I have reached the end of trimester six with 13 weeks of classes down and two weeks of finals to go!

This past week, we had a guest speaker come and discuss diagnostic ultrasound for musculoskeletal injuries. Dr. Khong Lamvichit is a chiropractor in Chicago, Illinois, and is a 2013 alumnus of NUHS Florida. He is a member of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine and uses diagnostic ultrasound every day in his practice.

Dr. Lamvichit brought the equipment to demonstrate in class. It was incredible to be able to plug in the machine and immediately see the desired anatomical structures without any large expensive equipment like one would need for an MRI or X-Ray. We looked at a shoulder and an elbow during class. The device allows both the doctor and the patient to see the desired structure in real time. It can also help the doctor differentiate between acute and chronic problems based on the amount of perfusion, which can be measured with the machine. I was completely unaware of this technology, I knew about diagnostic ultrasound for pregnant mothers and therapeutic ultrasound for musculoskeletal injuries but did not know one could use it for musculoskeletal imaging. This is a powerful tool that can be used in the chiropractic office and help streamline the patient’s treatment plan because the doctor wouldn’t have to wait for diagnostic imaging to be taken elsewhere.

With finals coming, I already know stress is pretty much guaranteed, so with that in mind, I enjoyed the weekend as much as possible. On Saturday, my friend Kelsey and I entered the Tampa Bay Beach Bums Co-ed Volleyball Tournament in Gulfport, Florida. We played three games in pool play before advancing to the playoffs. We won the first game and then lost to the number one seed in the semi-finals. It was a great time. Playing beach volleyball in December made it that much better as my home state of New Jersey has been in the mid 40s all week.

On Sunday, our chapter of the Student American Chiropractic Association hosted a golf tournament at the Bardmoor Golf and Tennis Club in Largo, Florida. This was our fundraiser for the trimester. We are raising money for our trip to Washington D.C. for the National Chiropractic Leadership Conference. We had a student team in the tournament that was paid for by four extremely generous faculty members. I want to extend my gratitude to President Stiefel, Dr. Guadagno, Dr. Petrocco-Napuli, and Dr. Miley for sponsoring the student team.

It was a great turnout! We had raffles, sponsorships from the Florida Chiropractic Association and local organizations, as well as players from Kiwanis Club of Seminole. It was so much fun! I haven’t golfed in years but thankfully we were playing best ball so if I hit a bad shot it didn’t affect our score too much. We had a diverse group of students from all points in the program — Nick in 10th tri, Jack in 4th tri, Steve in 1st tri, and myself in 6th tri. We all hit the course to play golf on a beautiful afternoon in December. The course was beautiful but the company was even better. We had a great time and raised money for our trip. Unfortunately we came in second by one stroke. Nevertheless, it was certainly an unforgettable weekend.

Finals are here and after my final exams I will be heading home to New Jersey for some well-deserved time off. This trimester was difficult at times but well worth it. I am moving to trimester seven and will begin clinic in trimester eight. There is still a lot of work to be done.

If you have questions please email me at [email protected].