Exercise, Sports, & Health Studies
If you’re interested in a career in coaching, sports leadership, wellness or personal training, Earlham’s new major in Exercise, Sports, and Health Studies is designed for you. Through this major, you’ll learn the basics of chemistry, anatomy and nutrition in relation to exercise and health.
Within the major, you will also choose a concentration in Leadership and Sports, Exercise and Human Movement, or Health and Wellness, allowing you to build the skills necessary for success in your future careers.
Dive deep into the field of exercise and sports as you’re challenged to think critically about the relationship between our bodies, our minds, athletic competition and wellness in exciting courses like Sports Statistics, Bioethics, Psychology of Sport, Kinesiology and Introduction to Counseling.
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Preparing for a career in wellness
Through the exercise, sports, and health studies program at Earlham, you’ll have the opportunity to work closely alongside faculty in both a nurturing and challenging environment while gaining advanced knowledge of the human body’s structure and function. Through this major’s core classes, you’ll be introduced to anatomy, chemistry, nutrition and other necessary topics (like ethics and statistics).
Outcomes
The exercise, sports, and health studies major prepares students for careers in physical therapy, athletic training, coaching, sports psychology, counseling, public health and other like fields.
of work seekers who majored in the natural sciences between 2018-2022 were employed, pursuing graduate school or volunteering within six months of graduation.
Grow your skills
Through research opportunities, community connections, and faculty mentorship, you’ll be fully prepared for your future profession. Each year students have the opportunity to pursue service, research, or self-directed projects that expand their knowledge and skills.
Learn through experiences
As an exercise, sports, and health studies major, you’ll complete hands-on experiences beginning early in your coursework and continue through your internship experience. Intern with our partners like Reid Health and Cutting Edge Physical Therapy, or right on campus with Earlham Athletics.
Frequently asked questions
The Center for Global Health partners with many community organizations, including Reid Health and Cutting Edge Physical Therapy to offer exciting internship and externship opportunities.
You may also consider internships in the Athletics and Wellness Center on campus, or work with your academic adviser or career coach to identify other opportunities that will meet the requirements of the program.
If you’re interested in health, wellness and the human body and would like to pursue a career in one of these areas, the exercise, sports, and health studies major might be for you. Graduates will be well-prepared to enter graduate programs or careers in exercise physiology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, athletic training, allied health, education, coaching, dietetics and more.
Upon graduating, students majoring in ESHS may enter directly into the workforce in fields such as coaching, sports leadership, wellness and personal training. Depending on the track a student chooses, they may be prepared for graduate study in sports psychology, sports management, public health, exercise science or pre-health fields such as physical therapy or athletic training. Students should work with their advisor early to ensure that they complete all prerequisites for a given graduate school path. Students may need to use some of their elective courses to complete prerequisites outside the major’s requirements.
Students interested in fields requiring licensure such as physical therapy, athletic training or sports psychology will need an advanced degree in the appropriate field. Students interested in these fields should contact an advisor as early as possible in their undergraduate career.
Our faculty
Coming from our biology, psychology, wellness and athletics programs, the exercise, sports, and health studies faculty bring a wide variety of insights to the systems of the human body.