We are back on campus and have hit the ground running with new courses. Already this trimester feels different than Phase I curriculum. Many of the courses taken during Phase I entailed topics that may have been familiar from undergraduate subjects and provided a foundation for medicine. Phase II involves completely new courses to me that pertain more to our careers, such as “Soft Tissue Management,” “Fundamentals of Imaging: Arthritides and Trauma,” and “E&M of the Extremities.”

We recently had our Orientation meeting with Dr. Freeman and will be receiving more tools to add in our medical bags…it’s an exciting time where I finally feel like we are metamorphosing into the next stage. We started off crawling and learning the basics; now we’re in a cocoon being sculpted and equipped with tools and absorbing all the knowledge possible in the chiropractic field. And, in just a few trimesters, we will emerge out with our “wings” as practicing chiropractors heading for clinic to put our skills to the test and perfect our techniques before entering the real world on our own.

Now is the time to investigate all the fields within chiropractic and determine what interests us. One of my New Years Resolutions is to manage my time more efficiently/wisely and invest time to do things that will improve my future. For instance, I am planning to dedicate an hour each day to studying for Part I Board Exams, as well as giving myself a goal of shadowing at least four different types of chiropractors this trimester. Not only is it a new year, but it’s also a new phase of curriculum I am entering. It’s best to hit the ground running!

To all my fellow classmates, welcome back!