Just talked to my brother. He's a Palmer grad, class of October, 2009. It was Josh that talked me into coming to Palmer, over the course of two years. When he started I was still living in Florida. I was so proud to see him get through Palmer in 10 tri's, while having two kids. OK it was his wife that had the two kids, but I think he's changed a few diapers. She made it through in the same 10 tri's. They're super-human. Meanwhile, I started in July 0f '07 and won't finish until October of '12. Took two tri's off to make some money after my daughter was born. Lucky if I broke even; honestly, I'm sure I lost money. The bigger part of it was probably that I couldn't wrap my head around becoming a dad for the first time and still focus on school. The tri that she was born I failed almost all my classes. We're all wired differently I guess, and Josh, I would venture to say, is wired better than I am. I'm better looking, though. Well, not really, but I like to say it. Mom loves me more though, she told me herself. She made me promise not to tell Josh or my sister Jani.



Anyway, I'm immensely proud of my little brother. He's a great dad, great husband, great doctor, and he was even the drummer for a metal band for a while. Cool.



So anyway just talked to him. He wanted my advice on a couple of different used cars he's considering buying. I used to sell cars, and lots of them. Yeah, I'm the used car guy everybody dreads. "Come over this way, I just got in a real peach, and I'm sure it won't last a day at the price I've got on it. Got it for a steal and I'll pass the savings on to you. How's your credit?" Ah, the memories. Advice from a reformed car salesman. Never trust a car salesman.



It was nice to catch up with Josh. We don't talk enough. Asked him about how things were going in practice. They're going. He's working, along with his wife, in her dad's practice. They're self-employed, renting space from him. Business is growing, slow but sure. He's busy working on a diplomate in whiplash care, and also working on a certification in accident reconstruction. He's going the route that I'm interested in going, which is PI (personal injury) It's a lucrative and rewarding aspect of practice, if you can stomach working with attorneys all the time. His father-in-law does quite a bit of PI business, and is an expert witness in demand in the Peoria area. I would love to one day focus on helping people recover from an accident, having been in a couple myself. To not only help them on their road to physical recovery, but also help to make sure they are fairly treated by the insurance companies, now that's what I'm talking about. I used to work in the insurance business too. Worse than used cars.



I told him I'd like to shadow him in practice some day coming up. He politely told me I'd be better off with Doc (dad) as he's not seeing anywhere near as many patients as Doc is. I shadowed Doc for a while before deciding to come to Palmer. I was considering Physical Therapy as well. Doc said "Now why would you go to school all those years to not be a doctor?" Made sense to me. Shadowed some PT's for a while too, though, just to be sure. I learned that pretty much all PT's either work for a hospital or a large PT center; hardly any strike it out on their own. I asked them why and they said that the equipment costs a fortune, so it was only cost effective to be in large groups. Also, they're not portal of entry for patients, meaning pretty much all their patients are referred from other docs, who write a presciption for therapy. Since most hospitals have their own PT department, and most doctors are associated with a hospital, it would be difficult to make it if you started your own company. Well, I have no interest in working for a hospital, or for anyone for that matter. Also, I knew I wanted to be a primary care doctor. I want to diagnose. I want to be a doctor, not a technician. Now don't get me wrong, I have huge respect for PT's. They helped me immensely in recovering from my car accident, literally re-teaching me how to walk. Awesome work, what they do. It's just not the route I want to go. I'd rather be the guy writing the presciption for PT, determing the need for PT, than be the guy performing it. That's just me.



I'm really looking forward to being done with school. I love Palmer, love the classes, love the teachers. I feel it's the best school in the world to learn Chiropractic. But I can't wait to get out into the "real world" again. Josh tells me to enjoy Palmer, that he misses it. He says the stress of passing classes and board exams has nothing on the stress of going into business. I believe him, but I still can't wait. 5 more tri's including this one. I start seeing patients next tri. That's exciting! I've watched the class I started with graduate, last October, and the one I spent the most time with just a few weeks ago. And I'll watch four more tri's of students I've shared classes with along the way graduate too. Lot's of friends come through and pass me by, on my "slow track". I don't feel bad about it; I know it's what's best for my family. But sometimes it's hard to feel left behind. Oh well. I re-study all the classes I've taken. This tri I plan on sitting in on a few classes I've been through, just to get a firmer grasp of the material. I'm not taking a light load just to have a light load, I'm doing it to be a better dad, better husband, and someday, better doctor. My brother could do it in 10, and do it all well. But he's super-man. Funny, when we were little, he thought I was superman, being 5 years older than him. Lately, I have to remind myself that he's the younger one...Because I look younger...well, not really...