Shortest Midterm Week Ever?

It's Monday, sorry I missed my usual Sunday post, but I'm here right away! It's a bit of a busy time right now with CCNM midterms. Again, I'm in third year, so this is going to be my fifth midterm period at CCNM! Time sure flies. This is a really odd one though, because for the first time, midterms are not the week of Thanksgiving (I may have mentioned that in my last post, if so, sorry, I forgot). So we have midterms over five days instead of four. However, third year is a little different than first and second; we have a lot more assignments, so we have less midterms. So right now, I've only got three midterms - I know, my undergrad self would be crying if I had three midterms in a week, but at CCNM, when you're used to five to six exams in four days, three exams in five days is really not so bad! Anyway I've got Nutrition on Tuesday, Men's and Women's Health on Thursday, and Physical Medicine on Friday. I'll try to debrief these exams a bit on my next Sunday post.

Nutrition is going to be a little strange, because it's actually an open book exam; to my knowledge, my first open book exam ever in seven years of post-secondary. We can bring in whatever we want, and for me that means the course textbook, the Gaby "Bible of Nutrition" (honestly this book is over 1300 pages, it has so much information!), and course notes. The exam is all short answer instead of multiple choice, so it'll be a little different, but I think it will be okay. Critically think instead of memorize. What a concept!

Men's and Women's Health is regular multiple choice, there's a fair amount of material, but I don't think it will be too bad. Lots of overlap with other courses, and stuff we have done in the past. There is a lot of therapeutics to know though...oh third year.

Finally Physical Medicine, it's going to be a little weird as a multiple choice exam. This is the type of course that you really see as more of a practical based thing, and the final will be just that. But for the midterm, we've got about 400+ pages worth of material, all sorts of physical exams and conditions and dermatomes and trigger points. So much information! But at least it's at the end of the week, so there's lots of time to prepare for it.

Anyway, on to something that is not just school. I've recently been doing lots of self-development, with books and podcasts being a big part of that. There's so many interesting and useful little tips you can learn, and I thought it would be nice to share some of those through my blogging. So for this week, I wanted to share a pretty cool one I learned today, called "block breathing." This is something I had learned in the past, but modified. Basically, you breathe in for 3-4s, hold your breath for 3-4s, breathe out for 3-4s, and hold again for 3-4s. While you do this, you can imagine drawing a square with your finger, or even actually draw one. Each side of the square is a portion of that breathing. This is a great exercise for helping draw you back to your breath, become more mindful, get into a parasympathetic state, and just relax. The simple things are always the best aren't they? The cool twist I learned today though, was to do block breathing while walking. Walking can be especially stressful if you are in a rush or in a big crowd of people. It's also something you have to do all the time, so why not use it as an opportunity to be more mindful and relaxed? So in this scenario, instead of using 3-4s for each side of the square, you can breathe in, hold and breathe out based on the number of steps you take. 4 steps is a pretty standard number, but depending how fast you walk, you can switch between 4-8 steps and have a pretty good rhythm.

So give that exercise a try next time you're out walking, and let me know how you feel. I'm off to study again, see you Sunday!

Remember to breathe properly! Breathe with your diaphragm and not your chest to get the best airflow, and better relaxation. This is as easy as putting you hand on your stomach while breathing - ensure it pushes out while breathing in, and comes in when you breathe out. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving - Family is Great!

Going to be a short Sunday post today. It's Thanksgiving weekend, and I would like to take this time to mention the value of family and togetherness. This is a bit of a throwback to last week's post about community, but it's a little more focused because it's about family.

I come from a pretty big family (I've got 4 brothers and a sister, and between my two oldest brothers I currently have 3 nehpews!). It's really great having a big family, because they are people that you can count on. People who you have a long history with, between growing up, fighting your parents, fighting each other, going on fun vacations, endless dinners and trips to different places. It's really important to have people that you can connect with, and family is one of those groups that have such a huge advantage. That being said, it's also important to remember that your friends can be a part of your family too. I have a few good friends that I've known and been friends with for almost 20 years, and it's something that I'm very thankful for. There are some people who unfortunately don't have the best relationship with their families, and I guess I hope that they can learn about the importance of family, and eventually make up with them. The hope is that your family can be with you through the good and bad of life, and will always be there when you need them. That's how I feel with my family, and I hope they feel the same about me!

Since it's Thanksgiving, I want to say what I'm thankful for this year.
1. I'm thankful and ecstatic about the fact that I passed NPLEX 1! It was a bit of a rough summer with long days of studying, and it just felt endless studying for so many days in a row. I've never studied that many days in a row before, so I'm so thanksful that I passed and don't have to do it again! (until NPLEX 2 of course!)
2. I'm very thankful that I found this amazing profession of Naturopathic Medicine. After two years of being in school and learning A LOT, I am sure that this is where I'm supposed to be. It's a struggle sometimes, as all things are, but I'm very happy and know that this is right.

What are you thankful for this year?

The Importance of Community

Back again for my second "regular" Sunday post. I'm kind of procrastinating doing some work tonight, it's been a long day, but I'm going to do my post as promised.

This has been an interesting week as always, with our first ADNSA meeting, practicing CBT on standardized patients in Health Psych, trying out moxabustion and cupping in Asian Med, the Jays clinching the playoffs (woo! I'm such a bandwagon fan but boy is it a fun energy to be part of! Plus my grandfather loves the Jays and it's really nice to share something with him), and a really big one, the Proclamation Celebration on Thursday. That's right, the Naturopathy Act of 2007 has finally been proclaimed in Ontario - Okay, well it was actually proclaimed in July, but we're finally celebrating it. As with anything politically related, this is just one step on a long road, and you can't appease everyone as many people are a little upset about certain things, but overall, this is really great news for NDs in Ontario and across Canada and the US really. Improved regulation and legal rights leads to better patient care and protection, and better outcomes for doctors in the end. It was great to celebrate this occasion with fellow students and doctors, and to look back on how far we've come as a profession.

Anyway, onto the topic of my post for today. Community. An awesome TV show (well at least season 1-3); but also, an important word. A quick google definition of the word shows the following: "a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals." Coming from a large family, I think I've always taken for granted the importance of community, but it was really while reflecting on my last week, and doing some digging into some old psych notes that I got a greater understanding. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is an interesting concept based upon what it takes to find your purpose in life: self-actualization. I think this is something that everyone should and eventually will want to achieve, to answer the big question, "why am I here?" Maslow posits however, that in order to reach this point, you first need to attend to your most basic needs. This starts with physiologic needs like food, water and air, and then moves on to safety. How can you worry about your purpose if you can't eat, breathe, or drink, or if you don't feel safe from harm? But the next part of the pyramid is actually a feeling of love and belonging. We as humans have always survived and flourished because we build communities; we work together to help each other succeed; together. 

Of course being aware of this concept has led me to reflect on my recent past, going through this difficult program of Naturopathic Medicine. Could I have done this all by myself? Without a strong community? I really don't know. I do believe that we are all amazing beings with tons of potential for success, but I also think that we can all be better with the help of each other. In my first two years of CCNM, I was provided with endless resources from older students to help me succeed in my classes. I was given motivational speeches, invaluable tips, and people to talk to when I've felt overwhelmed. The help this community provides extends beyond just the older students though; my friends and classmates, future colleagues, are always there for each other. We all know that we have what it takes to succeed, but sometimes we need help to get through certain aspects. Individually, we are strong, but as a community, we are unstoppable. It is because of this that I am so glad to be a part of the NSA executive - my goal is to always help foster this sense of community among the students in years below me, and also students in my year and the one above me. 

This week I really appreciated the opportunity to give talks for the 1st and 2nd years on how to approach midterms, as it can be a little daunting. Having been in their position before, I know that it's tough, but I also know that they have what it takes. And more importantly, I know that they have what it takes to help each other get through. I have been pleased to see lots of sharing of resources and responsibilities among these students, sharing notes, creating study groups. This is the benefit of having a strong community, and I hope to continue to help build it stronger and stronger.

That's all for now, I've got work to do and my ability to write well is kind of flopping, but I'll leave you with this quote from Helen Keller: "Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much."

- and okay fine I'll put a funny cartoon this week!

But I swear I'm going to do my work today!
.... But maybe a quick break since I just wrote this blog post...