Shenandoah National Park
(Carol-Ann)
Summer session has officially ended, and I am starting my second year of school. It's amazing how quickly this last year went by, and that's emphasized even more when I see the new group of first year students. Hard to believe that I was in their place just a year ago - it's good to be on this side of all those anatomy courses. This fall has several interesting classes in store for me. We are starting to get into what we consider to be the "real" PT stuff - where we get to practice skills that we will eventually use in the clinic or hospital. The two most interesting classes are MSK and Neuro Practice Management. MSK means musculoskeletal, and in this class we learn all of the special tests and interventions that involve dealing with joint & muscle issues. Starting at the neck, we will work our way down the body throughout the year. Our Neuro course is similar, except that we are focusing on skills for treating patients who have neurological diseases, like Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis. This is a very interesting and complicated course, because often times these patients have many different things going on, and it's important to be able to see the bigger picture and prioritize with the treatment plan. These patients can also end up with MSK issues (and vice versa), so there is a lot of cross-over between the two courses. It will be a challenging but fun semester!
Clinical placement - I received my clinical placement for my third year! The way our program works, we have two years (including summers) of coursework at Duke, then we head out for 36 weeks of a full-time clinical rotation. At the end of this summer, my class went through a selection process and we received our clinical placements for next year. I will be headed down to Jacksonville FL to Brooks Rehabilitation Center, starting late July 2012. The year will consist of three different rotations within their rehab facilities, and I will get a variety of different experiences. Ethan and I are excited because we will be able to move down to Florida together, and we will be able to spend the entire year in one place rather than moving for each of my rotations. We've also heard a lot about Florida ultimate frisbee and look forward to some fun games on the beach! (Did I mention we'll be right near the beach? Taking reservations now for those who want to visit!)
Look for a post coming soon about our summer backpack trip to Shenandoah!
Summer session has officially ended, and I am starting my second year of school. It's amazing how quickly this last year went by, and that's emphasized even more when I see the new group of first year students. Hard to believe that I was in their place just a year ago - it's good to be on this side of all those anatomy courses. This fall has several interesting classes in store for me. We are starting to get into what we consider to be the "real" PT stuff - where we get to practice skills that we will eventually use in the clinic or hospital. The two most interesting classes are MSK and Neuro Practice Management. MSK means musculoskeletal, and in this class we learn all of the special tests and interventions that involve dealing with joint & muscle issues. Starting at the neck, we will work our way down the body throughout the year. Our Neuro course is similar, except that we are focusing on skills for treating patients who have neurological diseases, like Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis. This is a very interesting and complicated course, because often times these patients have many different things going on, and it's important to be able to see the bigger picture and prioritize with the treatment plan. These patients can also end up with MSK issues (and vice versa), so there is a lot of cross-over between the two courses. It will be a challenging but fun semester!
Clinical placement - I received my clinical placement for my third year! The way our program works, we have two years (including summers) of coursework at Duke, then we head out for 36 weeks of a full-time clinical rotation. At the end of this summer, my class went through a selection process and we received our clinical placements for next year. I will be headed down to Jacksonville FL to Brooks Rehabilitation Center, starting late July 2012. The year will consist of three different rotations within their rehab facilities, and I will get a variety of different experiences. Ethan and I are excited because we will be able to move down to Florida together, and we will be able to spend the entire year in one place rather than moving for each of my rotations. We've also heard a lot about Florida ultimate frisbee and look forward to some fun games on the beach! (Did I mention we'll be right near the beach? Taking reservations now for those who want to visit!)
Look for a post coming soon about our summer backpack trip to Shenandoah!
Vacation on the Beach
(Ethan)
New York counted as a vacation, most definitely, but it was also a Tyler style vacation. Constant activity and excitement to get up early in the morning so as to not miss anything was the rule. Carol-Ann was kind to me and gave me breaks, let me sleep in while she and Kenny went out early for runs in Central Park and that sort of thing. Even so, the pace and the walking and the general bustle was a bit much for me. New York City is a fast paced place and I did not come back to work terribly rested but it was a blast of fun.
So to balance things out a bit, Carol-Ann and I got ourselves a couple of nights at a bed and breakfast across the street from the beach at Nags Head in the Outer Banks. This was a Nelson style vacation. Extreme relaxation without a thought toward, "what are we going to do today?" It was paradise. We just grabbed up chairs and those little umbrellas that you screw into the sand and headed out to lounge in the hot sand. The water was warm, the waves luxurious. When we weren't sleeping in the shade of our beach umbrellas, or sipping fine microbrews from the shore, or throwing the Frisbee in the nearly perfect wind conditions, we floated aimlessly in the ocean and watched our stuff get smaller and smaller as the current carried us down shore.
The bed and breakfast was wonderful. The proprietor was wonderful, sort of funny to interact with but extremely friendly and helpful. It was the kind of place you could go to and not worry about packing. Just throw some beach clothes in a bag and head out. Once there, everything was taken care of. They had blow dryers when you needed them, beach equipment when you needed it, bikes to get around town and coolers with ice. Five stars to the Nags Head Beach Inn!
We had Tuna steaks, juicy burgers, ice cream... oh, and did I mention the microbrews! hmmm, looks like I did mention them, but they deserve triple mention. Microbrews on the beach and absolutely nothing to do. Perfect :)
New York counted as a vacation, most definitely, but it was also a Tyler style vacation. Constant activity and excitement to get up early in the morning so as to not miss anything was the rule. Carol-Ann was kind to me and gave me breaks, let me sleep in while she and Kenny went out early for runs in Central Park and that sort of thing. Even so, the pace and the walking and the general bustle was a bit much for me. New York City is a fast paced place and I did not come back to work terribly rested but it was a blast of fun.
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| Outer Banks Beach |
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| Breakfast at the B&B |
The bed and breakfast was wonderful. The proprietor was wonderful, sort of funny to interact with but extremely friendly and helpful. It was the kind of place you could go to and not worry about packing. Just throw some beach clothes in a bag and head out. Once there, everything was taken care of. They had blow dryers when you needed them, beach equipment when you needed it, bikes to get around town and coolers with ice. Five stars to the Nags Head Beach Inn!
We had Tuna steaks, juicy burgers, ice cream... oh, and did I mention the microbrews! hmmm, looks like I did mention them, but they deserve triple mention. Microbrews on the beach and absolutely nothing to do. Perfect :)
NYC TRIP WITH KENNY (part 4)
Phantom of the Opera
(Ethan)
Well, a few years back, Graham and I visited New York ourselves and made good on the opportunity to go see Phantom of the Opera. This is one of those shows that, if you have not seen it, you have to grab the chance when it comes. When we were there, we almost missed it by losing track of time. Thankfully the subway system was on time with its scheduled promise of getting us within 3 blocks with less than 5 minutes to spare. We made it into the theater just in time, and sweating from our run.
So... with Carol-Ann and Kenny in tow, neither of them having seen it before, I gave it a high recommendation and we got ourselves tickets.
Thankfully nothing like the frantic last minute dash messed with our plans, however there was a brief moment of fear as we neared because there was a line at the theater a block and a half long (for the phantom) and there was no way standing in the back that we would make it into the show before curtain.
I went to the front, tickets in hand having printed them from the Internet and got the scoop... there was a group all trying to get in together (quite a group being a block and a half long line of people). Carol-Ann, Kenny and I went right on through and found our seats.
It was a little difficult to hear some of the words to the opera in some portions, especially the rounds (or whatever you call it when multiple voices overlay different lyrics on each other in harmonies). But it was well worth it. I noticed some small variations in this performance from my previous memory and I think that running this show for so many years has lead different performing groups on Broadway to try and instill their own little sense of character into the time-worn show.
It was very good, and as always, the phantom was outstanding, chilling and got a standing ovation.
(Ethan)
Well, a few years back, Graham and I visited New York ourselves and made good on the opportunity to go see Phantom of the Opera. This is one of those shows that, if you have not seen it, you have to grab the chance when it comes. When we were there, we almost missed it by losing track of time. Thankfully the subway system was on time with its scheduled promise of getting us within 3 blocks with less than 5 minutes to spare. We made it into the theater just in time, and sweating from our run.
So... with Carol-Ann and Kenny in tow, neither of them having seen it before, I gave it a high recommendation and we got ourselves tickets.
Thankfully nothing like the frantic last minute dash messed with our plans, however there was a brief moment of fear as we neared because there was a line at the theater a block and a half long (for the phantom) and there was no way standing in the back that we would make it into the show before curtain.
I went to the front, tickets in hand having printed them from the Internet and got the scoop... there was a group all trying to get in together (quite a group being a block and a half long line of people). Carol-Ann, Kenny and I went right on through and found our seats.
It was a little difficult to hear some of the words to the opera in some portions, especially the rounds (or whatever you call it when multiple voices overlay different lyrics on each other in harmonies). But it was well worth it. I noticed some small variations in this performance from my previous memory and I think that running this show for so many years has lead different performing groups on Broadway to try and instill their own little sense of character into the time-worn show.
It was very good, and as always, the phantom was outstanding, chilling and got a standing ovation.
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