I'm writing this in Benton Harbor, Michigan. I'm here on a spinal manipulation course that runs for 6 days. This post is a bit about the travel and a bit about the training. Nothing about Rachel or Jason because they are at home together.
Travel Sat. Bus from Boulder to Denver airport (1hr - $13). Fly Frontier airlines to Midway, Chicago (flight $126) . Rent a car (sweet Fiat) and drive. Fiat cost about $250 for the week. Dinner: 7-11 sandwich($5). Get change for toll roads. Drive 2.5 hours through tolls($5.60), through Indiana and into Michigan. Check off 3 new states. Arrive at Motel 6 in Benton Harbor. Room is $35.99 per night. Pretty basic. Free wi-fi is the best part.
Course started 8am Sunday. Tuition $1000. Wake up and confuse myself about what time zone I'm in (answer - Eastern, not Central as I had thought). Go to Walmart and buy a few things for breakfast/snacks. Drive 15 min to Andrews University for the course. It's a beautiful, small town, green grass, friendly place. 83 degrees for the high today. Course taught be Erl Pettman, a Canadian PT who lives in Abotsford BC and teaches for the American NAIOMT system. All day we learn lots of didactic stuff and practice 3 spinal manipulations on the upper cervical spine. Subway for lunch ($7). Done at 4:30pm. Drive to Michigan lake beachfront and run on the beach. Go to Steak N Shake for dinner ($6). Walk around the yucky strip mall area around my hotel in Vibrams enjoying sunshine. Hang out in motel room by myself for night. Repeat similar Mon-Fri then fly home late Fri night.
I will not include anything in here about what I learned today except to say that the human body is absolutely amazing to me and I'm continually impressed by how fantastic it is... and I am so inspired by how much knowledge the instructors that teach have and just think they are phenomenal therapists and educators to be able to understand and deliver information so succinctly and 'on the fly'.
All of this course process is in order to 1) be a better PT and 2) finish a process I had started in Canada.
In Canada, I started the Canadian manual therapy levels system to becoming a Fellow. I did level 1, level 2 (24 days of course, exams, and mentor hours), level 3 (another 24 days of course, exams, and mentor hours), a written exam (lots of studying), lots of group and mentoship study hours, and a practical exam. After that I received something called an 'Intermediate Diploma in Manual and Manipulative Therapy'. The USA equivalent in this NAIOMT system is a CMPT or a Certified Manual Physical Therapist. I completed all of this in March 2010. Some people refer to this level in Canada as the Part A or the Resident level (RCAMPT).
In Canada, if you say 'manual therapy' to a PT, that means mobilizing or manipulating a joint. Moving one bone on another to produce more movement. Manipulating often produces a popping or cracking sound and everyone thinks of chiropractors as doing this. In the USA, manual therapy means anything you do with your hands, from massage to mobilizations to dry needling, but in these courses it is moving one bone on another. After completing the level 3 exams, it means that I was certified as competent in the peripheral techniques - arms, legs, hands, feet. Level 4 and beyond are all dedicated to manipulating the spine.
If I were to remain living in Canada, I would have continued on to complete Level 4 and 5 and find more mentorship hours and do another practical exam, and then I would have my 'Advanced Diploma in Manual and Manipulative Therapy' and become a Fellow or FCAMPT... recognized internationally and very well respected.
In the USA, I have a few options. One I am not exploring is to take a University based Fellowship program because I've already done so much of the coursework in Canada. I am currently taking the final level 4 spinal manipulations course. Next I can:
1) Finish the course, know that material, and stop spending money on these courses and be done. Use the letters CMPT behind my name, complete my board certification exam to also get OCS behind my name, and enjoy my family, travel, and our new house. Also take other courses. With this level of training I can do some minimal amount of teaching.
2) Finish the course and register for the oral/practical exam later this year. This exam would cost me another $1250 to write, would require lots of studying, traveling to either Michigan or Portland in the fall to do it, and hopefully pass. Then I would earn the right to use 'COMT' or Certified Orthopedic Manipulative Therapist behind my name. Also do the OCS board certification. This level of training would allow me to pursue teaching in this field and eventually becoming a certified instructor to mentor other students possibly.
3) Finish the course, complete the exam, and register to do a Fellowship. Sign an agreement with an instructor in Denver and spend 130 hours with her on my own time, possibly paying her for some of her time out of my pocket. Take a couple more courses, do some instruction, involve myself in some research project, and hopefully satisfy enough hours to receive a Fellowship or FAAOMPT, recognized internationally and very well respected. This option also allows similar teaching opportunities within the USA, but would allow me to also pursue teaching in any country down the road. I'd still pursue board examination to be OCS. If I had access to a mentor in Boulder, I would do this for sure. But because the nearest one is in Denver... it makes it a lot more difficult and expensive.
Confused yet? At no point, by the way, will anyone else pay for any of this, will any of my patients understand any of these certifications, and at no point will it lead to a pay increase.
So why do I want so badly to do that Fellowship? Is it really about the letters behind my name? The knowledge I will gain? The confidence it will give me as a practitioner? The opportunities it will afford in teaching?
We've talked before about Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)... which is an easy thing to criticize team MOJO for... Rachel doesn't sleep well during the day when other fun things are happening because of FOMO. Jason wants to keep running longer distances and even though I think it's completely crazy, I will support him to reach his goal of 100 miles and be really proud of him when he does. I am a sucker for any goal that I can follow steps and achieve a goal at the end. Jason often says I am the most goal oriented person he knows. I'm a very focused and hard working person once I set my mind on something.
Running a marathon last year was all about achieving that goal. I look at any list of places to go, races to run, parks to visit, moutains to climb, waterfalls to see, etc and I want to do it. I'm not always particularly good at the process itself and don't always enjoy the training or the studying, but I love the result of finishing or checking off a box. For me, PT courses are like that. I feel really close to being able to get another certification so I think I should do it. CMPT doesn't feel like enough when I know I could almost be a COMT or even a Fellow. There will always be more courses tempting me to learn more and be better. I have a huge list. It's why I have to spend my pennies so carefully while on courses and while traveling... because I want to do it again and again!
No comments:
Post a Comment