In previous blogs, I have spoken about extra webinars or
seminars being very beneficial. I was able to attend the AOM pulse
club's webinar hosting Jimmy Chang. Jimmy Chang is well known for
being an expert in pulse diagnosis. The webinar was an hour long,
and since they are free, anyone can watch if they have Internet
connection.
Noel, the president of the pulse club, standing next to the
webinar.
The webinar was an introduction in how to examine the patient's
hand, wrist and arm. These parts can tell the acupuncturist a lot.
For example, he spoke of feeling for temperature differences
between the wrist and the forearm, the color of the veins in the
wrist and forearm, and whether they travel up the arm or not. It
was fascinating and I have already started implementing the tactics
in my clinical experience.
Thinking Ahead
I recently signed up for my other three boards. I would
definitely recommend signing up in advance because what I have
found, is signing up a month before you want to take an exam may
not result in many choices of days available. The other option is
to drive to a further location such as Chicago, Wisconsin or
Indiana.
Speaking of Indiana, a fellow soon-to-be graduate took his
Foundations exam and passed. He said the Acupuncture Strategy class
we take with HB Kim really prepares the student for the test. There
were a few cases of difficult terminology on the test. Different
schools, especially the Five Element schools of acupuncture, use
different terminology for excess or deficiency and the different
pulse positions. But these questions were few and need not be
worried about.
I will be taking my exams in the next month and a half. I want
to finish as soon as I can because the state application process
can take several months. A past graduate friend of mine waited at
least three months for her state license. So be prepared, you may
have to wait. I am going to try and start the application process
and mail as many documents as I can in advance to hopefully speed
up the process.