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Kinesiology program increases physical therapy students attending grad school

Changes to curriculum result in more student success

By California State University, Bakersfield

April 16^th, 2021

As the kinesiology program at California State University, Bakersfield has grown over the years, the interest in students going to graduate school after graduation has also increased.

Many CSUB kinesiology majors have gone into occupational therapy and physical therapy since graduating from the program at CSUB.

That’s when the department decided to go back to the drawing board to revise the curriculum of their program, which would continue to set CSUB students up for success.

“That’s what kind of initiated our curriculum revision,” said Department of Kinesiology Chair Kris Grappendorf. “Now students can major in kinesiology with a concentration in allied health and finish their prerequisites needed for graduate programs, like physical therapy or occupational therapy.”

Kinesiology program increases physical therapy students attending grad school

One goal of the Kinesiology Department was to work on improving the graduation rate so students could complete the degree and prerequisite courses needed for graduate programs. Now that the Kinesiology Department finished its first year with the master’s degree program, it has established a pipeline into its own graduate program as well, a Master of Science in Kinesiology.

Aside from just the curriculum in the classroom, students have been able to learn and acquire more skills, work in the labs and grow in their research programs.

Over the last few years, the Kinesiology Department has been able to expand on some of their facilities and have grown from 200 to nearly 500 students majoring in the subject.

The department allows students to give back to the Kern County community, as many of them have become occupational therapists, cardiac rehabilitation specialists and physical therapists in Bakersfield.

The students below are just a few examples of the success to come from the CSUB kinesiology program.

Jorge Ceja Gonzalez

As a Kern County native, Jorge Ceja had always heard about CSUB from many of his teachers growing up, from elementary school to high school.

“Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be in the medical field and in high school, I got the opportunity to volunteer and shadow many different health fields,” said Ceja.

Ceja shadowed doctors and nurses, but his favorite experience was shadowing people in physical therapy. He already knew he had a passion for that and helping individuals recover from injuries.

“I think physical therapy really stands out because we really get to know our patients,” said Ceja. “It's not like being a doctor where we only see a patient maybe once or twice a year. When you see a patient, you see them for a couple weeks and we really get to bond with our patients. That bond really makes it even more special when they recover, because you really got to know them as human beings and all their problems and, and you really build a connection with them.”

The kinesiology program has helped Ceja achieve his goal of becoming a physical therapist and notes the great things coming to the kinesiology program and the grad students that are doing research now.

As for choosing the major, Ceja said “you have to do it because you have a passion and love for the study. Not necessarily just for the money or because it’s more convenient to you.”

Ceja is starting the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at California State University, Long Beach. He hopes to become a physical therapist with a specialty in neurology and work in that setting.

Francisco Ibarra-Delgado

“The student-to-faculty ratio was one of the reasons why I decided to attend CSUB. Smaller classes meant the professors had more time to address any questions I might have had,” said Francisco Ibarra.

Ibarra added that he also decided to attend CSUB because of its proximity to home.

“I only had to commute about 40 minutes to an hour to get to school, as opposed to relocating to an entirely different city,” said Ibarra.

While in the kinesiology program, Ibarra took classes that allowed him to explore concepts of various human movements, from everyday activities to sport-specific activities. He also explored the use of therapeutic modalities in rehabilitation and the application of various evaluation procedures to interpret results.

During his time at Bakersfield College (BC), he wanted to be an athletic trainer. After transferring to CSUB, he was introduced to physical therapy.

“Physical therapy stood out to me because I get to have a positive impact on a larger population of individuals as opposed to just a select group of people like in athletic training,” said Ibarra. “I learned that through physical therapy I could help individuals ranging from pediatrics to geriatrics and different activity levels. Physical therapy is a rewarding profession because you see the progression of an individual from injury to recovery.”

Ibarra hadn’t originally planned to go to graduate school after acquiring his bachelor’s degree. Ibarra’s grades were good, but he didn’t feel confident that he had the necessary experiences to get in. He felt that there were others more qualified than he was.

However, Ibarra decided to apply to a couple graduate schools after the encouragement from his parents and two of his friends.

“I applied to grad school because I wanted to set an example to the rest of my siblings, and I wanted the rest of my family to be proud. To my surprise and delight, I was accepted to the joint DPT program between University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and San Francisco State University (SFSU). I will be attending UCSF/SFSU during the summer of 2021 and I will become the first person in my entire family to attend graduate school,” said Ibarra.

As for what Ibarra wishes more people knew about the kinesiology program at CSUB?

“The staff is always willing to go the extra mile to help students succeed in the program. The professors always give the students new opportunities to learn such as allowing the students to participate in their research, encouraging students to conduct their experiments, or through internships at different places,” said Ibarra.

“The Kinesiology Department at CSUB has provided me with a foundation that I will build on in graduate school,” said Ibarra.

Michael Daniel Canlas

“CSUB was my choice for two primary reasons: cost and proximity to home. Being a Bakersfield native who already knew what career I wanted to pursue, and the education required to achieve it, choosing CSUB and studying kinesiology was extremely beneficial for achieving my goals,” said Michael Daniel Canlas.

Canlas’ interest in physical therapy fascinated him for years – learning to improve one’s quality of life through exercise, hands-on treatment and educating others on the human body’s movement.

“This is a profession that can have significant impact on improving others’ lives,” said Canlas.

Canlas said understanding the foundational principles that were taught in these classes is crucial to expanding one’s knowledge. The instructors in the Kinesiology Department at CSUB helped Canlas achieve just that.

“The instructors in the Kinesiology Department at CSUB are fantastic people who are working even harder for their students now during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the undergraduate program, students – with the assistance of their academic advisor – are placed into one of three concentrations: applied exercise science, physical activity leadership or allied health,” said Canlas.

“All of the department professors I have taken classes with are not only extremely knowledgeable in their field of study, but supportive of their students and do their best to make sure they understand and can apply the material. This is a fantastic program here at CSUB, and the Kinesiology Department itself is only continuing to grow with the recent addition of the online master’s program,” Canlas added.

Canlas has been on the receiving end as a physical therapy patient on occasion and has observed the practice of physical therapy in various settings. He has enjoyed learning more and more about human movement and wants to take those necessary steps to be an expert like the one he has shadowed over the last few years.

In order to do so, Canlas is required to attend a physical therapy school: a three-year doctorate level program. He has chosen to attend the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS).

“Following my education at CSUS, I aim to pass the national licensure examination and begin working as a physical therapist can work in, I would not be surprised if I ended up back here in my hometown of Bakersfield,” said Canlas.

Canlas attributes much of his academic success to those in the Bakersfield community who have supported him over the years and would love the opportunity to come back and provide his expertise as a healthcare professional.

“I would highly encourage students to go beyond their normal coursework and take note of what their professors/instructors are working on outside of their lecture,” said Canlas.

By sitting down with one of his professor, Canlas was offered to sit in on a research assistant meeting for the professor’s lab, which then turned into several academic opportunities.

“You never know what kind of experiences/opportunities lie behind the casual interactions you have with your teachers and fellow peers – never be afraid to take chances,” Canlas advised.

Kayla Fisher

After graduating high school, Kayla Fisher went to BC. She wanted to hurry through and take her classes, but while she was there, she decided to switch her major a few times.

She decided on human biology and transferred to CSUB, since they had some of the classes BC didn’t offer. Fisher then found out that with the human biology major, kinesiology was also an option.

Before making the official switch to the kinesiology track, Fisher’s adviser recommended trying a few classes first to see if she even liked them.

She signed up for an upper division kinesiology course – exercise physiology. She took the class and one thing led to another.

Going through the kinesiology program led Fisher to her desire for wanting to go to the next level with grad school.

“I knew that I wanted to continue my education,” said Fisher. “I took a little bit of time to try to figure out exactly what I wanted to do.”

Fisher said she considered occupational therapy, but ultimately decided on physical therapy.

Fisher’s brother and sister-in-law are both physical therapists, so she was able to visit the clinic that her brother-in-law owns while still a student at BC. It was there that she got a feel for that particular field and was able to get hands-on experience with caregiving and really saw herself doing something like that in the long-term.

She’s worked at Encompass Health, a rehabilitation hospital for the last two-and-a-half years and has been able to see every kind of therapy there.

“They can't walk. They can't do anything for themselves. They have to be clean. They can't feed themselves. And then by the time they leave, you know, two, three weeks, a month later, they are a whole different person. That’s just so satisfying to see, and I would love to be a part of it,” said Fisher.

She applied to five schools – a few on the West Coast, one of which she interviewed for and was on the waitlist for Chapman University. While waiting to hear back from California schools, she was offered an interview with High Point University in High Point, North Carolina.

Fisher did get accepted into High Point University, so she and her husband are moving across the country in the next month.

“If we love it out there, we’ll probably stay there and I’ll find a job either in an inpatient setting, like where I’m at now, or if I find a specialty while I’m in school that I really enjoyed more, then I’ll probably try to focus on that,” said Fisher.