Next Phase is on the Horizon

The grueling week is over.  Nine finals later.  It is hard to believe I made it through, particularly with my poor attitude early in the quarter.  The process of being in your seat at 7:20 most mornings during the week and to remain there for extended periods of time is taxing.  It leaves you feeling wrecked and useless at the end of the day.  But, you have to find a way to plant your butt back in a seat in the evening to pick through the notes of the day.  If you don't do this you scramble at the end of the quarter and gain 25 pounds from the experience.

The lifestyle of a graduate student is quite sedentary and much different than I am used to living my life.  To make it through this program without being completely drained of all life is going to be my largest challenge.  When I start slipping into the depths of exhaustion, I tend to get a bad attitude.  That turns into less motivation to study, a poor attitude about school and a negative perspective about the process.  There needs to be balance when pursuing this type of path.  If not, you'll find yourself in a weird predicament by the time graduation rolls around.

That being said, I only have 10 quarters left to complete.  This means I will be done in mid-September 2011.  That is only 2 years and 6 months from now!  I spent 3 1/2 years in Boise to get my undergraduate degree and 3 1/2 years in Flagstaff Arizona prior.  When I look back at the time that has passed I see the next 2.5 years going by pretty quick.  Just two months ago we were taking finals from our first quarter!  Now, we get a well deserved break.  Next quarter will break some students.  It looks like there will be 5 science-based courses and some chiropractic intermixed in.  We begin adjusting the thoracic spine which will integrate our high velocity low amplitude adjusting skills we learned this quarter.  The program really builds on itself.

Ten lessons I have learned from this quarter and last quarter:

1.  Don't open your mouth and spout unnecessary things when you don't know who you are talking to.

2.  Stand up for what you believe in.

3.  Eat something before anatomy lab.

4.  Start a business plan now so that the future is more clear (which I am doing during the break)

5.  It is okay to relax and have fun.

6.  Ignorance is a habit.

7.  Our profession has issues that I can't fix.

8.  My actions speak louder than my opinions.

9.  I need to write myself a training plan so that I don't get fat.

10.  I can't think of a better path for me to take.

With that, I will sign off and take a deserved nap!  I will update when school begins in two weeks from now.

All my best,

Nate

Review, Review, Review

Oh yes, it is that time when we scramble to find a place for lots and lots of knowledge in our big juicy brains.  Or, you could call it, sharpening the pencil or fine-tuning the Ferrari.  Whatever you decide to go with just know there are some hurtin-noggins ready to spill the goods on a Scantron sheet tomorrow morning.  

The beauty of it all is that we are storing this stuff up for use later.  I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about this very subject.  Right now is probably the toughest portion of our chiropractic education because we are not applying much of anything.  We are just building our base for more complex things later this year.  By July, I should be opening books on pathology and clinical oriented topics.  We start soft tissue therapy in July too.  I can't wait for that!  

The first year is a make or break, pay your dues because everyone else has scenario.  Nothing would give me more gratification than to be in the clinic by the end of the year, but I must wait for until summer of 2010 after I take Boards.  That seems like a lot of time right now, but I know it will cruise by in the blink of an eye.  I hope that from here on out things start becoming more my flavor so that I don't lose interest.  It would be sad to make it to next spring and decide to leave.   This is the main reason I am putting some solid time into figuring things out so I can catch it early if I want to jump ship.  Currently, I am on board for the long haul.  I do have a lot to say about this profession though, but all of it (I have decided) is constructive criticism.  When I see something that bugs me, I have to let it out or I stew on it and eventually find myself having too many IPA's.  

I want to start a WSCC forum on Facebook to discuss things a little deeper with my fellow classmates.  From the looks of it, many people have similar issues as I and what better time than now to find solutions to these problems.  Nobody else seems to do anything about.  Most just sit around bitching and feed on each other's bitchiness.  It is time to make some change happen or at least open a dialogue.

To end, I am pretty excited to finish this section of the curriculum and I can't wait to begin the next phase.

Let the games begin!

Cheers,

Nate

Mid-Sagittal Head Dissection

Well, the worst is over with.  All quarter long I have dreaded the day when we cut the head completely in half and study the sinuses.  Our cadaver was selected for this procedure because he didn't have any teeth which made it easier for the head to be separated.  I can't say it was easy to watch and I had to walk away to get something to eat at first because I forgot to eat lunch today.  Going into the lab always leaves me a bit queasy with the smells and if you are 'bonking' due to not eating food it makes the experience intolerable.  

When I returned, Jim Carolla, our anatomy professor, had hacksaw in hand and he was cutting our guys head in half.  The cut went directly between the eyes and down the nose, through the chin and into the throat.  He then (with help from my lab partners) peeled the head in half just like a piece of string cheese.  It was gruesome and quite hard to study afterward.  Another cadaver had it's head split in a coronal section straight through the ears and down the spine.  The instructors dug deep into the back of the neck into the throat to gain a view of the tongue, esophagus, larynx and pharynx.  It was emotionally challenging to see such things.  I made it though and now I only have to pass an exam to move to the next level.

Much of my ranting and bitching from the last email is due to the incredible amount of stress I am under right now.  The material is loaded heavy on my shoulders and I have to get through it with some sense of authority to be successful next week as well as the future.  It is go time and I have to go.

Cheers,

Nate

Ethics

I found myself in another predicament today.  Whether I was looking for it, is another story.  Granted, the time change really put me in a funk having to get up an hour early and pretend it didn't affect me at school.  Dragging my sorry butt to school while pretending to smile about it was probably what caused it all.  Crabbiness is probably the culprit being that finals loom around the bend.

So, long story short, I go back to class after a nice lunch with Sadie.  We all sit down to finish our lecture series on biomechanics.  The topic of the day was Capitation.  Capitation is what happens when a vertebra is adjusted.  It lets off a 'pop' and you walk away feeling better.  What got me all hot and sweaty was the fact that much of the recent research about what is exactly happening contradicts what the popular belief has been in the profession.  If you hear an audible 'pop' you 'got it' and therefore set the patient up to heal.  This isn't the case.  In fact, much of what has been coming out in the research suggests that getting adjusted doesn't have to end with a 'pop' at all.  As long as the joint has been given greater range of motion, you are doing the patient well.  Focusing on the pop is now a thing of the past (which sounds as stupid as it is) and we now must use our brains before and when we lay our hands on a person for an adjustment.  

This sent a few into an uproar.  It is a weird phenomenon to hear those who have read the research convey the message accurately and to then have people who are not chiropractors refute the claims.  WTF!  I get so disgusted with those who just don't get it.  Why ask the stupid question?  Can't we take what has been found from observation and apply it in a modern way?  What did you expect to gain from this education?  It baffles me to think that some of these folks are in my class.

Lastly, the fact that many generations of practicing chiropractors have been chasing the 'pop' says a lot about the profession as a whole.  In the presentation, the professor showed with research that many times when a DC focuses on one spinal level they end up adjusting 5-7 other areas without knowing this.  My God, what are we doing then?  We can't be specific or learn specificity when what is being taught isn't known to be that accurate.  There was a student today who asked why the upper quarter students were evaluated on whether or not they were able to get capitation in their patients adjustment.  This to me is ludicrous.  There shouldn't be room for professors or clinicians like this in our program.  Times are changing and at this rate the chiropractic profession is going to be surpassed by up and coming professions like physical therapy in the matter of years, not decades.

To say I am on the fence gives me a great reason to try and pursue a different path altogether.  There isn't much telling me to stay beyond my friends who I think are on the fence too.  I have to listen to my gut.  However, finances tell me to stick it out another quarter.  I might get into physical therapy or PA school, just something more legitimate.  I went this route to get a clinical education without totally sabotaging the life I used to live.  It feels as if my life is changing in different, unexpected ways.  My attitude is shifting to realistic versus fantasy.  One day we all have to choose our paths.  My day has come.  And the wheel goes on and on...

For now, I must leap the hurdle in front of me which looks to be like nearly 150 pages of notes!

Food for thought... :)

Nate

Focus, Focus, Focus

Its go time.  There is no stopping now - we are heading into finals with full steam and there is still information coming at us.  At times (as Sadie knows) I get a little pinned up with it all.  Too much material to study can lead to anxiety and anxiety can lead to pissyness.  I am very happy to have such a nice person to be pissy to.  ;)  Little humor never hurt anyone.

In three weeks I will be heading to Boise for a break.  We will most likely head to Salmon Idaho to visit Sadie's family.  I can't wait.  My mind wants to stop this influx of knowledge so that I can rest and not think.  Those days are over.  I can't remember what it was like to actually think normal thoughts.  You know, ones that have to do with mountain biking, camping and sleeping for days on end.  

I guess I did sign up for this and I'd better get my big lethargic head into the game or I may be retaking some courses next quarter.

Wish me luck.

Cheers,

Nate