Hi Everybody! Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the Moms, and
especially my Mom!
How do I start my first post? Well, how about a big 'Thank You'
to those who posted before me. Without the stories of Rachel, Ashley and especially
Miravone to help
provide a better perspective on the day-to-day activities of
student life while attending NUHS, I feel I would have been far
less prepared to begin studies here after being away from academia
for some time. In particular, thanks to Miravone for recommending
me to follow in her footsteps with the honor of sharing a little
about being a naturopathic student at NUHS.
The Summer 2012 Trimester is chock full for me. I am currently
considered a 'full load' 6th trimester student.
This means that I am taking all of the classes listed on the
schedule for 6th trimester naturopathic students
or 25.5 credit hours. Additionally, I enrolled in a Botanicals
elective geared toward harvesting and preparing botanical remedies
through various means. Exciting times! I am beginning the second
half or clinical portion of my medical education here at NUHS after
completing the basic sciences--thank goodness!
The basic sciences at NUHS are challenging and demanding of
time, effort and attention. Take one day off and you know you are
behind. The great part about the basic science portion of the
curriculum at NUHS is that students from all professional programs
are in class together for the first two years with just a few
exceptions. We are learning in an integrative medical environment
from day one at NUHS. After all, even though naturopathic and
chiropractic doctors may approach patient care and treatment with
some differences, we are still working with the same human
body.
Learning how the human body functions is consistent whether a
naturopathic, chiropractic or allopathic doctor. We all need to
know and understand the biochemical pathways, physiology and
structure of the human body in order to apply our treatment
methodologies. Suffice to say, that a strong sense of respect for
individuals, incredible teamwork and sharing of practice
methodology happens as we each form our professional manner and
approach to patient care. The combined classes in the first two
years are, in my opinion, one of the strongest offerings of
attending NUHS. We tend to take a broader look at patient care
through association with our colleagues from other disciplines
sitting next to us in class all day. I'll talk more about the first
two years in a future post. Plenty of stories to share from those
days!
We are getting into the fun stuff now! Here we go with the
garden theme! Our class is performing a lot of problem solving by
using the knowledge we have gained while 'planting the seeds of
future docs' with our basic sciences professors. Now our clinical
professors are helping us to fortify and nourish that knowledge
through clinical cases, discussions, presentations, physical exam
exercises, and yes, learning to draw blood in phlebotomy lab!
Finally, when we begin our internships, our clinicians will help us
to harvest everything we have learned to that point by working with
patients who need our care to 'return to the basis for health.' The
learning never stops. My suspicion is that learning will kick into
'overdrive' once we graduate and have dropped our training wheels
after leaving the clinic, so to speak.
Speaking of gardens, this weekend was planting weekend for a few
of us from NUHS who have garden plots in the Lombard Community
Garden. Many students and some professors have plots in the
garden to grow veggies, herbs and flowers. In the picture above,
Mike (chiropractic student), Sharilyn (ND student) and I take a
small break to discuss planting strategies and the fact that we
probably should be doing homework instead of gardening! :) We were
kidding around about trying to pose similar to American Gothic, but
I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to have cheesy grins. Can't
work all the time though! Rest is a determinant of health, and
gardening is great rest for the mind and soul!
Former ND blogger Rachel used to post a Joy List item each week
with her blog. In homage to her, I'll be posting a 'Thankfulness,
Joy, Happiness' thought, quote or post over the next weeks.
Thankfulness Thought
This week (and all weeks) I'm thankful for my Mom, Bobbie Jo
Ammons. She has supported four kids in their endeavors, trials and
successes, all while taking care of now three generations of kids
from our family. She never seems to tire with each succeeding
generation of babies as they grow and mature. Happy Belated
Mother's Day to my mom and all moms everywhere!
Until next week, in the words of Dr. Louise Edwards, "Keep your
vitamin R (rest, relaxation and rejuvenation) at a high level,
smile a lot, and enjoy every minute!"
Be well!