Stephen F. Austin State University graduate students Delaney Day, left, and Alyssa Abreu presented research at the annual American College of Sports Medicine conference in Denver, Colorado. Their study was titled “Physician Assistant Perceptions of Lifestyle Medicine and the Fitness Industry.”
During the conference, students attended presentations on various topics such as exercise physiology, medicine, research studies, professional application and therapeutic settings.
Dr. Eric Jones, SFA professor and co-coordinator of the graduate kinesiology program, attended the conference alongside graduate students Delaney Day, Alyssa Abreu and Kristen Martinez.
“While résumé building and networking is an important part of this experience, more importantly, the students garner experience in the dissemination of their own research, how said research impacts that area of study, and they gain vast exposure to many other areas of study in our field,” Jones said.
Abreu, from Spring, presented her research on “Physician Assistant Perceptions of Lifestyle Medicine and the Fitness Industry.” Abreu administered a survey to those enrolled in Baylor College of Medicine’s physician assistant program asking their perceptions of lifestyle medicine, their competencies in lifestyle medicine and their perceptions of the fitness industry.
“Presenting research at a national conference is a huge honor, especially being able to represent SFA. You never know what kind of questions people will ask, so it makes it interesting,” Abreu said. “Getting other’s perspectives is really beneficial, especially if you want to continue in the same line of research. It’s also nice to share what you have worked so hard on during the past year.”
Day, from Lufkin, conducted research over the experience overweight or obese women have during a body-weight screening process. She interviewed women after they received their body fat information to discover if they were motivated or not to manage their weight.
“Presenting at a national level conference is really eye opening,” Day said. “Not only did I find out other people are really interested in what I’ve been studying, but I also was able to learn more about other universities’ research interests.”
SFA students have attended the ACSM conference each year for the past six years. ACSM is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. With more than 50,000 members and certified professionals worldwide, ACSM is dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific research to provide education and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine.
