As a student pursuing a career in exercise physiology, you understand the importance that your clinical practice plays in your overall education. Exercise Physiology is very much a one-on-one profession, requiring you to apply your education to individual patient or client situations. Being able to help someone recover from an illness or injury and making sure that the physical portion of their treatment program takes into account their particular abilities, limitations, and needs is something that you learn by experience.
As a result, virtually all educational programs that can lead to a career in exercise physiology include some sort of comprehensive clinical practice component. Whether the degree is in exercise physiology, exercise science, kinesiology, or some other related field, a period of clinical practice will typically be part of the curriculum.
When you are devoting thousands of hours of study and clinical work (as well as tens of thousands of dollars) towards your goal of becoming an exercise physiologist, it is extremely important that you don't allow a misconduct allegation during your clinical work period to derail your career. The impact that one serious misconduct allegation can have on your future can be devastating. That's why it's important to understand the different types of misconduct allegations that can arise and to know what to do if you learn that someone has made a misconduct allegation against you.
The Exercise Physiologist Clinical Practice Requirement
Students pursuing degrees that lead to a career as an exercise physiologist will typically be enrolled in a school-related clinical program as part of their degree program. Whether the clinical work takes place in a campus-related setting, a public hospital or health care program, or with a private health care provider will vary from one program to another. No matter what the setting, however, you will be expected to conduct yourself as a professional, just as you will be after you graduate.
This is why it's important to become familiar with the codes of ethics adopted by exercise physiology certification programs such as the American Society of Exercise Physiologists and the American College of Sports Medicine. These can act as very useful guides as you begin your clinical work and can help you avoid situations that could lead to serious misconduct allegations.
What Kinds of Discipline Can an Exercise Physiologist Student Encounter?
As a student, you face several potential levels of discipline if you are accused of misconduct during your clinical exercise physiology program. These include the following:
- Student Discipline. If your clinical program is operated by or coordinated through your college or university, it is very likely that your school will apply its student code of conduct to your behavior, even while working in what may feel like a completely off-campus clinical situation. And because school codes of conduct can be somewhat vague in the kinds of misconduct that they cover and how misconduct allegations are resolved, if you find yourself being accused of school-related misconduct as a result of something that occurred during your clinical program, you need the help of an experienced student defense attorney who understands how these types of investigations and proceedings operate. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has been helping students all over the US who have been accused of misconduct. School procedures can sometimes be unfair and incomplete; the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help make sure that your rights are respected and defended in any school discipline situation.
- Employer Discipline. Employers typically have their own requirements for employee behavior, and many have comprehensive employee manuals that go into detail about what they expect from employees and how misconduct allegations are resolved. In the healthcare field, there are a number of special requirements relating to patient privacy and well-being that employers are required to pay close attention to. Employers take these obligations very seriously, and what you may think are minor infractions of the employer policy could lead to you losing your clinical position and seriously disrupting your path to becoming an exercise physiologist.
- Certification Organization Discipline. If you are a student member of the American College of Sports Medicine or the American Society of Exercise Physiologists, you may be subject to those organizations' codes of ethics. These set forth specific types of behaviors that are expected of exercise physiologists, as well as ones that are prohibited, and each organization has its own misconduct complaint investigation and resolution procedure. While primarily focused on practicing exercise physiologist members, if you're a student member and a patient or co-worker files a misconduct complaint against you, it could seriously hurt your ability to become a full professional member when you do graduate.
- State Licensing Discipline. Exercise physiology is not a profession that is currently widely licensed by the states. This is likely to change, however, as standards for the profession become more developed and generally accepted.
What Kinds of Misconduct Can Result in Discipline?
There are a number of typical types of behavior that can result in misconduct allegations being filed against you, whether they are filed with your school, your clinical employer, or with a certification organization.
- Sexual misconduct. These types of misconduct claims include allegations of improper sexual advances towards a co-worker or to a patient and, of course, include allegations of sexual assault. They can also include claims of sexist behavior towards another co-worker – whether that worker is a fellow student or a “regular” employee.
- Substance abuse. Working while under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or drugs of any kind – even prescription drugs that may affect your ability to do your job properly – can result in misconduct allegations. When you are working with patients in the healthcare field, it is particularly important to make sure that you are as focused and clear-minded as possible.
- Boundary-crossing allegations. You may see the same patient a number of times and feel as though you are developing a friendship or relationship with them. While at a professional level, this can help make sure that the patient communicates with you in a way that helps you treat them, sometimes the situation goes beyond that. If a patient is offering you gifts, for example, you could be accused of misconduct if you accept them.
- Fraud-type allegations. If you claim to have performed procedures or therapy that you did not, or bill an insurance company for work that wasn't performed, or even if you don't keep proper records of the therapy you provide, you could find yourself on the receiving end of a misconduct claim. This is why it's so important to understand exactly how the healthcare provider you are working with operates and to double-check to make sure you are following proper record-keeping and billing procedures.
How are Misconduct Allegations Resolved?
Because of the different types of organizations that may be able to discipline you – your school, your workplace, your certification organization, and in a few cases, your state licensing agency – there is no single resolution procedure that applies to misconduct claims. But generally speaking, you are likely to encounter the following steps:
- Initial investigation of the misconduct claim. This is usually just to make sure the misconduct claim is the type that is something that the organization regulates. For example, a complaint that a patient had to wait a long time before you were able to see them (when there is no health consequence involved) may not be one that would be investigated further.
- Detailed investigation of the misconduct claim. This can involve various levels of inquiry. You might be interviewed; your work records, including emails, may be searched; and your co-workers might be questioned. The person who filed the complaint may also provide a statement or other evidence.
- An opportunity to settle. Sometimes you will be approached with an offer to resolve the misconduct investigation without a hearing. In this case, you'll typically be expected to agree to a certain description of the facts relating to the misconduct allegations against you, and in return, you will accept a specific type of consequence – anything from a verbal warning to dismissal. Obviously, how you react to this will depend on the situation, and this is where the advice of a seasoned student defense attorney can be extremely helpful.
- A formal hearing. This will be similar to a court proceeding but is usually less formal. This means that in many cases, whoever is making the decision will accept evidence that a court would not normally allow. An experienced student defense attorney understands how these procedures work and can help make sure that your rights are respected and that you mount as strong a defense to the misconduct allegations as possible.
- A ruling on the allegations. After the hearing, there will be a ruling on the misconduct claims against you. In some situations, you may have the chance to appeal.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team Can Help
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has been helping students accused of misconduct in schools and school-related situations all across the US. When those allegations involve misconduct in a clinical setting, they also understand how that scenario can affect how the misconduct claims are investigated and resolved. The experienced student discipline attorneys at the Lento Law Firm can help you make sure that your rights are respected and that any claims brought against you are fully investigated and forcefully defended.
If you have received a notice that a misconduct allegation has been filed against you – whether in connection with your clinical practice work or with your school – contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team today. Your future is too important for you to try to face these serious allegations alone. You need the help of the experienced and understanding Student Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm.
Call the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686, or contact us online to set up a confidential consultation. We are here to listen and to help.
