Zen and the Art of Massage

It’s been a really busy summer for me, between my full time job and my wedding planning. So I haven’t had a lot of time for updates.

A quick summary: I got into third year with no issues. Passed all my exams with high marks. Looking forward to getting back to it and finishing up. I’m told third year goes by so fast.

I’m learning a fair number of new things about massage therapy and health in general due to my job. I’ve borrowed a book on Active Release Technique I’m going to read over the next short while. I’ve also discovered some things in my own textbooks I’d never noticed before, that will be helpful when I’m back in classes in September.

It still feels like I only just started my program, and now I’m nearly done. Wow.

Last week was my final clinical evaluation. It went a lot easier than my mid-term.

My supervisor didn’t really have anything to say. She asked me how I felt about things and I said I felt I’d improved. She mentioned that she felt things were improving and that I still need to work on doing what I need to do instead of ‘thinking out loud’ all the time (one of my faults in general, not just while massaging). But that was it, and there wasn’t really much else to say. She wished me a good summer and that was it. I think because it was the end of a very long day for her, she didn’t want to keep anyone longer than needed. If they’d been having issues over the second part of the semester, she told them what she’d observed. But if things were generally going well, she just left it at that.

My own thoughts are that I’m starting to see how all these tests and assessments we have to learn fit into the big picture. I’m getting my head out of my textbook and thinking about clients as people, not walking diganoses. It’s more congruent with my philosophy of care, and fits where I want to be after I graduate. So I’m happy with it. I still have a lot left to learn, but I’m happy with it.

Speaking of philosphy of care, I am a bit concerned over how some of my instructors view me. When speaking to one of them a few weeks ago, it was mentioned my strength was how I always strive to be the best I can, which means I get high marks and study hard. While I do appreciate how I’ve been noticed for that, I don’t want anyone to look at me as the brainy girl who can’t get her head out of the textbook and have empathy for her clients. I want to achieve a balance between the two; becoming a therapist who is good technically but also relates to her clients in a way that inspires trust and confidence.

My exams started last week as well, with my oral practicals. I think I passed both and now have to concentrate on my written exams. Monday was my theory exam, which I’m sure I did well on, and today I had my advanced communication exam. I’m sure that went fine as well. Friday things finish off with my pathophysiology exam, which I’ve been preparing for in between studying for other exams. I have a general idea of the pathologies being tested (neurologic ones such as MS, Parkinson’s, Migraines, etc) and now just need to get the fine details down. I’ll start on that this afternoon, now that my communications exam is over.

One thing I have to really promise myself this summer is to keep up with my hands-on practise. I’ll have to find more volunteers in my area to practice techniques on. I’ll have a few friends from school and my fiance to start, but I should probably look for a few other folks as well. Fortunately my job will keep me on my toes as far as the technical/textbook component of things goes.

This is a test post to see if a certain place where my blog is syndicated will pick it up. Seems it has stopped detecting posts.

If it doesn’t ’see’ this one, I’ll have to contact their support team.

Next week begins my string of final exams. I have a practical exam on orthopedic assessments on Monday, followed by another on treatment protocols on Friday. I’m a bit nervous for Monday’s exam, if only because I’m not sure what I’ll be asked to do. It’s a differentiation exam; we’re given a case study and expected to figure out which pathology a client might have, using our assessment skills. We’ll see how this goes.

My last few weeks in clinic just have been getting better and better. I’ve had multiple return clients, which was a good boost to my confidence. I had one woman, who has seen many students in the clinic, tell me that I gave her the best massage she’d ever had. I think perhaps this is beause I really ‘clicked’ with her — I had felt the same symptoms she was experiencing, so I knew all too well where she was coming from, even if I didn’t explicitly tell her that. I’m seeing her again next week.

I also finished a treatment plan with one client who I had been treating for head forward posture. In our clinic, we are allowed to see a client no more than four times before having to ‘pass them on’ to another student. This is for two reasons: so other students can benefit from learning from that client, and so the student who started treating them will get to learn new things with someone else. Anyhow, on our last treatment, I did a considerable amount of myofascial stretching, autogenic inhibition techniques, and direct fascial manipulations. He started the treatment with a considerable amount of forward rolling in his shoulders, and by the time I finished work on one side, they had dropped back by an inch or more. I got similar results on the other side. After the treatment, his seated posture had improved, and he let me know he felt a lot better and his shoulders felt ‘lighter’.

My final clinical assessment is next week. I’ll be sure to write about how that goes. I’m confident it will show I’ve improved. I know I still have a way to go, but things feel more connected now than they did in February.

I start my summer job a few days after my written exams are completed. Fortunately, I got a job working in a chiropractic and massage clinic as an assistant. I’ll be doing a wide range of things, from writing information packets to give to clients to ordering supplies. It should give me a greater feel for the ‘running a business’ aspect of being an RMT.

But before I can get to that, I must first pass my exams. Off to study a bit more.

Due to the comment and pingback spam that everyone who runs a weblog is getting these days, I’ve shut off the comments feature. If you do have a comment for me, email me.

I have more things to say regarding school, but I’ll get to that this coming weekend, once my latest pathology test is finished with.