With Part I of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners licensure exam right around the corner, I have been reviewing my notes from Phase I in preparation for this very important exam. There are six subjects in Part I–general anatomy, spinal anatomy, microbiology, pathologies, physiology, and biochemistry. Each subject contains 90 exam questions and the test taker has 75 minutes for each subject.

I am confident in physiology because I am the tutor for cell physiology and did well in all my physiology classes in Phase I. Our basic sciences phase was very intense so I feel good about the exams but definitely want to refresh some of the more detailed topics from microbiology and pathologies. In addition to the boards, midterms are next week and I am finishing up a few projects for my various other classes.

I gave a PowerPoint presentation on nerve entrapment conditions in Evaluation & Management of the Musculoskeletal System. The conditions were cubital tunnel syndrome, pronator teres syndrome, and carpal tunnel syndrome. I discussed how a chiropractic physician diagnoses and manages these conditions. The causes of the first two entrapments are usually due to hypertonic or hypertrophic muscle tissue. Cubital tunnel syndrome is usually due to the flexor carpi ulnaris, and pronator teres syndrome is usually due to the pronator teres.

Carpal tunnel syndrome could be due to sclerosis of soft tissue in the wrist or dislocation of one of the carpal bones, which can be helped with manipulation. All the guidelines suggested a referral to a surgeon after eight weeks.

We are giving our marketing presentations this upcoming week. Our project is to make a poster board and present a booth project as if we were presenting at a health fair or public event. My objective is to represent myself professionally and answer questions prospective patients may ask. It is a good idea to start thinking about the business side of chiropractic while still in school because the majority of chiropractors are small business owners, and marketing is one of the important parts of building a practice.

Despite all the work ahead I still found time to spend with my girlfriend over the weekend. We went to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. We saw a wide variety of animals and were able to get up close and personal with a few different animals. Recently a baby chimp was born at the Lowry Park Zoo so we made sure we stopped by the chimpanzee exhibit. The baby chimp was running all over the place. It was a great day and another new and fun way to spend my weekend in the bay area.

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