What can you do with a Kinesiology degree?

Design researcher

Michael Cao

Shortly after completing his undergraduate and master's degrees in Kinesiology at Waterloo, Michael worked as an occupational health and performance researcher within the Canadian Armed Forces (CF), creating physical tests that measured the fitness and skill levels of CF applicants.

Later he landed his role as a design researcher at Idea Couture, where all of his personal interests coincide. In his current role, Michael draws on all of his Waterloo experiences and analyzes human behaviour and then makes recommendations for product innovations and design.

Orthopaedic surgeon

Dr. Matthew Snider

Dr. Snider’s Waterloo Kinesiology degree provided a solid science and musculoskeletal foundation as he completed his doctor of medicine and orthopaedic surgery residency at Western University.

Now an orthopaedic surgeon, his advice to students considering medicine is to add additional basic science courses in the early years to prepare for writing the MCAT examination in the middle undergraduate years.

Research analyst

Huma Khan

Huma is a research analyst at Health Canada within the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion. She is responsible for synthesizing scientific evidence on food, nutrients, and health to inform health promotion activities and dietary guidance policy such as Canada’s New Food Guide.

After graduating, she went to complete a second major in nutrition from Western University and then a Master of Public Health from the University of Toronto.

Kinesiology was a great degree program to offer a foundation for many health-based career paths such as population health, nutrition, statistics, and research. Huma advises students who may be interested in dietetics to volunteer with dietitians to understand the types of roles available.

Medical school student

Kelsey Ambrose

Kelsey was always interested in the health field and Kinesiology gave her the opportunity to study and learn about the human body from the physiological level to the level of the whole person.

At Waterloo, Kelsey's co-op work term as a research assistant and volunteer experience with Hardy Hearts, a program that provides exercise training and education on lifestyle modification for individuals with cardiovascular disease, gave her experiences she believes she wouldn't have been able to get elsewhere.

Kelsey's advice for students is to choose a program that you’re interested in and a school where you feel comfortable and supported.

Senior associate

Chad Gooyers

Chad Gooyers is the regional director for Western Canada at 30 Forensic Engineering and specializes in the biomechanical assessment of injury causation.

Chad consults with legal and insurance clients across Canada and the United States, investigating motor vehicle collisions, seatbelt and airbag use/effectiveness, helmet effectiveness, pedestrian collisions, slips/trips/staircase, and ladder falls and workplace injuries.

He has been qualified in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to give expert evidence in biomechanics, injury mechanisms, occupant motion and seatbelt, and airbag use/effectiveness.

Registered physiotherapist

Karlee Hall

After graduation, Karlee completed a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, followed by a Master of Science degree in Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto.

She presently owns and practices at The Physio Room in Waterloo and is a PhD Candidate in the neuroscience stream at the University of Waterloo.

Kinesiologist

Angela Pereira

As a registered kinesiologist, yoga teacher, and holistic nutritionist, Angela enables older adults with chronic autoimmune conditions to explore creative exercises for enhanced balance and stability. Together with her team, Angela offers continuing education courses and clinical practice mentorship to movement professionals.

Disability accommodation specialist

Tomi Ajayi

Tomi currently works as a disability accommodation specialist with the Ontario Public Service. Kinesiology at Waterloo had taught injury mechanisms, ergonomics in industry, evaluation and assessment techniques, occupational health and safety legislation, and making successful ergonomic changes; thus creating the foundation for him to be successful in his career.

Group life and disability trainer

Kyle Train

Kyle is a trainer at Sun Life where he facilitates learning and development on a number of disability products for disability case managers. He continually uses his degree, co-op experiences, and more than 10 years of industry knowledge when training and engaging with learners.

Health and safety associate

Matt Girodat

After graduating from Kinesiology co-op, with an ergonomics specialization, Matt was an environment health and safety coordinator for a manufacturing company.

Building on this foundation in health and safety, he obtained an Occupational Health and Safety Certificate through Ryerson University, his Canadian Registered Safety Technician (CRST) designation through the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals and an Associate Ergonomist (AE) designation through the Canadian College for the Certification of Professional Ergonomists. Matt’s education and experience led to his current role as a Health and Safety Associate for the City of Burlington.

Long-term care manager

JR Gauthier

JR started his career as a kinesiologist in long-term care and advanced his professional development to allow him to work in his current role as a regional manager in long-term care. While this was not his original plan, JR took in all the experiences offered to him over his 4+ years at Waterloo and ultimately found where he was supposed to be.

Registered nurse

Greg Beres

Greg’s co-op experiences at Waterloo helped him discover that he wanted a career on his feet working with people. He used his co-op terms to explore a variety of health professions – and discovered the perfect fit: nursing.

After graduating from Kinesiology, Greg completed the Nursing program at the University of Toronto. He now works as an emergency room nurse.

Biomechanics researcher

Nick Frank

As a researcher at the Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL), Nick collaborates with a team of experts to find out how sports equipment can be modified to help athletes perform better.

Nick first made connections with the NSRL while completing his undergraduate degree and continued to strengthen his foundation in biomechanics research during his master's degree in Kinesiology at Waterloo.

Orthotist

Laurie Vanderhaeghe

After graduation, Laurie completed the Clinical Methods in Prosthetics and Orthotics Program at George Brown College. In 1993, Laurie started at Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals Prosthetic-Orthotic Department (now the Ron Joyce Children’s Hospital of Hamilton Health Sciences) where she's been working for over 25 years.

Occupational therapist and executive director

Gord Hirano

Gord is the executive director at the Hamilton Program for Schizophrenia and is an Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct) at McMaster's School of Rehabilitation Sciences Occupational Therapy Program.

He has more than 25 years of experience, specializing in community-based support of individuals with mental health conditions as well as musculoskeletal injuries and pain.