Research & Internship Opportunities

Kinesiology Research (Community-based)

For students interested in community-based participatory research in the field of Physical Activity and Public Health, consider enrolling in KINE 298: Community Health and Fitness Research (make a hyperlink to the course description) instructed by Professor Raney. In addition to course requirements, students frequently present the results of KINE 298 research projects at the Southwest American College of Sports Medicine conference and/or the Occidental College Summer Research Program. The experience helps prepares students for leadership and research in community and public health.

Examples of past and present projects include:

• Development and evaluation of the Power Up in 10 resource (community partner: Los Angeles Department of Public Health; California State University Northridge)
• Development and evaluation of the 1-Minute Energizer resource for elementary school teachers (community partners: Los Angeles Department of Public Health; San Gabriel Unified School District)
• Exercise poster intervention for hospital nurses (community partner: San Gabriel Valley Medical Center)
• Stretching intervention for cleaning staff at Occidental College (community partner: Occidental Facilities)
• Evaluation of Schoolyard Greening projects in LAUSD (community partners: North East Trees, Green Schoolyards America, Council for Watershed Health)
• Development and evaluation of the Get Fit Together LA mobile app (community partner: Occidental Open Source, Center for Digital Liberal Arts)

For more information, contact Professor Raney (raney@oxy.edu).

Kinesiology Research (Summer Research and Independent Studies)

Physical Therapy Internships

For students interested in pursuing allied health, especially a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, consider enrolling in our internship program led by Professor Kirk Bentzen. The internship is an opportunity for Kinesiology majors to get out into Los Angeles to shadow physical therapists specializing in orthopedics and sports physical therapy at the Therapy & Wellness Center. The Therapy & Wellness Center has been nationally recognized as a center for clinical excellence for physical therapy education for its DPT student program, clinical post-graduate orthopedic and sports residency programs, and the Occidental College internship program. The internship requires 75 hours which can be applied to most allied health graduate applications as well as body region diagnostic analyses that require the intern to integrate material learned from required courses as a Kinesiology major. Anatomy I is a required prerequisite while Biomechanics is a recommended prerequisite. Kinesiology advisor and faculty recommendation highly recommended

Be sure to visit National and International Fellowships for additional research opportunities.