December 15, 2009

Finals are officially over.  Semester IV of DPT school is checked off.  The tests weren’t too bad; just a week of cramming and stressing.  As usual, all 4 tests were comprehensive, and, as usual, the majority of the questions asked, “What is the BEST option? “ and then you have 4 options that are all correct, but you’ve got to figure out which one is the “best.”  Those questions really give me headaches. 

This was the first semester, however, to have one of our finals done on the computer.  It was for the class Diagnostic Imaging and so I suppose it makes sense to have a computer screen to see X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans versus having them on paper.  It wasn’t bad, just different.  Enough of finals talk; it’s making me nervous again.

We had a class party a day after finals to celebrate another semester over.  We had some food, sang Christmas songs, and had a fun time.  Spencer, of course, loved the enclosed room to run around wild amongst everyone; no one seemed to mind.  It’s crazy to think we’re pretty much halfway done with our program.  We just have one more full semester of coursework this spring, and then after that, more clinicals.

A lot of classmates have already flown home; several others are sticking around a bit to hit the snowy mountains.  We’re heading home to Utah at the end of the week to spend Christmas and New Year’s with family.  It’s about a 6-8 hour drive.  Spencer loves it at our parents’ homes (Ashley and I are from the same town) because he gets spoiled rotten and gets away with pretty much anything.  We like the break as well.  Although Denver is really growing on us, it is nice to get out of the city for a few weeks.  Hopefully spring semester doesn’t come too fast.  Merry Christmas!

Here's a picture of us and a few classmates at the Golden Candlight Christmas Parade. It was COLD but fun.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Day! This was during Finals Week. What a great way to loosen the tension.

The three of us played the music (the guy without a guitar was coaxed into leading the singing) while everyone else sang during our Christmas party.

December 2009

                This week our class has two practical exams:  one in Neuro-management I and another in Musculoskeletal Management II.  They basically consist of 15-30 minutes of high stress, fear, sweat, near black-outs, cold sweat anticipation, and performing Physical Therapy “services” to a faculty member who acts like a patient while another faculty member is breathing behind your back grading you on your performance and asking you questions when they want clarification/rationale for doing something or when they think you’re full of it.  Trust me, they’re pretty good at calling out BS when it’s there.

                With that in mind, this entry is going to be short.  The last two weeks have been crazy with group assignments, quizzes, and skills checks, so the Thanksgiving break was needed.  While many classmates flew/drove home to visit family, we stayed here and had Thanksgiving dinner with classmates.  Since Spencer was the only child, he was the spotlight and therefore performed one thing after another.  The food was good and the company even better.

                Over the break, amidst studying and preparing for these practicals, we put up our Christmas decorations and tree and it dawned on me that this is our second Christmas here in Denver.  It really has become our home and I’m pretty sure this city is growing on us. 

                The next time I write an entry, these practicals will be long over with and finals we be a thing of the past.  Just one day at a time.

A quick photo as we begin to dive into our Thanksgiving dinner food.

Here we are playing some card games while Spencer wrecks havoc on those in striking distance.

Surprisingly, with all the decorations and ornaments getting unwrapped and put up, Spencer only broke 2 things. He just wanted to be a part of it all.

THE LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE

I’ve been asked on several occasions what a typical day is as a DPT student at Regis.  I respond, “Usually, we start class between 8 and 10 AM (depending on the day); we’ll get a lunch break from noon ‘till 1, then classes/labs until 3 or 5 PM (again, depending on the day).  Keep in mind, of course, that doesn’t include any studying time.  Well, last Thursday constituted the LONGEST SCHOOL DAY OF MY LIFE.  It went as follows:

                7:00 AM:  I’m already on campus trying to finish finding research articles for a small group tutorial discussion starting in an hour.

I see this sunrise every morning as I'm getting ready to go to school. Unfortunately, since the days are getting shorter, we're sometimes still in class or studying when the sun is setting over the mountains.

                8:00 AM – 10:45 AM:  Lots of blurry moments of discussing a “patient scenario” who had a stroke at a picnic and we’re going through the process of treating him.  Someone brought donuts.  That definitely helped.

                11:15 AM:  A group of us got Little Caesar’s Pizza since we had to make up a lab (from a snow day) in 15 minutes and we didn’t want to worry about heating up food on campus.

                11:30 AM – 4 PM:  Musculoskeletal Management II Lab . . . aka I’m getting joints I didn’t know about poked, prodded, and mobilized again and again and again.  I can bend over a lot further now.

                4 PM – 6:30 PM:  Diagnostic Imaging Lab, this one involving electrical currents to nerves.  Probably not the best lab to have when everyone is on their last wind; welcome to PT school. . . that’s where we thrive. 

Actually, who knows where this lab came from (meaning, why at the end of such a long day?), but I suppose it had to be fit in somewhere. . . . so why not now?

                7 PM:  Finally home (I wasn’t sure how I got there), ate dinner, helped bathe Spencer and get him ready for bed, and get ready for the next day.  Oh yeah, I’d better study a little.

There you have it.  That was a Thursday.  It was tough, and it just got even more exciting with a test the following Monday, a quiz on Tuesday, a skills check on Wednesday, and a journal due on Friday.  Thankfully another paper that was due on Friday as well was postponed until the following Monday. What helped, though, was a bunch of us on the Monday of the exam decided to celebrate the 120^th Anniversary of Montana joining the Union by wearing flannel to school, since, come on, there are 5 or 6 classmates from that beautiful state.  You’ve just got to show support sometimes.  It helped break up the monotony, to say the least, and it made for a great photo and memory.  Why Montana and flannel?  Who knows.

Who doesn't celebrate the 120th Anniversary of Montana joining the Union? What a fun bunch of future Physical Therapists.

Here's a picture of some classmates during the Halloween costume contest. Just imagine 30 of us like that.

Actually you don't have to imagine...here we are!

 

PT Management and Halloween : November 2009

This semester we’ve really dived into the “PT Management” courses. . . . which means lots and lots of labs. Some, of course, are more interesting than others. For example, this photo gives you an idea of one of the more exciting times of a neuro-management lab this past week. Here, a classmate was put into a harness and hung over a treadmill to practice “body weight support treadmill training.” And there’s even research to validate the effectiveness of it!

 

Nothing is as fun as experimenting with classmates on the different interventions and equipment we learn about in class.

Although I couldn’t locate a picture yet for this blog, just try and imagine a large group of students all dressed up as mimes. That was our class theme for a school costume contest on Friday, October 30th. The majority of our class participated, and it was a lot of fun. We even got 3rd place at the group contest, losing, unfortunately, to the DPT class of 2012 as a “Where’s Waldo?” theme and another group dressed as cereal box themes.

Halloween was lots of fun with Spencer tromping around the neighborhood in the lion costume that his grandma had made. That’s right, nothing store bought. And he caught on very fast to the concept of Halloween: run to the door; pound on the door; receive candy. Next house. From the photo, you can even see that Daisy dressed up as a bumble bee to take part in the spirit of the season.

 

We all pose after coming home from a night out getting sugar. To Daisy's delight, she even got a bone from one of the houses we knocked on.

Spencer had quite the growl to go with his costume.

 

 

October 2009

Well, we’re back into the classroom, and that includes long hours of lectures, labs, article reading, and all the planning involved with when this assignment is due or when that quiz will be held. I’ll spare you the details, but for those interested, year 2 (which we’ve just started) involves A LOT more article reading than year 1. And I’m not referring to articles from mainstream magazines; these are all from academic sources, which mean some are more interesting than others. The positive thing is that I’m starting to actually understand these articles. But that’s a whole different topic there.

In the midst of the above battles, our program is unique in that we have EVERY (all caps for emphasis) Wednesday morning off. Other programs may have a different schedule, but I love having that morning to catch up on homework, study, and if I’m being truly honest, put homework aside for a bit and do other stuff.

The following pictures, which were taken last Wednesday and this Wednesday, show a few things that I find myself doing on those mornings off. The pictures also demonstrate the crazy weather patterns of Denver that I’m becoming familiar to.

A great Wednesday morning for a hike in the mountains to see the leaves change colors.

A week later from photo 1, really foggy outside, Spencer all bundled up to go in his jogging stroller for a morning run.

First snow fall of the season.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Service Learning is a big component of our program. Each semester, we’re given different opportunities to go into the community and provide at least 10 hours of service, usually health-related. Here are some pictures of our project. About 12 of us went to a local high school and created a health fair for students to participate in during “report card night.” Students would go around to the stations and learn about different aspects of their health. Our booth, for example, focused on “Health Literacy,” specifically blood pressure, vision, and heart rate. Go Service Learning.

My group's platform poster about "Health Literacy."

The members of my class who were at the fair, posing for a photo at the end of the night.

October 2009

4 Reasons Daisy Loves Denver, CO

4. Denver has great trails to bike on, most (if not all) dog friendly. This latest picture is of the “Green Belt” that leads west towards Golden (west-side of Denver) to a farmer’s market, river, and park.

A quick stop at the Farmer's Market while riding on the "Green Belt."

3. People don’t care that Daisy goes swimming in the river. . . As a matter of fact, there were a lot of dogs out swimming with her.

Although the water was cold, it felt great on our feet. Daisy had been swimming and reluctantly came back to the shore for a picture.

2. At Regis’ Fun Run (put on by the PT department) last weekend, many dogs ran with their owners. On a side note, Daisy was the first dog to cross the finish line. Although she received no official recognition, her owner demanded they give her some sort of prize. So, she received a $1 gift certificate to Wendy’s.

1. Being the last day our pool was open in our apartment complex, the management invited all dogs in the complex to go swimming in the pool. They even brought doggie ice cream snacks & chew toys for the dogs. What a great day.

Daisy loved swimming in our complex pool; this was one of many superman-like jumps.

As you can see, the last 3 weeks has been spent outdoors as much as possible, and it has been very nice weather for it. Although I have had to study here and there in the evenings during this first clinical rotation, the break from hardcore schoolwork has been very nice. It has been a great experience being out on clinicals and applying what I’ve learned so far . . . and realizing how much I don’t know. Luckily, we still have about 2 years to go.

I’m looking forward to getting back with my classmates and getting on with the coursework. Here we go on another rollercoaster ride. I think this time around, however, the majority of us are actually buckled in, or so we think.

September 2009

Since writing my last post, my classmates and I have been at our clinical rotations; my schedule is Monday through Friday, 7 ‘till 4, just like a full-time job, except this is the kind of job where you don’t get paid. . . Now that I think about it, I got to pay tuition to be doing this, but I’m having a great time. I’ve been my Clinical Instructor’s shadow the last 3 weeks, and I still have 3 weeks to go. Although I’m in a hospital on the acute floor, there are classmates in outpatient clinics, pediatrics, rural; a little bit of everything.

Some of the highlights so far at my site are as follows:

1. I got to observe an open brain surgery. Now when I say observe, I was literally breathing down the neck of the neurosurgeon taking out the tumor. I also got to talk with the patient and the speech therapist as it was going on.
2. I spent a morning in the NICU (the premature baby unit) and saw a whole different side of therapy. It was a really neat experience.
3. I’ve started doing evaluations with new patients and am beginning to participate more and more with the intervention part. The stuff we’ve learned in school so far is starting to make more sense. Who would’ve known. . . I really am going to school to be a Physical Therapist. Go figure.

Needless to say, it has been a great experience so far, and it’s only halfway over. Then, back to schoolwork and classrooms. . .

On a lighter and non-PT related note, Ashley and I finally finished our latest project at home: Spencer’s playhouse upgrade. When we moved to Denver last year, we had to get a new dryer and I cut out holes in the cardboard box and Ashley decorated it for Spencer. As he’s gotten older and stronger, the box just couldn’t withstand the beating it received. So, we got some plywood, screws, wallpaper, and as you can see, we didn’t do too bad. Spencer loves it, and that’s the most important part. He usually gets served his breakfast in there, and at night, he hides in there and says he wants to sleep in his little cabin. He’s getting big. I sometimes can’t believe we’ve been out here a year now. Two years left of school.

Last picture of Spencer's old cardboard hut.

Posing before the "new and improved" cabin is put together.

The beautiful cabin, complete witha door and window drapes. Now he just needs a doorbell.

September 2009

Last days of our Break

As the 24th of August approached, we tried to do as much as we could before another hectic semester began. Here are a few pictures showing how we spent our time.

Fun at the bowling lanes.

Nature hike. . . . more evidence to that crazy storm.

Feeding the birds at the zoo.

From Sunday afternoon (the 23rd) until about 10:30 PM, I got emails, a few texts (thank you Rob), and some phone calls from classmates wishing me luck on our first clinical experience. It’s really amazing that I’ve only known my class for 1 year yet we’ve grown very close. Here’s a picture of most of us on a Saturday morning as we’re about to go painting for the day as a class service project. For those who are wondering, this service was in ADDITION to our regular 10 hours of service every semester. Our class advisor “encouraged” us to follow the tradition of each class by doing our own service project. On a side note, this picture was taken 3 days before a big test, yet we’re all smiling. Isn’t our class really incredible?

Our class, bright and early, before the service project.

Class members talking at a barbeque (yes, we do have a life outside of school).

While I’m talking about my class, although I don’t have much experience with other graduate program classes from former lives, I have been very satisfied with how close we have become. Sure, sure, I’m closer to some than others, but as a whole, we’re pretty close knit. Here’s a picture, for example, of some classmates at a barbeque (sorry . . . I admit there’s no proof that there was actually a barbeque . . .just take my word for it) that was held by some classmates for our class. On the weekends, a lot of classmates go downtown and get together. A lot of us have become pretty good friends.

Back to the first week of clinical: in a nutshell, it went well. I was on my feet all day, which was a lot different than being in a classroom all day. From the classmates with whom I’ve talked to, others are enjoying their experience as well. I’m at the University of CO Hospital, a great place with a great Physical Therapist who I am with ALL the time. I’m pretty much her shadow, and in the technical world, she’s called my “clinical instructor.” From people with heart transplants to people post-surgery, I’ve seen a little bit of everything (it seems). It’s great getting a break of coursework stuff. And the world of Cody continues to spin.

Here's where I work. . . up on the 6th, 7th, and 8th floors.

August 2009

There’s a reason why a tough guy like “Buffalo” Bill lived and was buried here in Denver, CO . . . . only people like him didn’t mind the crazy weather patterns. Allow me to share what I mean with these photos of shattered dreams. The first picture, Exhibit A, is taken sometime in June when my sunflowers began to grow. Such fond memories.

Exhibit A: Our sunflowers starting to grow

Exhibit B shows the magnificent plants flourishing in the beautiful sun of Denver. We had been nourishing them, watering them, singing to them, and all, as you shall see, for naught.

Exhibit B: The sunflowers almost as tall as me!

Just a few weeks ago, a storm out of nowhere hit town. Some weathermen said it brought a Class 2 Hurricane. I can’t confirm or deny that; all I know is that at approximately 9:42 PM, with all power out, hail, wind, and rain came down and destroyed my SUNFLOWERS and the flowers around it. Due to the graphic scene of demolished sunflowers, Regis chose not to show the picture. Luckily for me, no windows were broken. Other people were not as fortunate. Trees were uprooted; windows were broken; paint was chipped off. It was pretty crazy.

But, enough of that talk. It’s bringing up buried emotions. Once finals were over, I, like many classmates, headed back home to recuperate before our first clinical experience, which will start on the 24th of this month. We had fun working in our parents’ yards, 4-wheeling, picking raspberries, and just hanging out (as much as possible when a 2 year old is involved).

Having fun on the 4-wheeler

Riding the barrel train at a local fair. . . I love being squished.

It has been really nice to have a break, even more so because between Spring and Summer semester, there was just 1 week of no classes. It was hard to come back and be in a classroom during the summer, but, surprisingly, Service Learning made it a little more bearable. As part of the DPT program here, we give 10 hours of service each semester, which is unique to Regis. This summer has been especially memorable because many of us helped out with the Denver Parks & Recreation, which coordinate activities with physically and mentally handicapped individuals. Classmates helped with water-skiing, karate, biking, softball, and tennis. A lot of us helped out with a Saturday activity full of games, arts and crafts. I was part of the canoeing group. For that activity, I’d be the engine at the back of the canoe and an individual would sit in the front as we’d paddle around Sloan’s Lake. It was a blast.

4 of us at a community dance ("Summer Luau") we helped set up for community members with special needs

Getting ready to go canoeing!!

Spencer and me and Daisy on the canoe.

It’s a little overwhelming to think we’ll be in our first clinical experience in less than 2 weeks. But, it definitely will beat tests, textbooks, and lectures. We’ll see if I’ll be singing a different tune at the end of the 6 week experience.

July 2009

I’m writing this entry just as finals week is approaching, today being the Friday before. It’s funny they call this “Reading Day,” a day of no school, a day I should lay out in the sun and read a chapter of a book that doesn’t talk about Physical Therapy, but, here I found myself at the school library, and I believe a more appropriate name for this day would be “Cramming Day,” or how about “I’ve Seen Every One of My Classmates In the Library Day.” Go figure.

Our first of two summer semesters have been good for some and better for others. This last month has been full of the usual projects, assignments, tests, and skills checks. For example, Semester 3 (this semester) is when we begin “tutorials,” which involve being put into a random group of 6-7 students with a faculty facilitator and we meet every Friday morning and discuss a case scenario. At the end of each session, we create objectives to research for the next week. You get the idea. Needless to say, we have all become very intimate with internet “search engines” to find current research articles to bring to these sessions. We’re going to be “Evidence Based Practitioners” whether we like it or not!

A few weeks ago, each group presented a 10 minute presentation on a specific aspect of APTA-related material. Our group shared about the different sections and specialties in the field of PT. All groups were creative (which, in fact, is part of the grading scale . . . they call it “Establishing Set”) in one way or another, from cheerleading with “spirit fingers” to marching in the room with a flute player. Checking out our snap-shot, can you guess what section each of us represented? It was lots of fun.

Our Group poses after our presentation, each of us representing an APTA section

This semester has been full of LABS, LABS, LABS. Don’t get me wrong, I love not being in the classroom all day and actually applying more and more information to a person. We just had our practical exam yesterday in Musculoskeletal Management I, which focused JUST on the ankle and knee. We all had a patient case, a patient (affiliate faculty volunteer), and we were asked plenty of questions about what we’d do, why we’d do it, when we’d do it, how long we’d do it, our SSN, things of that nature. If I was ever in an interrogation camp, I think I’d be able to handle the questioning. I just hope there isn’t a grade attached to it. Then I’d be nervous.

Another major lab was from Kinesiology II. It entailed pretty much a little bit of everything. From the picture, I tried to get a little bit of our whole class: this day, we learned and then taught the correct patterns for tennis serves, pitching, and a golf swing. Not your typical Physical Therapy, but this class is focused all on movement and movement patterns. Don’t even ask me to analyze your walking gait!

Class members teach how to throw a ball and swing a golf club. To the far left (out of the picture), others are performing a tennis swing.

It’s crazy to think our first year is almost over. It’s even crazier to think we’ll be in a real clinic in a few weeks, actually applying what we’ve learned. No more using your classmate as a patient; no more pretending you’re a patient with pain in your right calf that your friend is “trying” to treat. I think we’re all excited, nervous, and at this exact moment, I realize that I need to pass my tests before I can even think about entering a hospital door. Wish me luck.