Three years ago in January 2015, I arrived in St. Petersburg, Florida to begin the Doctor of Chiropractic program at National University of Health Sciences. I came into my first day wide-eyed and ecstatic. I wanted to learn as much as humanly possible about anatomy, about biochemistry, about all the basic sciences that would make me a better scientist and prepare me to become a knowledgeable physician. I remember going back to my one bedroom apartment a few miles away from the school and calculating how many days I had left. After orientation day, I had 1,215 days left. Graduation seemed like an eternity away. Looking back, it has flown by. I went through all my old pictures on my computer to find this one of our incoming class, day one.

I am standing in the back with much shorter hair. I was so ecstatic to begin and now I am starting to get sad I am going to leave. I have grown so much from then to now. I remember looking at the interns and thinking “wow they are almost done,” it was so distant I couldn’t even fathom being that close. Now there are 95 days until I graduate, I have my own patients who depend on me for their healthcare, I have completed nearly every requirement this institute sets, and I am ready for my last trimester at NUHS.

Throughout the program, one always has the opportunity to slow down, extend their stay in school by taking on less courses, retaking a class, or taking the next semester off if necessary. But now there is no slowing down or turning back. I am trying to continue to hone my skills just like I did in second trimester during my first manipulation class. I am trying to think of the possibilities during a history just like the clinical sciences classes, and I am putting it all together and making treatment plans and administering care the way I want, and the way I was taught. Though I am at the end of school, I am just beginning to gain real experience. I am managing complicated cases and answering patients’ questions when they can’t find answers anywhere else. Sometimes I am wrong, and can lean on the experience and expertise of my clinician. This last trimester I am going to detail real valuable learning experiences from clinic from both myself and my colleagues.

Thank you for reading my blog, if you have any questions please email me at [email protected]