning guest Dr. Nicole Dabbs, department chair of Kinesiology, to tell us more about it. Dr. Dabbs, welcome back. 

Dr. Nicole Dabbs  
Hi Matt. Thanks for having me. 

Matt Markin  
And I know you've been on previously, and I believe episode 34 but just in case anyone listens to this one versus the other episode, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Dr. Nicole Dabbs  
Yeah, I'm a professor in kinesiology here. I originally started as a fax member in biomechanics, so mostly I was teaching in biomechanics and statistics, and now I am the Department Chair in Kinesiology. And so I helped make the schedule and help develop new new concentrations that we think our students would be interested in. And so I think we're really excited to promote our health promotion concentration today.

Matt Markin  
All right, awesome. And yeah. And then, speaking of health promotion, can you tell us more about the Health Promotion concentration and maybe even also describing what Kinesiology is?

Dr. Nicole Dabbs  
Yeah. So I'll start with what Kinesiology is. It's the scientific study of human movement and how physical activity and sport improve movement and function across the lifespan. So some of our faculty do research with younger with kids, and then some do with older adults, and then anywhere in between, so looking at just how the body is moving and the scientific foundations with that. And then the student students will be taking classes, of course, within all those areas, so with different sort of lenses throughout their time as a Kinesiology student. And so our kinesiology program, everyone in our degree program will get a Bachelor's of Science in Kinesiology. So and then with that, you'll we have four concentrations. And so we've had, historically, the three allied health professions, exercise science, and our physical education and adaptive physical education. So recently, starting fall 24 which we're not there yet, but we're almost there. We're preparing for that is to have our health promotion concentration start. So this is our fourth concentration, and this concentration is a little more focused on people that are interested in a broad spectrum of health related careers with the goal of helping others improve their overall health and well being. And so, of course, you're still Kinesiology major, so you still have that lens of physical movement and activity, but now bringing in this a little bit more of a specialty in overall well being and health.

Matt Markin  
And I guess, let's say a student's interested, and maybe their question might be, what would I be learning in my classes or doing in my classes? Maybe for Health Promotion versus the the other concentrations?

Dr. Nicole Dabbs  
Yeah, so again, you're going to have that core that's going to be the same for everyone in our major, but that difference is going to be where we've now incorporated health science courses. So in the concentration you'll students will be required to take three health science courses with like behaviors, health behaviors, Epidemiology, things that will broaden students perspective of health and not just related to physical activity or movement. And so I think that will be good for students that are interested in a little bit of beyond the scope of just physical activity as it relates to health, but kind of broadening that spectrum. And then, of course, we have a couple kinese classes that would be required. And the other unique thing is in the electives, there's 11 electives that students get to pick from, and there's sort of a long list that they can kind of cater their interests. So some of it is more health science classes that they want to get more into the health aspects, or there are some more kinesiology classes. And so it's really they get to, kind of pick what makes sense for them and what they're most interested in.

Matt Markin  
Okay, great. And of course, you know you were talking about this being a broad spectrum. And I'm sure you know the question you'll get to is going to be the career fields type of question. So let's say a student might be interested, but they're like, you know, would this, would health promotion concentration be ideal for me? What kind of career fields might be able to go into? How would you answer that?

Dr. Nicole Dabbs  
Yeah, this. Our students are already doing some of these things before we had this concentration. But because of the interest, we really thought we would give our students a better foundation going into these jobs. So one thing that our students could go into jobs like peer health, health education. So like peer like, either that peer education. So that happens on a college campus. So our university hires peer educators that will go into classes and hold workshops that some students might have already been to. One of those on our campus right now is one of our alumni, and so graduated from our program and then got our masters in more of a health related master's program. And so, you know, I think that pairs nicely. Other career options could be a school based health. So working at a in a school, K through 12 system workplace wellness. So when you go to any occupational setting, a lot of people are investing a lot a lot of companies are investing a lot more into workplace wellness. So what does that mean? What does that even look like? And so that looks like fitness and activity, which our students should be prepared to help manage but also, it also isn't just about physical wellness. It's also about mental wellness, and all the other dimensions of wellness that we're kind of getting a little bit a taste in our context concentration of that of the different holistic approach of well being. Other types of careers might be working for like a county or the government in in those health related health educator roles that happens a lot in in our own communities. And then another is like health coaching or Health Consulting. One internship that our students have done historically for a lot of years is that San Antonio Regional Hospital, and they do health coaching there, and that, to me, is like the most direct relationship. And I think our students love doing that, and they really get to kind of match their patient care, their want for patient care, but it has a different approach. So they're not a clinician necessarily, but they're coaching someone that maybe just got diagnosed with diabetes, and how they manage that new diagnosis, whether that's with exercise and and nutrition, or if that's also with medication and just, you know, coaching them through that experience. So, you know, it is pretty broad. Students can also get their masters in. You know, it opens them up to different opportunities for a master's program. So one option could be here at CSUSB, our health science department has a master's in public health, so that if they really enjoy the health aspect, they could kind of expand to a master's program that is more health related. And I think that's really beneficial, because you can really get the exercise, that physical activity component, in your undergrad, but then take it and then take it and you have that understanding of both, which I think is valuable. 

Matt Markin  
Definitely a lot, a lot of options there for students. And you know, Do you have suggestions for a student if maybe they're they're interested, but I don't know if I want to declare health promotion or something else. Maybe I'm on the fence. How would you help that student?

Dr. Nicole Dabbs  
Yeah, I think the first thing that they can do themselves is run up, run their pause report on a what if, and it just is in the system now. So now students can actually live, go and do that before we have our advising sheets. And so we're sort of telling them to look at that. But now you can actually run what you've taken. The students can run what they've taken against the new concentration. And see, you know, where does that put them? What else did they you know, are they wasting time if they switch over? Or, I think they may find out that a lot of classes they probably already have taken will probably count in that concentration. And so that could be the first step that they can do on their own. Of course, we're always going to recommend advising, and so going to see an issue advisor, or one of our faculty advisors, or both, both is probably recommended from what we recommend. And so seeing both of those, because it gives you perspective from a couple different angles. You know, our faculty can speak a little bit more to the careers and what you would do with that. And then, you know, a sua can kind of get to the logistical things of just, you know, moving over, and what that looks like. And so, of course, we don't want you to move over. It's going to delay your graduation too much. But again, I don't think it will. For most students, it kind of depends, of course, where you're at in in your college program. So and then for students that are not kinesiology majors at all, that maybe are considering switching to our major, like, for example, pre Nursing majors. This concentration was also built to help our pre Nursing majors. And specifically, what it does is for pre Nursing majors that are waiting to get into the nursing program, maybe they've taken all the classes for pre nursing they're sort of in this, like this hybrid spot where they're trying to wait until they get in. But they have, they need to take classes to be an active student, our recommendation. And so in the College of Natural Sciences, recommendation is to continue taking classes towards a degree program where they can graduate. And so one of those degree programs could be our program and health promotion. And the reason health promotion could be better for a pre nursing student is all the electives that we have in our concentration, our pre nursing students are already completed, like they all the pre nursing classes are in our electives. So essentially they're, you're getting to count all the things you've already done. So it essentially isn't a waste of units that you've taken in pre nursing. And then you apply to nursing, you get in, then you know, you don't take our classes any longer, you go into nursing. But there's a chance, because hard to get into the nursing program. Nursing program that you don't, students don't get into nursing, and they decide they want to just get a degree in a health related field, and this is a good avenue to do that. And so, and it's quicker, because this classes that they've already taken count. So that is something that is on our website. We do have a specific area on. Our health promotion webpage that talks about for pre nursing, we have a roadmap for students and things like that, specifically for pre nursing, on top of our any other student, just because we know their circumstances a little more unique.

Matt Markin  
All right, yeah, and we'll make sure to add the your website in our show notes as well. And Dr. Dabbs, do you think there are any misconceptions that one might have when they hear health promotion.

Dr. Nicole Dabbs  
I can't think of much. I mean, I think the main, main one might be, you know, that our degree program is still kinesiology, and so I think some with health promotion. You know, some people get their PhDs in health promotion, right? And so it's not necessarily from a physical activity lens, which is what Kinesiology is more about. So it's sort in making sure that students understand that health promotion is under still the umbrella of Kinesiology.

Matt Markin  
And then last question would be, you know, whether it's a health promotion concentration or any of the concentrations within Kinesiology. Are there any resources that you can talk about that students would would get through your department?

Dr. Nicole Dabbs  
Yeah. So the resources. Our website is the best place. We keep it up to date. We have as much information as we can on there, and so on our health promotion page with the link in that show notes, I'm guessing we'll have road maps. They'll have advising sheets for you. Additionally, on our website, we have a site called Who is my advisor, and specifically talking about faculty advisors in our department. And so there, there's a really easy way to book an appointment to faculty advisor. We also give instructions of how to see your sua advisor. And so those are the main resources that we have on there. We also for each program that we have, or each concentration, we have a alumni spotlight. And so it talked the alumni in each of those concentrations, talks about what they're doing, what job they're in. We have a quote from them and their time here. And so we really believe in connecting with our alumni and making sure students are connected as to because I think it's really important to have our students understand that it's possible to do what they want, and that students are doing that now in those fields, and they're out, they've gotten their PhDs, they're in university settings, they're practicing clinicians, they're all They're all over the Inland Empire, they're all over the country. And so bringing connection to our alumni is really important for us. But yeah, all that's on our website, and so that's the really good resource our front office and HP 120 has advising sheets printed. They have, we have QR codes for links to book your advising appointment and things like that. But I would say our website is your number one stop to find all the information, and then if you can't find it, feel free to email me as well.

Matt Markin  
All right, wonderful. Well, Dr. Dabbs, a lot of great information about your new concentration within Kinesiology. Hope our students get to learn more about it. Listen to the podcast episode. Thank you so much for being on the podcast again, yeah,

Dr. Nicole Dabbs  
no problem. Thanks for having me.