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Kraena Pre-Health
Career Library

Therapy & Rehab

Exercise Physiologist

Prescribes exercise as medicine, most often for patients recovering from cardiac events.

Years after high school

4-6

Degree

Bachelor's; master's for clinical roles

Entrance exam

None for bachelor's entry

Median pay

$59,460 national median for exercise physiologists (BLS, May 2025).

What the job is actually like

Running stress tests, monitoring telemetry while cardiac rehab patients exercise, adjusting prescriptions based on response, and teaching people how to move safely again after a heart attack or surgery.

The path

  1. 014 year bachelor's in exercise science, kinesiology, or physiology
  2. 02ACSM certification (commonly ACSM-EP or ACSM-CEP)
  3. 03Master's degree for clinical and hospital roles
  4. 04State licensure where required

Good fit if

  • You want prevention and recovery work grounded in physiology
  • You want clinical exposure while applying to longer programs
  • You like teaching people to change habits

Think twice if

  • You need strong pay straight out of a bachelor's
  • You would be frustrated being mistaken for a personal trainer
  • You want to practise clinically without a master's

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All salary figures here are median annual wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 — the most recent full national dataset. 'Median' means half of workers earn more and half earn less. Three things to keep in mind: (1) pay varies enormously by state, city, setting, and experience — a nurse in California and a nurse in rural Alabama earn very different salaries; (2) training lengths are typical, not guaranteed, and programs differ; (3) these numbers change every year. Always verify current figures at bls.gov/ooh before making a decision. For context, the BLS median wage for all U.S. occupations was $50,980, while healthcare practitioner and technical occupations had a median of $86,530 — one of the reasons health care is such a stable field.