Dizzam...I don't f*cking know what's up! Maybe it's because the Raiders lost yesterday lol, or....something! Or it could be all this 'waking up at 5am' business. I've never felt burnout before, only heard of it, but if I've ever experienced it...it's now! I'm old school, though. I am a strong believer in 'mind over matter' which in this case, all I need to do is think my way out of it. F*ck making excuses, that's just not me. Never have been. It just feels like there is not enough time to do anything. I know I need to read, but I'm still thinking about the test, and the proficiency that I didn't turn in. I need to remind myself to send an email, but I can't remember for what. The Open Mic is tomorrow and I will not miss that. I wish I could write more, but fuck, that chapter is not going to read itself haha.
Welcome to reality, and sometimes it's hard....
I'm not pissed off. I guarantee if I had my own place, this would be all better. Or, all worse. Who knows? And it's wild because it's just little shit. I can't help but to laugh. Thanks to Rosalyn though. I love her for that; the Obama fliers and the Sole workout appareal. Congratulations on that certification, too! I wish the Shop was still operating under you guys, so I can have a job when I return for break haha, but it's all good!
This current rotation is killing me, but it's really not that bad. The Wellness Center is fun, but that ER assignment is just not looking enjoyable at the moment. It would probably help if I actually go, but I still need to read. Looking forward to the weekend because my back is killing me.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Mirror mirror, on the wall...
This can't be love...
Don't take it that way, the feeling is incomparable because I knew they couldn't stand me. But it started off good, and ended better! It's a feeling I'll remember because words are realities, and I'm still a young man...this time, has indeed, been interesting!
I've been talking about AT a lot (which is my main focus anyway) but I don't think it would hurt to write about other things, too! I've been looking forward to getting involved at SFA, so I went to a TAASA (The African-American Student Assoc.) meeting recently, and was ecstatic when I found out there will be open-mic sessions! Oh, yes, that's my sh*t! The first open-mic was advertised as just that - Open Mic. Now, where I'm from, whenever you hear "Open Mic," you can expect to get some poets and a full dosage of spoken-word, maybe some lyricist. In addition, like at USF "Expressions," you'd get the intimate lounge setting with the candles as the rooms' only lighting, and a DJ spinning some Badu or Slum Village. There was no MC, just go up whenever you were ready. In between sets, the DJ would spin. It was a thing of beauty. I didn't know how much I'd miss that. Here, the Starbucks setting was aiight, but the seating arrangement was wack because not everyone could see. And occasionally you'd get the Barista yelling out..."okay, we got a venti double-machiatto triple-frap with no creme," and that just kinda killed the mood! But back to the performances, well, there weren't any -- poets, that is. There was one, and he was ok...he did something about love, your standard love poem. Ehh...but I'm glad there was a poet because the room was filled with guitarist. I kid you not! Of the 2 hours of performances, they were all guitarist/vocalist!!!! Um...I thought I was at Battle of the Bands.
I went with the intention to scout the competition. And I brought my rhyme-book if I felt the vibe, and decided to go up. Well, after the 7th or so guitar solo (and not even original music), I decided to sign up. But time ran out before I could go up, and that is only because people were doing 3-4 songs!!! Incredible! There needs to be some kinda limit, more like 1 song limit, or 7 minute session, because that is just uncalled-for. Good thing there were having another Open Mic the following week,, because I now, had priority for that one.
When the next week came around, I was ready to hit this crowd with something new. I really wanted to make a statement so I wrote something especially for this occasion. And with all the BS in politics going on right now, I wrote a anti-Bush piece, and I didn't know how it would be taken. But, I spoke to Sparxx before I went up, and he said "Don't get shot out there, man." Whatever, if they hate, then so what! One thing I will admit though, the crowds definitely come out in support. This event was an outdoor event, so there were more people than the Starbucks event. I did the poem "If You don't know, no ya know," which has some anti-Bush comments/lines metaphorically spoken as the "Dick and the Bush," and the crowd just LOVED it! I was getting all kinds of laughs in the right places on parts that were intended to be funny, and afterwards, several folks (including some cute freshmen girls -- too young, though) came up to me and showed their appreciation! It was great. And also, another group of guys who are musicians really liked it, and invited me to a jam session in the music building where they were rehearsing for next week's Battle of Bands competition. They didn't know I played piano for the last 11 years, so I was down. A great week indeed. A special one. I'm looking forward to more events.
Don't take it that way, the feeling is incomparable because I knew they couldn't stand me. But it started off good, and ended better! It's a feeling I'll remember because words are realities, and I'm still a young man...this time, has indeed, been interesting!
I've been talking about AT a lot (which is my main focus anyway) but I don't think it would hurt to write about other things, too! I've been looking forward to getting involved at SFA, so I went to a TAASA (The African-American Student Assoc.) meeting recently, and was ecstatic when I found out there will be open-mic sessions! Oh, yes, that's my sh*t! The first open-mic was advertised as just that - Open Mic. Now, where I'm from, whenever you hear "Open Mic," you can expect to get some poets and a full dosage of spoken-word, maybe some lyricist. In addition, like at USF "Expressions," you'd get the intimate lounge setting with the candles as the rooms' only lighting, and a DJ spinning some Badu or Slum Village. There was no MC, just go up whenever you were ready. In between sets, the DJ would spin. It was a thing of beauty. I didn't know how much I'd miss that. Here, the Starbucks setting was aiight, but the seating arrangement was wack because not everyone could see. And occasionally you'd get the Barista yelling out..."okay, we got a venti double-machiatto triple-frap with no creme," and that just kinda killed the mood! But back to the performances, well, there weren't any -- poets, that is. There was one, and he was ok...he did something about love, your standard love poem. Ehh...but I'm glad there was a poet because the room was filled with guitarist. I kid you not! Of the 2 hours of performances, they were all guitarist/vocalist!!!! Um...I thought I was at Battle of the Bands.
I went with the intention to scout the competition. And I brought my rhyme-book if I felt the vibe, and decided to go up. Well, after the 7th or so guitar solo (and not even original music), I decided to sign up. But time ran out before I could go up, and that is only because people were doing 3-4 songs!!! Incredible! There needs to be some kinda limit, more like 1 song limit, or 7 minute session, because that is just uncalled-for. Good thing there were having another Open Mic the following week,, because I now, had priority for that one.
When the next week came around, I was ready to hit this crowd with something new. I really wanted to make a statement so I wrote something especially for this occasion. And with all the BS in politics going on right now, I wrote a anti-Bush piece, and I didn't know how it would be taken. But, I spoke to Sparxx before I went up, and he said "Don't get shot out there, man." Whatever, if they hate, then so what! One thing I will admit though, the crowds definitely come out in support. This event was an outdoor event, so there were more people than the Starbucks event. I did the poem "If You don't know, no ya know," which has some anti-Bush comments/lines metaphorically spoken as the "Dick and the Bush," and the crowd just LOVED it! I was getting all kinds of laughs in the right places on parts that were intended to be funny, and afterwards, several folks (including some cute freshmen girls -- too young, though) came up to me and showed their appreciation! It was great. And also, another group of guys who are musicians really liked it, and invited me to a jam session in the music building where they were rehearsing for next week's Battle of Bands competition. They didn't know I played piano for the last 11 years, so I was down. A great week indeed. A special one. I'm looking forward to more events.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Something I Want
On a Friday...
Yesterday was jam packed! Since football is out of town, I was looking forward to sleeping in the whole day, meaning no 6:45a practice, and no 1p-5p treatment times. But no...that's when Hurricane Ike hit and changed everything. So, Sean and I were supposed to go to Corrigan, but that game was postponed from last Friday, then moved up Thursday to try and beat the Hurricane but then the roads were closed for evacutations, so the game was finally rescheduled to yesterday. Not to mention...no one wanted to cover tennis, so Loree was this close to "activating the draft" and signing trainers up to cover the tennis tournament. I decided to just sign up for Fridays morning shift. So that brings my day to......
Intro to Athletic Training 9a-9:50a
Tennis Tournament 11a-3p
Corrigan v. Hemp Hill Friday Night Football 4:45p-11p (including travel time)
Whew - so much for sleeping in...! The tennis tournament wasn't bad at all, though. In fact, I really enjoyed it, even though I didn't get to see much action. I did wrap a broken toe nail for one of our athletes. And Josh happened to stop by, so he did a blister, again, for one of our players. I got to drive the Gator and nearly flipped the muthaf*cker haha! So, Meaghan was headed to cover a track meet or something, and needed the dolley to transport equipment. And Loree and I were running low on Powerade anyway, so she sent me to get more Powerade and take the dolley back to the ATR for Meaghan. So, I've never driven the 6-wheel gator, and didn't realize how powerful is was! As I was driving from the tennis courts, I was thinking in my head what was the shortest and fastest way to the ATR. Anyway, I remember Dustin saying that some of the trainers got in trouble for driving over the grass (shortcuts), so the only way I knew was along Wilson Drive next to the intramural courts and through Lumberjack alley. So I wasn't driving in the street, and decided to take the sidewalk. So, I'm flooring it - doing at least 25mph in this thing. And, keep in mind, it hadn't been a few days since a hurricane Ike just finished coming through. There is leaves and branches and debris all over the place, and it's flying in my eyes, and the dolley in the back is rumbling all over the place. Not to mention the brakes aren't that good on this thing. I approach a ramp for wheelchairs to get onto the sidewalk, kinda like near entrance/exit ways for cards, and I didn't really see it until the last second...so I hit this ramp-thing going FULL SPEED and my heart nearly jumped out of my shirt, as I grabbed on the wheel with both hands to keep this thing leveled as I went airborne and nearly flipped the Gator on it's side. I managed to keep it up, and juat BARELY escaped scratching the sh*t out of this new Accord parked along Wilson Drive. Whew! I'm not doing that again...okay, maybe once more on the way back...
Yesterday was jam packed! Since football is out of town, I was looking forward to sleeping in the whole day, meaning no 6:45a practice, and no 1p-5p treatment times. But no...that's when Hurricane Ike hit and changed everything. So, Sean and I were supposed to go to Corrigan, but that game was postponed from last Friday, then moved up Thursday to try and beat the Hurricane but then the roads were closed for evacutations, so the game was finally rescheduled to yesterday. Not to mention...no one wanted to cover tennis, so Loree was this close to "activating the draft" and signing trainers up to cover the tennis tournament. I decided to just sign up for Fridays morning shift. So that brings my day to......
Intro to Athletic Training 9a-9:50a
Tennis Tournament 11a-3p
Corrigan v. Hemp Hill Friday Night Football 4:45p-11p (including travel time)
Whew - so much for sleeping in...! The tennis tournament wasn't bad at all, though. In fact, I really enjoyed it, even though I didn't get to see much action. I did wrap a broken toe nail for one of our athletes. And Josh happened to stop by, so he did a blister, again, for one of our players. I got to drive the Gator and nearly flipped the muthaf*cker haha! So, Meaghan was headed to cover a track meet or something, and needed the dolley to transport equipment. And Loree and I were running low on Powerade anyway, so she sent me to get more Powerade and take the dolley back to the ATR for Meaghan. So, I've never driven the 6-wheel gator, and didn't realize how powerful is was! As I was driving from the tennis courts, I was thinking in my head what was the shortest and fastest way to the ATR. Anyway, I remember Dustin saying that some of the trainers got in trouble for driving over the grass (shortcuts), so the only way I knew was along Wilson Drive next to the intramural courts and through Lumberjack alley. So I wasn't driving in the street, and decided to take the sidewalk. So, I'm flooring it - doing at least 25mph in this thing. And, keep in mind, it hadn't been a few days since a hurricane Ike just finished coming through. There is leaves and branches and debris all over the place, and it's flying in my eyes, and the dolley in the back is rumbling all over the place. Not to mention the brakes aren't that good on this thing. I approach a ramp for wheelchairs to get onto the sidewalk, kinda like near entrance/exit ways for cards, and I didn't really see it until the last second...so I hit this ramp-thing going FULL SPEED and my heart nearly jumped out of my shirt, as I grabbed on the wheel with both hands to keep this thing leveled as I went airborne and nearly flipped the Gator on it's side. I managed to keep it up, and juat BARELY escaped scratching the sh*t out of this new Accord parked along Wilson Drive. Whew! I'm not doing that again...okay, maybe once more on the way back...
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Rotation 2
Current 2-week rotation is football. In fact, it is no longer current because yesterday was technically the last day - even though they did not practice (walk through's on Fridays), but they are traveling this weekend to Western Illinois to play. So, with the Hurricane last week, and the away game this week, I didn't get a chance to cover football. Haha, I bet they would let me cover games if I volunteered though, they always need more people. Ehh..maybe! Not that I don't want to, it's just I like watching the games too.
The football rotation was good, my second favorite behind Nacogdoches HS, and I have Wellness Center/Nac Memorial Hospital for my next rotation. In the beginning, I thought the football rotation would not be enjoyable mainly because it seems like I do not know any of the undergraduate trainers. By the second week, it had gotten better, and it turned out to be a case of just getting used to eachother. It feels like most of the undergrads are involved with football. And just being in the ATR with them forced me to get to know them. From what I understad, their experience is going to be based on a "internship-like" curriculum, where they learn everything on-the-go. So that would explain why they constantly have to be around. I like that method, which is kind of what I did at Chabot, but the biggest difference was I was the ONLY one, so I got the chance to be involved in everything! There wasn't 18 other students around to take up my chances to do treatments, cover games/practices, evalutations, rehab programs, etc. Thanks Dan! I attribute that style of learning to how I know what I know today, or prior to entering this Grad program.
The morning practices were okay. I taped some ankles, and most of the time stood around and waited for practice to begin. In fact I completely botched he very first ankle I did. Haha I can't remember who it was, most likely a WR, but on the right foot, I didn't do any horseshoe strips!!! The left foot, which is the one I tend to do second, was fine. Afterward, I watched him sort of rip a cut into the tape near the achilles. Hahah, needless to say, he never came back to me! On the bigger guys (linemen), I always used 2" athletic tape. And for my first time using 2" tape, I did pretty good. In the beginning, I'm glad I stood back and watched the undergrads style of taping, and Dustin's style, too! It helped because I got to see what the players were used to. For example, some of the players need moleskin for stirrups, and others need combination arch-jobs with ankles, or turf-toe strappings/ankle. So by day 2, I kind of just jumped right in. When an athlete would walk in, I'd say, "What do we got? Ankles? Hop on up..." and that was all. There were only two times when an athlete deferred and said they were waiting for another trainer. That's normal. I just took Dustin's advice, and didn't take it personal. It's their preference. But you never know...you might like my tape job better ;0)
The football rotation was good, my second favorite behind Nacogdoches HS, and I have Wellness Center/Nac Memorial Hospital for my next rotation. In the beginning, I thought the football rotation would not be enjoyable mainly because it seems like I do not know any of the undergraduate trainers. By the second week, it had gotten better, and it turned out to be a case of just getting used to eachother. It feels like most of the undergrads are involved with football. And just being in the ATR with them forced me to get to know them. From what I understad, their experience is going to be based on a "internship-like" curriculum, where they learn everything on-the-go. So that would explain why they constantly have to be around. I like that method, which is kind of what I did at Chabot, but the biggest difference was I was the ONLY one, so I got the chance to be involved in everything! There wasn't 18 other students around to take up my chances to do treatments, cover games/practices, evalutations, rehab programs, etc. Thanks Dan! I attribute that style of learning to how I know what I know today, or prior to entering this Grad program.
The morning practices were okay. I taped some ankles, and most of the time stood around and waited for practice to begin. In fact I completely botched he very first ankle I did. Haha I can't remember who it was, most likely a WR, but on the right foot, I didn't do any horseshoe strips!!! The left foot, which is the one I tend to do second, was fine. Afterward, I watched him sort of rip a cut into the tape near the achilles. Hahah, needless to say, he never came back to me! On the bigger guys (linemen), I always used 2" athletic tape. And for my first time using 2" tape, I did pretty good. In the beginning, I'm glad I stood back and watched the undergrads style of taping, and Dustin's style, too! It helped because I got to see what the players were used to. For example, some of the players need moleskin for stirrups, and others need combination arch-jobs with ankles, or turf-toe strappings/ankle. So by day 2, I kind of just jumped right in. When an athlete would walk in, I'd say, "What do we got? Ankles? Hop on up..." and that was all. There were only two times when an athlete deferred and said they were waiting for another trainer. That's normal. I just took Dustin's advice, and didn't take it personal. It's their preference. But you never know...you might like my tape job better ;0)
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Football and Hurricanes
I've traded earthquakes for hurricanes. Ike. According to the local and national news, this is going to be a BIG hurricane, and even looking at the size of it from satelite view, it looks to be the size of the entire Gulf - wow! I turn on CNN, and every other news channel for that matter, and they all are reporting on the conditions of the Texas coast. From the projected path, this thing looks like it will rip directly over Nac, or at least the eye will. A lot of people are evacuating from the coast and heading North. There are students from Lamar Univsersity on campus; it seems like the schools' entire Indian population came. It's all good though, I remember when Katrina hit, and USF housed a bunch of students from our New Orleans sister schools. There were kids from Xavier, some from Jackson State University, and a few others. This is no different.
There was supposed to be a football game today. We were going to host Kentucky Wesleyan at Homer Bryce Stadium. It would have been my first time covering a SFA Football game. Looks like there will be a change of plans. When I got up yesterday at 6:45a to head to practice, the sky looked eerily dark. It reminded me of Autumn afternoons in San Francisco. It was windy and the sun barely peeked through. I thought to myself, "Self, is this what the beginning of a hurricane looks like," because is so, doesn't look so bad. Of course, right now, the wind is blowing rediculously hard and I can hear branches from breaking from all the trees surrounding this area. When I look out the window, there is debris all over the streets of Wilson ave. I keep thinking the windows are going to blow out any moment. When driving back from Julie's house, I saw all the windows of businesses either boarded up, or duct taped in 'X' patterns. Supposedly, so if they break, it doesn't shatter. On Thursday, Sean and I were supposed to go to Corrigan to cover a game between Hemp Hill and Corrigan HS. Cancelled.
Back to college football on ESPN. I'm getting messages from the trainers that they are losing power. According to Sandy, the University will not lose power so I'm thankful for that. I couldn't imagine being in this place without A/C. Even though it is still cold outside, it still tends to get stuffy in this place. Tonight is supposed to be a "Hurricane Party," which is the kids do when school gets cancelled and there is nothing else to do. Yah, you got me, too! But last night, 4 of us went to the Shack and it was pretty dead, but we still had a good time. And there was a huge sign that read, "Open during Hurricane Ike" hahaha...people still need to get their drank on!
There was supposed to be a football game today. We were going to host Kentucky Wesleyan at Homer Bryce Stadium. It would have been my first time covering a SFA Football game. Looks like there will be a change of plans. When I got up yesterday at 6:45a to head to practice, the sky looked eerily dark. It reminded me of Autumn afternoons in San Francisco. It was windy and the sun barely peeked through. I thought to myself, "Self, is this what the beginning of a hurricane looks like," because is so, doesn't look so bad. Of course, right now, the wind is blowing rediculously hard and I can hear branches from breaking from all the trees surrounding this area. When I look out the window, there is debris all over the streets of Wilson ave. I keep thinking the windows are going to blow out any moment. When driving back from Julie's house, I saw all the windows of businesses either boarded up, or duct taped in 'X' patterns. Supposedly, so if they break, it doesn't shatter. On Thursday, Sean and I were supposed to go to Corrigan to cover a game between Hemp Hill and Corrigan HS. Cancelled.
Back to college football on ESPN. I'm getting messages from the trainers that they are losing power. According to Sandy, the University will not lose power so I'm thankful for that. I couldn't imagine being in this place without A/C. Even though it is still cold outside, it still tends to get stuffy in this place. Tonight is supposed to be a "Hurricane Party," which is the kids do when school gets cancelled and there is nothing else to do. Yah, you got me, too! But last night, 4 of us went to the Shack and it was pretty dead, but we still had a good time. And there was a huge sign that read, "Open during Hurricane Ike" hahaha...people still need to get their drank on!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Rotation 1
And like that, my first clinical rotation is complete. My rotation took place at Nacogdoches High School where Christy W. is the Head Athletic Trainer. Based on what I'm hearing from others in my cohort, I seem to be doing the most AT related things during my rotation. The others are either shagging balls, getting water, observing treatments, getting assigned papers, or any combination of those. In fairness, I'm doing those same things too but I'm also taping, and seem to have a little more freedom. I love being at Nac high for that reason. Christy was really trusting, and allowed me to be on my own.
The typical day consisted of us (myself, Jorge, and Bart) showing up around 3pm. Practice began at 4:30p. We'd setup water caddy's for the players, and transport any equipment or tables to their necessary destinations. That wouldn't take too long, and it may not seem like much but I think it is important to get an idea how different people do their setup. For example, Dan M. does his setup completely different. The biggest difference being the fact we are in such a humid climate that their absolutely must be water out there. In California, we didn't use water caddy's. What a difference a state can make, huh? Then the players would come in and get taping and bracing. At first, I was a little hesitant to tape the players, despite that being one of the best experiences outside of the controlled environment of our classroom. But knowing the critiques I recieved from Dan, I jumped right in by day 2. I was a lot more comfortable, and most importantly, the athletes were a lot more comfortable with me. Trust is important. Had I screwed up someone's ankle job, then there would be very little chance of them ever coming back to me. Luckily I didn't. I felt very confident in my tape jobs. Afterall, we only did wrist/hand/thumb combos, and ankles. Those are the most commonly taped body parts, anyway.
Gameday was definitely exciting. It was my first chance to witness what Texas football is all about. Like, the show "Friday Night Lights" -- I really wanted to see if it was really like that. In some ways it was, but not really -- and I think the reason is because if I were to go to Odessa area, which is the school that FNL is based off, then I'd really see it there. But even at the bigger school, or dare I say better teams, then I'd see it something that more closely resembles the "idea" I had of FNL. In a few weeks, I'll be a Lufkin High which is a better team, supposedly. Nac High held their own, though. They are 2-0! With wins over Mt. Pleasant high and Center High. Besides a cheerleader falling from the pyramid, there were no injuries to report.
Thank you to Jorge and Bart for providing the transportation. Good lookin' out fellas because I would have been SOL. All in all, it was a good experience. Now, I move on to SFA Football, which is my next rotation. Hopefully I'll be able to do some taping. Most likely not, but I am looking forward to being on the sidelines. However, I am NOT looking forward to 6:30a treatments.
The typical day consisted of us (myself, Jorge, and Bart) showing up around 3pm. Practice began at 4:30p. We'd setup water caddy's for the players, and transport any equipment or tables to their necessary destinations. That wouldn't take too long, and it may not seem like much but I think it is important to get an idea how different people do their setup. For example, Dan M. does his setup completely different. The biggest difference being the fact we are in such a humid climate that their absolutely must be water out there. In California, we didn't use water caddy's. What a difference a state can make, huh? Then the players would come in and get taping and bracing. At first, I was a little hesitant to tape the players, despite that being one of the best experiences outside of the controlled environment of our classroom. But knowing the critiques I recieved from Dan, I jumped right in by day 2. I was a lot more comfortable, and most importantly, the athletes were a lot more comfortable with me. Trust is important. Had I screwed up someone's ankle job, then there would be very little chance of them ever coming back to me. Luckily I didn't. I felt very confident in my tape jobs. Afterall, we only did wrist/hand/thumb combos, and ankles. Those are the most commonly taped body parts, anyway.
Gameday was definitely exciting. It was my first chance to witness what Texas football is all about. Like, the show "Friday Night Lights" -- I really wanted to see if it was really like that. In some ways it was, but not really -- and I think the reason is because if I were to go to Odessa area, which is the school that FNL is based off, then I'd really see it there. But even at the bigger school, or dare I say better teams, then I'd see it something that more closely resembles the "idea" I had of FNL. In a few weeks, I'll be a Lufkin High which is a better team, supposedly. Nac High held their own, though. They are 2-0! With wins over Mt. Pleasant high and Center High. Besides a cheerleader falling from the pyramid, there were no injuries to report.
Thank you to Jorge and Bart for providing the transportation. Good lookin' out fellas because I would have been SOL. All in all, it was a good experience. Now, I move on to SFA Football, which is my next rotation. Hopefully I'll be able to do some taping. Most likely not, but I am looking forward to being on the sidelines. However, I am NOT looking forward to 6:30a treatments.
Friday, September 5, 2008
First Fail
Okay, just breathe...
I didn't exactly 'fail' rather it was a....well, I did fail. You see, we have these things called "proficiencies" that are simply a method of measuring our skills in the clinical setting. This particular proficiency was about therapeutic modalities. Every week, we get a new proficiency that we must learn, and then we have two weeks to practice it, before finally being tested on it. Although there are plenty of modalities used, we were primarily going to be tested on using ultrasound or electrical muscle stimulation (e-stim). But here's the kicker - we were ONLY supposed to be tested on the initial setup of the treatment, for example, an AT provides us the parameters and we confidently place the patient in the correct position, and press some buttons to get the treatment going.
Now, when I say "I didn't exactly fail," this is what I mean. The Approved Clinical Instructor (ACI) was unaware of this style of testing. He was under the impression that we were supposed to be familiar with the settings, the methodology, and science behind the modality use. Needless to say, we haven't learned all of that...yet. But thankfully, all those volunteer hours clocked at Chabot, got me through the test, but I needed to get at least a 27/33 and I got a 24. Not bad for someone never formally trained in therapeutic modalities, eh?
The bottomline is I still failed. It ended up not being such a big deal because the instructor of the course informed the ACI of the correct way to grade, and everything was fixed. In fact, I re-took the test before everything was fixed, and in turn, learned a lot about modalities - so I'm ahead of the curve! That's why I didn't fail, ya heard?
Failure is not an option
I didn't exactly 'fail' rather it was a....well, I did fail. You see, we have these things called "proficiencies" that are simply a method of measuring our skills in the clinical setting. This particular proficiency was about therapeutic modalities. Every week, we get a new proficiency that we must learn, and then we have two weeks to practice it, before finally being tested on it. Although there are plenty of modalities used, we were primarily going to be tested on using ultrasound or electrical muscle stimulation (e-stim). But here's the kicker - we were ONLY supposed to be tested on the initial setup of the treatment, for example, an AT provides us the parameters and we confidently place the patient in the correct position, and press some buttons to get the treatment going.
Now, when I say "I didn't exactly fail," this is what I mean. The Approved Clinical Instructor (ACI) was unaware of this style of testing. He was under the impression that we were supposed to be familiar with the settings, the methodology, and science behind the modality use. Needless to say, we haven't learned all of that...yet. But thankfully, all those volunteer hours clocked at Chabot, got me through the test, but I needed to get at least a 27/33 and I got a 24. Not bad for someone never formally trained in therapeutic modalities, eh?
The bottomline is I still failed. It ended up not being such a big deal because the instructor of the course informed the ACI of the correct way to grade, and everything was fixed. In fact, I re-took the test before everything was fixed, and in turn, learned a lot about modalities - so I'm ahead of the curve! That's why I didn't fail, ya heard?
Failure is not an option
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