Carving A New Path

College of Education Graduate Jarrett Mitton Pursues a Unique Interdisciplinary Graduate Degree Through the ISU Master of Public Health Program

by Aubi Moon

As a former student athlete, Jarrett Mitton has always been fascinated with understanding how the human body responds during exercise. Mitton, who is originally from Ponderay, Idaho, first joined the Idaho State University Sport and Exercise Science program to stay involved in sports while expanding his knowledge of exercise physiology plus strength and conditioning. He has since found a career path that feels more like a life calling than work.

After graduating from the Sport and Exercise Science program, Mitton decided to continue his multidisciplinary studies at ISU through the Master of Public Health (MPH) program. Mitton is the first student to participate in this new educational pathway that combines expertise and involvement within both programs. As a graduate student, Mitton is using his knowledge of sport and exercise science by researching how factors such as stress, exercise, diet, and health can affect athletes’ bodies in college as well as later on in life.

His current research, titled Groin Injury: Prevalence and Etiology During Game-Related NCAA Football, explores how common groin injuries occur in college football and if there is a difference between injury rates on artificial turf versus natural grass. He explained that “This research is important to take a deeper look at because there isn’t nearly as much data on groin injuries in American football, as opposed to shoulder or knee injuries. Groin injuries can harm an athlete’s health and ability to play their sport. We are also looking into the literature regarding the potential quality of life issues when an athlete stops competing, which may be associated with sustaining a groin injury during athletic competition.”

Mitton also helps manage the ISU Human Performance Laboratory through his position as a graduate assistant for the sport and exercise science program. He can conduct various research projects inside the on-campus lab. His hands-on data collection involves testing an athlete’s maximal anaerobic output on the wingate bike and aerobic capacity on the treadmill, capturing 12-Lead electrocardiogram and metabolic data, including VO2, and understanding how the athlete’s body is responding to stress under exercise conditions.

As Mitton said, “Having a background in sport and exercise science has allowed me to incorporate that knowledge into my graduate courses and research. This has helped me to understand better how athletes can be healthier, improve their athletic performance, potentially reduce rates of injuries and ultimately improve the likelihood of success within sport.”

Mitton is expected to graduate with his master’s degree in May 2024 and he hopes to work in the sport science or medical field. Outside of his graduate program, Mitton is an ISU sports performance coach and assists with strength and conditioning for several collegiate sports.