I realize now that I used to view the world as either black or white. Things were either right or wrong, and good or bad. This program has drilled into me that for a lot of things 'it depends' is often the answer. At the beginning this really frustrated me since I wanted to have a concrete answer but I realized that life is a little more complicated and often there is no real 'right' answer and no 'right/wrong' treatment.
I have also realized that I often judged people before really getting to know them and often labelled them as either good or bad when in reality people are different and are human and everyone has good aspects and bad aspects to their personality that is what makes us human if everyone was perfect we wouldn't be human and would be more like the stepford wives. The thing is in any interaction it takes two to tango and therefore I could be viewed as the 'bad' person by them and in reality personalities clash and sometimes 2 people with different personalities just don't get along and it doesn't mean that one person is 'good' or 'bad'.
Disability can also be subjectively viewed as shades of grey. I used to feel sorry and feel sympathy for being that are 'disabled' but I've realized that a disability can mean many different things and as a future PT I can't really help my clients if I feel sorry for their situation. Everyone has their own issues and we all could in some way be labelled as 'disabled' there is no such thing as a normal person. I myself get very anxious in large crowds, have trouble interacting with others, am sensitive to noise as well as having mild asthma, does that mean I'm disabled? Is the person with the peanut/gluten/milk allergy disabled? Is the person with an knee ACL tear, or torn meniscus that can't ski anymore disabled?
Everyone has their own problems and what distinguishes people is how they deal with those problems. Do they accept them and learn to live with them? Or do they become depressed and wallow in self pity? 2 people with the same can have 2 different ways of leading their life and ultimately how they do it is up to them.
My role is to help them achieve as much independence as they can and then to recommend devices or methods to compensate for things they cannot do. This can mean using a cane, walker, wheelchair for safety/balance/mobility or learning to compensate with a stronger side after a stroke and retraining to their good side to do things they did with both sides before such as eating with one hand or transfering with one hand.
In the end life is full of challenges and it is not the challenges that define who we are but how we deal with those challenges.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Letting fate decide your future career
It has become so competitive to get into any kind of professional program in Canada that a lot of people apply to 10 different professional programs and let fate (or the admission committees) decide what their life-long career will be. I am talking a lot about crazy pre-meds mostly though that end up applying to med, dental, PT, OT, Pharmacy, Optometry and even lab tech, ultrasound, x-ray tech. Yes they apply to ALL these programs in one year!
Now people can argue that a lot of these programs are all medically related and as long as they're satisfied does it really matter what they end up doing? Well that is one argument, the problem is often they are not satisfied and drive up the averages to the point where the people that actually wanted to do that specific specialty can't get into the program and only the people that chose it as a back-up can.
Now I do partially fall into this category but to my credit I did only applied to PT and did not apply to 5 different programs. On the other hand it could be argued they at least these people are sensible and realistic and do not keep trying to get into Med for 10 years and instead choose something different. I think the main problem that has occured in Canada is that it is so hard to get a decent paying job (not min wage) that people agree to do ANY career that pays decently and so most people are now motivated by money and not interests. The reality is that most jobs now require more and more education and having a bachelor's does not guarantee any job. Most people with a bachelor's end up either working min wage in sales, call centers, teaching english overseas, or doing a research master's that unfortunately does not increase employment skills since the projects are very very specific. Some lucky few with high enough marks are willing to settle for any professional programs as long as it has a decent wage. This just illustrates how great the economy is when everyone is forced to apply to multiple programs and don't care about what they end up doing in the end.
Now below I have illustrated the typical hierarchy of careers, and keep in mind all of usually require an A average in University undergrad courses to get into:
Med>dental>PT>OT>Pharmacy/Optometry>Lab tech/ultrasound, x-ray tech>nursing.
Now people can argue that a lot of these programs are all medically related and as long as they're satisfied does it really matter what they end up doing? Well that is one argument, the problem is often they are not satisfied and drive up the averages to the point where the people that actually wanted to do that specific specialty can't get into the program and only the people that chose it as a back-up can.
Now I do partially fall into this category but to my credit I did only applied to PT and did not apply to 5 different programs. On the other hand it could be argued they at least these people are sensible and realistic and do not keep trying to get into Med for 10 years and instead choose something different. I think the main problem that has occured in Canada is that it is so hard to get a decent paying job (not min wage) that people agree to do ANY career that pays decently and so most people are now motivated by money and not interests. The reality is that most jobs now require more and more education and having a bachelor's does not guarantee any job. Most people with a bachelor's end up either working min wage in sales, call centers, teaching english overseas, or doing a research master's that unfortunately does not increase employment skills since the projects are very very specific. Some lucky few with high enough marks are willing to settle for any professional programs as long as it has a decent wage. This just illustrates how great the economy is when everyone is forced to apply to multiple programs and don't care about what they end up doing in the end.
Now below I have illustrated the typical hierarchy of careers, and keep in mind all of usually require an A average in University undergrad courses to get into:
Med>dental>PT>OT>Pharmacy/Optometry>Lab tech/ultrasound, x-ray tech>nursing.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Impossible to achieve good school-life balance
There are some people that are in my class that I am just amazed at and have no idea how on earth they can do the number of things that they do. I will probably regret in the future that somehow I could not do more social activities while in school but in reality I really really couldn't.
I'll try to explain my day, wake up at 7am, 8am-9am-transit, 9-4/5pm school, 4/5pm-5/6pm transit, 6-8 eat, organize,talk with friend, 8-12pm study, 12-7-sleep. Yes this is my normal day, and on the weekends I normally study for 8hr/day. Yes this is my life while I'm in class and yes I do study this much.
Why do I study so much? Is it really necessary? Well the problem is I take longer to understand and absorb information than a lot of other people in my class. This is considering that I am actually a lot more efficient at listening in class and no longer need to record and relisten to lectures. Also considering that I barely passed the last unit, I feel I do have to work a lot harder than others to survive.
Because of my intense schedule I have to confess that I have never really dated and have never had a social life that involved going out a lot and meeting with others. In recent days I have had the opportunity to try dating but quickly realized I couldn't handle the extra work involved and yes I did feel it was work! Even though it only involved texting and possibly meeting up once in 2 weeks I felt overwhelmed. I was barely surviving as it was and already sleeping only 6 hours/days so adding to that constantly checking my phone and planning weekend 'dates' was close to driving me over the wall.
Most people in my class are able to go to school, study, go to the gym/play sports, meet up with gf/bf, and go to parties with friends and sleep. I honestly have no idea how they do it. Now it's true that most of them don't commute and don't need to help family but they do have to cook and deal with partying roomates. But my question is where do they get the energy to do all that? I'm exhausted after being in class from 9-4pm every day, I would not have the energy after class to go play soccer for 2 hours then study for another 2 hours, or go to a party after class, I would just fall asleep.
Most people question how I live without going out, or playing sports, or meeting up with friends every week, but the truth is if I did that I would not be able to keep up with studying the insane amount of info they expect us to know and continue staying healthy and sane because for me it is a daily struggle.
I realize that the 20's are supposed to be the best times of my life and yes I have made sacrifices and yes 6 years is a long time not to have a life, but the truth is I have realized my parents sacrificed a lot more for me to have this opportunity and it would be a waste if I didn't try my best to succeed. In the grand scheme of things I only have a year left and after that my life is my own.
I have felt like I'm on an emotional roller coaster ever since starting this program. I have gone from feeling like being a chicken with its head cut off because my brain was in so many places at once, to feeling like a walking zombie due to lack of sleep, and of course going from depression-> anger in the course of a day, and it took me a long time to learn to regulate my emotions and learn to survive because I have realized it is definitely not easy.
I have accepted that I can't do everything especially when in school and I do have to try a lot harder and study a lot more than a lot of people but that's okay since everyone is different and my path into this program has been an unconventional one as it is so I wasn't surprised when I found I had to try harder. Everyone's energy capacity is different, and whereas others can party after school, if I try that I will either have an asthma attack, get food poisoning, or get sick from something else and will greatly inconvenience my parents so in the end its not worth it.
I do realize that I have not achieved a balance and will keep pushing my body and mind further but I do realize there is a limit and have to be careful about reaching that limit. I am satisfied that I have already managed to achieve a lot more in the past year than I have in the past 4 years in undergrad, such as having meaningful relationships with school friends, conquering my speech anxiety and constant stuttering, developing an ability to communicate and treat patients, and waking up from my never ending depression and seeing hope.
I'll try to explain my day, wake up at 7am, 8am-9am-transit, 9-4/5pm school, 4/5pm-5/6pm transit, 6-8 eat, organize,talk with friend, 8-12pm study, 12-7-sleep. Yes this is my normal day, and on the weekends I normally study for 8hr/day. Yes this is my life while I'm in class and yes I do study this much.
Why do I study so much? Is it really necessary? Well the problem is I take longer to understand and absorb information than a lot of other people in my class. This is considering that I am actually a lot more efficient at listening in class and no longer need to record and relisten to lectures. Also considering that I barely passed the last unit, I feel I do have to work a lot harder than others to survive.
Because of my intense schedule I have to confess that I have never really dated and have never had a social life that involved going out a lot and meeting with others. In recent days I have had the opportunity to try dating but quickly realized I couldn't handle the extra work involved and yes I did feel it was work! Even though it only involved texting and possibly meeting up once in 2 weeks I felt overwhelmed. I was barely surviving as it was and already sleeping only 6 hours/days so adding to that constantly checking my phone and planning weekend 'dates' was close to driving me over the wall.
Most people in my class are able to go to school, study, go to the gym/play sports, meet up with gf/bf, and go to parties with friends and sleep. I honestly have no idea how they do it. Now it's true that most of them don't commute and don't need to help family but they do have to cook and deal with partying roomates. But my question is where do they get the energy to do all that? I'm exhausted after being in class from 9-4pm every day, I would not have the energy after class to go play soccer for 2 hours then study for another 2 hours, or go to a party after class, I would just fall asleep.
Most people question how I live without going out, or playing sports, or meeting up with friends every week, but the truth is if I did that I would not be able to keep up with studying the insane amount of info they expect us to know and continue staying healthy and sane because for me it is a daily struggle.
I realize that the 20's are supposed to be the best times of my life and yes I have made sacrifices and yes 6 years is a long time not to have a life, but the truth is I have realized my parents sacrificed a lot more for me to have this opportunity and it would be a waste if I didn't try my best to succeed. In the grand scheme of things I only have a year left and after that my life is my own.
I have felt like I'm on an emotional roller coaster ever since starting this program. I have gone from feeling like being a chicken with its head cut off because my brain was in so many places at once, to feeling like a walking zombie due to lack of sleep, and of course going from depression-> anger in the course of a day, and it took me a long time to learn to regulate my emotions and learn to survive because I have realized it is definitely not easy.
I have accepted that I can't do everything especially when in school and I do have to try a lot harder and study a lot more than a lot of people but that's okay since everyone is different and my path into this program has been an unconventional one as it is so I wasn't surprised when I found I had to try harder. Everyone's energy capacity is different, and whereas others can party after school, if I try that I will either have an asthma attack, get food poisoning, or get sick from something else and will greatly inconvenience my parents so in the end its not worth it.
I do realize that I have not achieved a balance and will keep pushing my body and mind further but I do realize there is a limit and have to be careful about reaching that limit. I am satisfied that I have already managed to achieve a lot more in the past year than I have in the past 4 years in undergrad, such as having meaningful relationships with school friends, conquering my speech anxiety and constant stuttering, developing an ability to communicate and treat patients, and waking up from my never ending depression and seeing hope.
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