7th tri is busy!!!

I've heard it over and over as friends in higher tris enter 7th.. Life gets very busy!

Well, I'm here to report, it's true!

Now if you've followed my blog at all you know that I'm on a "reduced schedule" to keep balance in my life between family time and school time. A wife and two kids, and a home in the middle of major renovations, means I have to reduce my course schedule to compensate. This tri is no different, my fellow 7th tri students are taking several courses that I took last tri. My schedule is pretty light in comparison. I am taking two electives and two bachelor's classes as well, but still, less hours overall. Well I'm run ragged! Came down with a cold over the weekend. Summer colds are the worst! I know it's because I'm stressed, not getting enough sleep, and pushing myself too many hours in a day... What can I change though?

My friends also assure me that it gets a lot easier in 8th, to keep that light at the end of the tunnel in sight and it will all be fine. So far so good. I'm very excited about the transition into clinic. I love being in the clinic, being exposed to the hectic atmosphere of a high patient volume. It's what I want for my own clinic one day. I thrive on a busy schedule; the busier I am the more I get done, the more efficient I am. I feel better when I'm busier. I just need to transition back into it. When I was a salesman for a living, I always preferred the busy days to the quiet ones. Time flies when you're seeing customer after customer, and you get into a rhythm. Well patient encounters are no different in that respect. Last night I was having the time of my life going from patient room to patient room, from encounter to encounter, each a unique situation. Each patient is a puzzle. How could anyone view this as work? It's fun, it's stimulating, it's rewarding. Can you tell I'm excited?

The stress is from being nervous about doing a good job. I don't want to hurt anyone, or miss something important on an exam. It's sure to happen I know, but I can't help worrying about it. Also, juggling the heavy class load with clinical responsibilities is stressful for 7th tri. 8th and beyond there is very little classroom time; most of your hours here are spent in the clinic. 7th has a lot less required clinic hours, but it's all new, so a lot of time is spent just making sure you're in the right place, talking to the right person, filling out paperwork the right way, etc. It becomes a whole lot to keep track of really quick. I have two different planners now, my class planner and my clinic planner. There's no way everything would fit into one!

None of this should scare you away from Palmer. By the time you hit 7th tri, you are well prepared for clinic. Everyone stresses about it, but everyone gets through it. I look at classmates from higher tris or those that have graduated already, and remember how we stressed about the same classes in the past. They made it through those same tough classes in 1st through 4th tri's, and made it through everything I'm struggling with now. That gives me confidence that I can too.