University of San Francisco Recognized by Exercise is Medicine® to Create Culture of Wellness on Campus
USF among 156 Campuses Honored Worldwide
Written by: EIMOC Leadership Committee
May 2022
University of San Francisco (USF) is one of only 156 universities and colleges in the world to be recognized by the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) Exercise is Medicine® On Campus (EIM-OC) Initiative for its efforts to create a culture of wellness for the campus environment. The American College of Sports Medicine is the largest professional sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world, with a global community of 50,000 members and health professionals whose mission is to advance and integrate scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine. ACSM co-launched Exercise is Medicine® (EIM) with the American Medical Association to connect health care with evidence-based physical activity resources for people everywhere of all abilities. EIM prides itself on its acknowledgement that physical activity is one component of a holistic approach to wellbeing, and should be promoted to treat and prevent medical conditions both mental and physical in nature.
USF became an EIM-OC registered campus in Summer 2021 as a result of Dr. Sarah Camhi, Associate Professor of Kinesiology, organizing a leadership team of faculty, staff, and students to promote physical activity across campus. The current EIM-OC leadership team includes two co-advisors – Dr. Sarah Camhi (Kinesiology) and Dr. Stephanie Cooper (Kinesiology), leaders from across campus – Jenny Lee (Health Promotion Services), Dr. Mary Lou De Natale (Nursing), Clare Kubiak (Koret Recreation Services), and Suzy Kisylia (Human Resources), as well as two student representatives – Hannah Selke (Nursing) and Case van der Burg (Public Health). For their work in 2021, USF received Silver Status, which recognizes efforts to promote physical activity on campus, as well as educational initiatives that inform students, faculty and staff about the health-related benefits of physical activity.
University of San Francisco was officially recognized for Silver Status on June 1, 2022 as part of the 2022 Exercise is Medicine World Congress at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA. Some key activities for EIM-OC in 2021 that helped secure Silver Status included obtaining an official Proclamation from San Francisco Mayor London Breed designating October as “EIM-OC Month” in the city of San Francisco. Additionally, USF promoted a movement-based culture by providing campus-wide events that encouraged students, faculty, and staff to be physically active, such as the 6th annual Go Dons Get Fit Challenge that took place in October, involving a friendly competition between students, faculty, and staff to see who could log the most minutes of physical activity for the month. Similarly, the Go Move Challenge, now in its 10th consecutive year, was promoted as an EIM-OC event. This month-long event went beyond the local campus and presented an engaging physical activity challenge for faculty and staff to compete with 23 participating Jesuit universities. Winners were decided for universities with the most total minutes, the highest average minutes per participant, and regions with the most minutes. Lastly, the URBAN Trail was launched by Dr. Camhi in Fall 2021 as a mindful walk to promote both physical and mental health that involves self-reflections inspired by the book, “The Power of Good News,” written by USF Alum Hal Urban. In response to being recognized as an EIM-OC Silver Campus, Dr. Camhi said, “We are so excited to receive silver status in our first year of bringing EIM-OC to USF. EIM-OC has allowed us to bring together a strong team of people from around the university to encourage and promote physical activity as a priority to our campus community. We are truly demonstrating the Jesuit Mission of Cura Personalis, or the care of the whole person through mental, physical and spiritual wellness.”
Future EIM-OC activities involve two new initiatives for our campus community coming this Fall 2022 including 1) building an EIMOC campus website to highlight resources, programs and education and 2) expansion of the URBAN trail by bringing more guided tours through campus partners such as the Dons Helping Dons student ambassadors, as well as a self-guided option which can be done independently anytime.
If you would like to be involved in the EIM-OC committee, or have suggestions about physical activity initiatives that could be included as part of the EIM-OC portfolio, please contact Dr. Sarah Camhi scamhi2@usfca.edu
