Master of Kinesiology (MKin) Program: Reflecting on Our Experiences as 2021 Graduates
Dear future kinesiology graduate,
If you’ve been following Your Kines Mentor for a while now, I’m sure you’ve noticed a common theme between all four mentors – we graduated from the Master of Kinesiology (MKin) program at the University of Calgary in 2021. Whether you are a kinesiology undergraduate student wondering what options are out there for masters programs or if you’re just generally interested in where kinesiology can take you, we’d love to share our unique experiences with you!
The goal of this article is to provide you with a reflection of our personal experience and our opinions, not to provide factual information about the program itself. The MKin program is continually being redeveloped and has already had some program changes since we graduated in 2021. If you’d like up-to-date information on the program, please visit the University of Calgary’s website here or contact the graduate program administrator.
Program Overview
The MKin program is a course-based masters program. This means that there are set courses for you to take in order to achieve your masters designation, rather than a thesis-based masters program which is primarily research based. This was a big selling point for me as an undergrad student who wasn’t a huge fan of research and didn’t know how to go about a thesis-based masters program. The idea of trying to find a supervisor and knowing what area I wanted to do research in felt intimidating to me. The MKin program is designed for those who want to gain more theoretical knowledge and practical experience in applied exercise physiology. If you’d like to learn more about the differences between an MKin and an MSc, check out our blog post that interviews a friend of ours that graduated from both, here: MKin or MSc: Which Program is Right for You?
Applied exercise physiology is the application of knowledge of the acute and chronic physiological effects of exercise. An exercise physiologist can work with healthy populations, chronic disease populations, occupational populations, and athletic populations to promote health and enhance performance. The MKin program includes practical skills development through labs, theoretical exams, and practical exams, as well as a practical experience component where students are required to complete two 100-hour practicums of choice. Recently, the MKin program has added a capstone project, which is essentially a mini research project that you conduct and later present on. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post where we interview more recent MKin graduates and current students who will share their own experiences in the program.
Program Admission Requirements
In order to ensure accurate and up-to-date information, please visit the University of Calgary website for MKin program admission requirements:
https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/explore-programs/kinesiology-mkin-course
Mentors Tip: When applying to a graduate program, GPA isn’t everything. Your work/volunteer experiences and/or certifications play a role in addition to grades. A graduate program may accept a variety of students – those with a 4.0 GPA with no experience in the field, and those with a 3.0 GPA and a variety of experience in the field. Have confidence when you apply to any program. You never know unless you try!
The admission requirements are always good to know ahead of time so that you can be prepared when you are ready to apply. If you don’t have all of the prerequisites, there may be some options to complete courses online. I had a great experience completing an online sport psychology course through the University of Manitoba, which was easily accepted by the University of Calgary. Just make sure you double check with the graduate program administrator to make sure they will accept a course before registering and paying for it. Lastly, you will need references. Make sure to reach out to your references early to give them enough time to prepare so that you are not waiting on them at the last minute to complete your application.
Course Load
During the time that we were in the MKin program, the course load was quite manageable. This will depend on each individual’s experience – In my opinion it was a lighter class schedule compared to a 5 course undergrad semester. However, the courses each required more time and effort than a typical undergrad course (ex: weekly lab assignments, biweekly lab reports, monthly practical exams, presentations, midterms, etc). In any masters program, the expectation for work quality is usually higher compared to undergrad, which increases the time and effort put into doing the work. I remember receiving our first year semester schedules and being shocked at how much free time we would have (most days finishing around 2pm). Here’s a look into what our first and second years looked like, broken down into fall and winter semesters:
Disclaimer: These course schedules are not in association with the University of Calgary and are subject to change as the program is continually redeveloped.
1st Year Fall 2019
KNES 606A: Practical Skills in Exercise Physiology I
KNES 697: Exercise and Sport Psychology
KNES 673 Lec: Exercise Physiology
KNES 615: Seminar in Applied Exercise Physiology I
1st Year Winter 2020
KNES 606B: Practical Skills in Exercise Physiology II
KNES 773: Integrative Exercise Physiology
KNES 605: Nutrition
KNES 617: Seminar in Applied Exercise Physiology II
2nd Year Fall 2020
KNES 785: Training Strategies for Health & Sport
KNES 715: Seminar in Applied Exercise Physiology III
2nd Year Winter 2021
KNES 775: Clinical Exercise Physiology
KNES 617: Seminar in Applied Exercise Physiology IV
KNES 692: Practicum Support Course
Disclaimer: KNES 717 (Strength Training Science) was a special course that was offered to our cohort. We took this in replacement of KNES 617, but were given the opportunity to still attend these lectures. To our knowledge, this has not/will not be offered again in the MKin program.
Employment Opportunities within the Program
Being in the MKin program offered us optional employment opportunities as teaching assistants (TA) with undergraduate kinesiology labs. The first opportunity was with KNES 203: Health, Fitness, and Performance in which each TA was responsible for one lab section per week, which ended up being a 8-12 hour per week time commitment on average. The second opportunity was with KNES 373: Exercise Physiology in which each TA was responsible for one lab section per week, which ended up being a 12-14 hour per week commitment on average. These time commitments account for the time spent in the lab, answering emails, and/or marking lab reports depending on the week. In the past, MKin students have gotten priority for TA positions for these two courses (as opposed to other MSc students), but there are other opportunities to TA other labs such as for anatomy and/or adaptive physical activity. If you are accepted into the program and this interests you, make sure to apply right away through your graduate coordinator as there are a limited number of positions each semester.
Mentors Tip: If you are hesitant about whether TAing is right for you, start with challenging yourself to try KNES 203. It’s a great introductory course, you can work together and communicate any challenges with the other TAs in the course (which are usually other MKin students anyways), and it's great work experience to add to your resume!
Outside of TAing, the majority of our classmates were working some form of part time job. Whether it be personal training, coaching, doing research for a lab on campus, or working in the retail or food industry. When we first started the program, many of us were coming from different cities and had no prior employment connections in Calgary. Those already living in Calgary had the advantage of continuing with their employment they may have had prior to the program. If you are unsure whether you want to/can handle working while completing the MKin program, try the first semester without any outside commitments and see how it feels. If it’s manageable then find a part time job. If it’s not manageable then at least you haven’t sacrificed your grades trying to figure out what you can handle. Don’t forget that later on in the program you will have practicum placements (2x100 hours) which for the most part is in your control for how quickly or slowly you want to complete those hours over the course of a semester. Your ability to handle course work, employment, and a practicum placement is entirely dependent on your potential work, practicum placement, and your workload management style.
Mentors Tip: If you are used to working during school (a part time job during undergrad), then it is very manageable to continue to work throughout the MKin program. However, if you are not used to working during school, then working and doing the MKin program could be a tough adjustment for you.
Practicums
Practicums were a very exciting and highly anticipated aspect of the MKin program. Unfortunately for our cohort, we were hit with COVID right in the middle of trying to nail ours down, which made for very interesting experiences for everyone – both good and bad. Our graduate coordinator provided us with a list of organizations that have accepted MKin students in the past, so we had the freedom to pursue one on the list or to branch out and find a different organization of interest.
I started my first practicum in May 2020 which was an entirely virtual practicum with the U of C’s Health & Wellness Lab. This was a clinical-focused practicum working with individuals on and off cancer treatment that were participating in exercise to combat the side effects of treatment and improve health and wellness. I worked closely with CEPs to lead and monitor virtual group-based exercise classes where I learned various exercise modifications and considerations based on tumor groups (breast cancer vs. prostate cancer vs. osteosarcoma) and treatment side effects (surgery vs. chemotherapy vs. radiation). This was a great opportunity to connect with multiple CEPs in the lab (some of which were MKin grads), increase my confidence with teaching exercise classes, and learn about exercise considerations for the oncology population. Once I completed my hours, I continued to volunteer my time which later led to a paid position as a class instructor and research assistant position within the lab.
My second practicum was in September 2020 with the Calgary Rural Primary Care Network located in High River, AB. This was also a clinical-focused practicum working with a variety of chronic disease populations, including: Chronic pain, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and more. I worked closely with a CEP to conduct 1:1 initial and follow-up assessments with patients that required therapeutic exercise programs. I also had opportunities to lead virtual group-based exercise classes with this practicum. This was a great opportunity to practice my motivational interviewing skills, health coaching skills, and improve my exercise prescription skills. This practicum was an unexpected success and was originally meant to be a volunteer experience. It was a volunteer opportunity that I sought out after meeting an MKin graduate through an alumni presentation, (I already had a different practicum lined up with INLIV Full Circle Health that fell through due to COVID restrictions) so I was able to easily transfer my hours over to practicum hours.
Mentors Tip: Embrace any opportunity you can to gain experience in the field. Just because you are limited to 2 official practicums, doesn’t mean you can’t seek out other opportunities to volunteer or complete “unofficial” practicums. Don’t be afraid to branch out to different organizations and inquire about opportunities. The more experience you can get, the better off you will be!
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, the MKin program is one of many different graduate programs out there that you can find success from. The program is what you make of it – you can just show up for class, get through your practicums, and get your degree OR you can put more effort into it and get WAY more out of it. For example, taking on more volunteer opportunities, getting to know your classmates and learning from their experiences/backgrounds, talking to your professors outside of class. Everyone will have a different experience, but we are big believers in that you are the driving force behind what you can get out of the program.
To conclude, I thought I would share a few FAQ’s from my individual experience in the MKin program:
1) What made you decide to apply?
I really enjoyed all of my human physiology and exercise physiology courses and labs in my undergrad. I knew I had a passion for working with chronic disease/special populations, so I liked the idea of progressing my theoretical and practical skills in the exercise physiology realm. I already had the idea that I wanted to challenge the CSEP-CEP exam in order to work with chronic disease populations. When I found out that completion of the MKin program helps students to challenge the CSEP-CEP exams, I was sold.
2) What did you find most valuable? What could have been improved?
I found the small class size to be most valuable, as we had 10 students in our cohort (this may have changed since). However, I did not realize it would be that small when I applied. I remember getting our first email from the graduate coordinator introducing all of us – seeing only 10 people CC’d to the email was a shocker! The small cohort fostered a better hands-on learning environment, more 1:1 support with professors, and a strong social connection with other classmates that improved my learning experience. One aspect that could have been improved in the MKin program was the amount of practicums. I was envious of friends in other graduate programs (nursing, physiotherapy, etc) that had upwards of 5-6 placements. Knowing that I could only do 2 practicums and was interested in clinical/chronic disease populations, I wanted to make sure both of my practicums were in a clinical setting. If we were required to complete more practicums, I would have been more open to trying a practicum with an occupational population or high performance population that I was less experienced in so that I could expand on my skill set.
3) How did you find the workload?
In my opinion, I found the workload to be the most challenging during the first year, in particular with the lab reports as I started to figure out the expectation for quality of work. I hadn’t completed any formal APA lab reports in my undergrad, so it was tough to transition into completing a lab report every second week during the MKin program. The content expectations were much higher than what I was used to in my undergrad. To my own fault, I was also using a very outdated version of Excel (2011) and was not familiar with analyzing data. This took a few weeks for me to adjust (and a few bad marks along the way) but I was able to make a comeback by winter semester! With this being said, I think it was an easier transition for those who completed their undergrad at the U of C than those coming from different universities.
4) Biggest take away from the program?
The work and volunteer opportunities through the university and in Calgary in general. The MKin program is fairly well known in Calgary, and when jobs come available you are easily considered for those positions if not sought out directly through connections or through LinkedIn. It was an easier transition into challenging the CSEP-CEP exams (most of us have no idea how we would have challenged the CSEP-CEP straight out of undergrad - kudos to those who have!), and the connections I made with professors and classmates will last a lifetime.
If you have any questions or want to learn more about the MKin program, don’t hesitate to reach out to myself or any of the other mentors to learn more about our unique experiences.
Sincerely,
Your Kines Mentor
