If you love physical exercise, Britain is the best place for you. Britain has a long sports tradition and high-profile events, from Wimbledon to Silverstone's F 1 Formula, and sports science courses offered by world-renowned universities and colleges. British education is respected by employers all over the world. You can also use advanced supporting facilities to carry out research and change the world of sports and fitness.
Two scholars from the School of Physical Education, Health and Sports Science of Bangor University shared what you can learn and how to start your dream career.
Face to face with experts
Jamie. Dr MacDonald
Health, exercise and rehabilitation; Limit research group
? I am particularly interested in hypoxia, which may affect high altitude areas and people with chronic kidney diseases. At the time of writing this article, I was sitting on the return train: I just finished a seminar to help hiking leaders lead young people to climb high-altitude peaks. ?
Tim. Professor Woodman.
Elite sports performance psychology institute
? I am particularly interested in stress, emotion and sports performance. When writing this article, I am going to write an article with my students in the office (there is an invincible sea view here) about why some people are more likely to miss penalties in football matches. Because I'm the dean and I'm still preparing my acceptance speech at the graduation ceremony? .
Why should I learn sports?
Do you realize that you are special? By reading this article, you may have shared the fun of sports with us; Like us, you are eager to push your body to the limit in mind and muscle; Like us, you want to get excited when you participate in sports.
If the answer is yes, then you can be officially defined as? Is that weird? But is this a compliment? Is that weird? ! In fact, in western countries, less than 5% people can achieve the recommended amount of physical exercise. Most people choose to ignore the fact that regular physical exercise can reduce the risk of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and many other life-threatening diseases. Few people are lucky enough to experience the peak (and trough) of competitive sports.
Maybe you like watching sports, reading and talking about sports as much as we do? Then you are a member of this huge global community. Whether supporting good friends or experiencing failure and success with the athletes and teams you support, the desire to watch sports games can be so strong that we spend a lot of time and money to gain friendship from it, which can cross cultural, racial and political boundaries.
This passion is the reason why you choose sports and physical education as your undergraduate or graduate major.
What can I learn?
In Britain, it is very important for you to study the scientific elements in the Bachelor of Science (BSc) or Master of Science (MSc) degree courses in sports, health and sports science. These courses don't teach you how to engage in sports, but help you understand sports itself from three aspects: physiology (heart, lungs and muscles), psychology (spirit and emotion) and biomechanics (human movement).
We believe that at the undergraduate stage, you only need to have a preliminary understanding of the above fields. The reason is very simple, any physical activity will always involve these three aspects. But in the postgraduate stage, you can choose to focus on more specific fields, so that you can have a deeper understanding of a specific problem. You also have the opportunity to focus on your interests? Sports? Research on excellent athletes? Healthy? What kind of physical activity can make the patient recover from injury or illness? Or? Exercise? (How physical activity can prevent diseases) to expand your future career choices.
What occupation can you engage in?
The skills you have learned can enable you to engage in various occupations: supporting elite athletes, working in the national health department or providing sports intervention in the community. You can also obtain professional qualifications, engage in teaching, and become a physical therapist, occupational therapist or psychologist. You can also apply the transferable skills learned in the degree course to different occupations, such as leadership and communication skills, such as emergency services, tourism and hotel management or general management.
But at the same time, we have to face the reality. There are so many people who share the passion of sports, and now there are more graduates with sports degrees? Therefore, it is an important way to improve one's employability to obtain the top degree from a well-known university and actively participate in relevant extracurricular activities.
Can I take part in the new research?
Research is an important part of excellent physical education and sports science degree courses. Lecturers who are active in the research field can let students know the latest, exciting and advanced research and information. Participating in research can cultivate students' important transferable skills, including critical thinking and the ability to analyze and display data; And problem-solving skills and time management skills. Perhaps most importantly, these lecturers are critical thinkers themselves, who can evaluate and choose the best way to teach students.
We also work closely with professionals. We believe that sports and physical education practitioners should participate in every step of the research process, from finding problems to designing research and then answering questions. From collecting and analyzing data to disseminating research results. This ensures that the research is highly relevant, useful and interesting, and can be used by practitioners in the real world.
Finally, what tips and tricks can you share?
We learned from the conversation with employers that one of their most critical requirements for job seekers is to combine their degree study with practical skills and application experience. Therefore, it is very important for students to seize every opportunity to develop their resumes. Getting an excellent degree, a good degree level and coming from a famous university is an important first step.
As a student, you should have relevant internship experience and spend a lot of time developing skills (such as laboratory technology) before you can get your dream job. Don't be too proud. The trivial but important work of backpacking and making tea is also worth doing (we have been there before, and sometimes the World Championships will pour tea and pass water)-if it can help you get the experience you want, it is worth it.
Humans are complicated. This is why a comprehensive understanding of sports and sports science can enable you to adopt a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach when dealing with athletes and patients. Without relevant knowledge, you may not be able to see the overall situation and understand the specific work of sports scientists.
Finally, have the courage to ignite your enthusiasm. As we said in Bangor: Work hard and have fun!