It has been a beautiful week here in the Quad Cities. A decent amount of rain has awakened the flora, and cooled things off considerably. We got that new central air installed just in time for this open-window weather!! I don't mind though. I'm happy to say that this month's electric bill is half of what I payed last month. That new high efficiency system is making a huge difference. This nice weather means that I can focus on some outdoor projects around the house that I've been stalling on. Landscaping, sidewalks, roofing, new porch, etc... And walks down the street to the neighborhood park with Laney. She loves that park. The only problem is getting her to leave! The parks here in the QC are awesome, I have to say. The riverfront is one long park from our house in downtown Bettendorf all the way to and past downtown Davenport, a little over five miles. It's a great walk or bike ride, with the path right on the water. The other day I was on the path, and watching a freight barge, the Celebration Belle, our huge paddle-wheeler, and some pleasure craft sharing the beautiful Mississippi. There were many others enjoying the path, going for their morning run or bike ride. On the other side of the path is the riverfront highway, US67. Traffic was bustling by, and then a freight train came rolling through, right alongside the path. I was compelled to just sit down on a tree-shaded bench, and take in all the activity that surrounded me. With the skyline of downtown Davenport reflected in the water, the beautiful Arsenal Island riverfront across the river from me, with all it's historic structures lining the waterfront, I was taken back by the beauty, and liveliness, of this place. I drive this route every day to go to school, but I don't really appreciate it. i'm focused on driving, with NPR on the radio, or going over my studies in my head. It was a totally different perspective on something so seemingly familiar. I caught myself wishing that I had more time to slow down and appreciate the simple things in life. Then I realized that I do. There's just so much to appreciate, it took me this long to get to the riverfront path. Of course I've been there before, but I guess I wasn't in the right mindset to truly appreciate it. Like the time I tried jogging. Nothing like the feeling of an impending heart attack to ruin a zen moment! I was definitely not built for jogging. I think the j is silent, like yogging. It's new. yeah, not for me, not so much.
Then there was the last time that I took Laney down there. I thought she was going to follow that flock of geese right into the river! That girl has no fear. I never did either, until she was born... Now I 'm starting to understand my mother's perpetual worrying... It's caring. I guess it takes being a parent to really get it. Now I regret a lot of my daredevil youth, not for the experiences (which were awesome, injuries aside) or for the outcome (hey, I'm still alive, and I turned out alright..., right?) but for the worry and stress I know I put mom through. And she did so well with it. Never over-protective, she let me run and do and be, with such grace. Now, being a dad, and getting just a glimpse of the trials ahead, I'm in awe. Thanks Mom.

My first pointer for doing well on a technique practical is to have a firm grasp of the difference between right and left.

So I talked to my staff doc in the clinic, and he views doing that rad review as an acceptable place to be during class time, as it involved our patient's care. I'm glad to have an understanding doctor to work under!!!

Tech Review went pretty well. Today was a mock practical, and I was given a couple pointers on honing my adjusting skills. Glad to have gotten them before the real practical tomorrow!

Well, gotta run, I have a patient in a few minutes and I should go review his file...

Have I mentioned yet how hectic 7th tri is? Wow. It's like I'm trying to juggle a full-time job (clinic) and a full-time class schedule. Yesterday I had to be two places at the same time. I had to deliver a radiology review on some x-rays I took Tuesday night. When you take films, it's an iron-clad rule that you write a report and present your findings either the same or the next day. This is very important as there is a patient waiting to find out what the x-ray results are. Patient care always comes first. Well, I took the films right before close so that meant I needed to report the next day. there's two times you can present, morning (9:30) or afternoon (3:00). I didn't dare sign up for the morning, as I wouldn't even have access to the films to review them and write my report until 8am. It was my first rad review, and I wanted time to do properly prepare. So I signed up for the 3pm time, which is when I'm supposed to be in Clinical Methods. So I missed Clinic, and you can only miss twice, 3X and you have to repeat the course the next tri, which means graduate a tri later. Hopefully nothing comes up again this tri!

Well turns out I wrote my report wrong, based on the type of films I took. So I was told to redo my report and present the next day. I did that today, and it went much better! He could have made me do what's called a case study, where you do a big research paper and presentation on a specific radiology finding. You have to complete 10 of these anyway, but I didn't feel like that being lumped on my plate with everything else going on, and Part II and PT boards fast approching next month...

Oh! Gotta get to Tech Review class! Practical exam tomorrow!

Well a few weeks into the clinic experience and I'm happy to report that I have two new patients, and have been able to perform physicals, report of findings and deliver adjustments, and perform physical therapy. It's so exciting to be putting into action the things I've been learning these past years! Life is rather hectic right now, juggling clinic with my class load and home life. But it's all fitting together rather nicely.

It's been unusually hot this summer here, which has me second guessing moving south to practice after graduation! I think I was getting used to the mild summers (compared to Florida). It's been over 100 nearly every day for the last three weeks it seems! Lately I've been researching British Columbia, Canada, as a possible location for us. We have friends practicing up there, and the winters are actually milder than ours where they live! Summers don't get anywhere near as hot either. That's looking really enticing, I have to say! Last week the central air went out in my house. We were miserable for four days, waiting for attempted repairs, and finally a complete replacement. Ouch. Cost a fortune. (Well, a fortune for a student anyway, $2600!!!) Sure feels nice to have air again though!

The temp actually finally dropped today, it's only in the 80s. Feels cool by comparison! Homecoming at Palmer this weekend, so it's a short week. No classes thurs or friday. We were planning on attending, especially since a friend of ours will be presenting a seminar. We decided that since we didn't get a family vacation this summer, we really needed to get away for a few days. We decided to go up to Washington Island, on the tip of Door county Wisconsin, in lake Michigan, to visit my Mom and Step-Dad. It's been unusually hot up there too, but the forecast is looking nice. It's a 7 hour drive, plus a 45 minute ferry ride to the island, but it will be worth it to unwind for a few days and enjoy my Mom's awesome cooking! Laney and dartagnan love swimming in the lake too, so everyone should enjoy the time up there.

Well, gotta run, I have an appointment coming into the clinic. Yea!!!

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.

Finally in the clinic!

Well 7th tri has finally arrived for me, which means I will soon be "cleared for clinic"! This means that I have reached a point where I can start treating patients in the campus health center, one of our two clinics here at Palmer. The Campus Health Center, or CHC in Palmer lingo, is the student clinic. The patients, for the most part, are fellow students. You can also bring in family members, and treat faculty and staff there. The other clinic, the Academic Health Center, or AHC, is open to the public. It's our mac-daddy, state of the art, HUGE clinic building. I think it's the largest chiropractic clinic in the world, but don't quote me on that. It's certainly impressive. The highest quality digital x-ray, treatment equipment, physical therapy dept., etc. It's awesome! I'll be over there next tri; looking forward to it! I'm equally excited about being in the CHC though. I really like my staff doctor, Dr. Krayanhagen. In our clinic system all the student doctors are assigned to a staff doctor, who oversees all patient management. We're learning, after all, and an experienced doctor looking over your shoulder, giving advice and input, is crucial, both for patient care and student learning.

This week and next we are in "observations", where we are observing an 8th tri student treating a patients, following our staff doctor, learning clinic protocols, etc. Next Friday is our Clinic Induction Ceremony, and the following Monday we are cleared. Yeah!

I'll post regularly through this transition, so stay tuned...