Danielle Zappile's Blog

SCORE Seminar

This past week, many of us attended a SCORE seminar. This is a group of retired entrepreneur who helps mentor those interested in starting a small business. Since Sherman, and many other chiropractic schools do not really offer any business classes, our professor encouraged us to attend. For a nominal fee, we were able to seek advice from a lawyer, banker, marketer, and accountant.

I enjoyed the lawyer's talk as he gave us some good ideas about whether or not to form an LLC or an "S" corporation. Both of these seem to be a good choice but he gave me something to think about and I will have to do some research as to which of these two will be best suited for me. I think that the lawyer's speech alone was worth the cost of the seminar.

As for the banker, I think he lacked in our areas of interest. I don't think he realized the type of seminar at which he was speaking. He spoke to us about building a good relationship with a banker. I agree this is very important but he was not really able to get to the heart of what we as the attendees wanted to hear. We were looking to hear about how to get loans for start up. Yes, this is based on an individual basis, but he wasn't even able to give us any tips on what to do to make the lenders want to even consider us.

All in all this was well worth the money and it gave me some food for thought.

Lost Time??

With most of our classroom education under our belts, we are spending much more time in the clinic. Each night I wonder where the day went! I know that we have to clock in 240 hours in the clinic, so most of our day is spent there, but it seems like the days are passing me by and I haven't accomplished what I've wanted to get done. I would prefer to spend my days, when I am not seeing patients, out and about trying to bring in new patients, but that is very difficult when I have to be at the health center to get hours! I would much rather be busy with patients all day than sitting in the center just clocking hours. I hope that at some point I will have enough patients to fill my entire day that I am never just sitting idle! I guess that I really can't complain now that I have a few patients that are committed to their care and come in to the clinic several days each week. The best feeling is when you give your patient an adjustment and they tell you how much better they are feeling!

Sherman

Classes began once again yesterday. The classes I am taking this quarter include: clinic lab, automated office procedures, communications, and practice management. As our classes seemed to have dwindled, our need for more patients have taken priority. I am finished with my classes each day by 1 o'clock. This however does not mean I can go home and spend the rest of the day out in the beautiful South Carolina weather! I have 264 hours that I need to put in at the Sherman clinic.

For anyone who is interested in coming to the Sherman clinic, you need to know that this is a teaching institution. Therefore, you can not just come and expect an adjustment. As a patient you will receive a thorough spinal exam, physical exam, and x-rays if necessary. It isn't until the third visit where it is possible for you to receive an adjustment. I think is it very important for everyone to have their spines adjusted, so please visit your local chiropractor or visit me at the Sherman Health Center!

A Day OFF

Today we were lucky enough to have a day off from school. It is that time in the quarter for entrance and exit exams. This is the day where the professors tests those students who are hoping to be practicing in the clinic and those students who are about to graduate. I was hoping to use the day wisely, you know studying for boards, but as of right now that has not happened! I did however go and get my hair cut and colored! It is just so unusual to have a day off from school that I really want to forget all of the projects and work to accomplish and just go out and play. But, as a responsible adult, I have decided to study and get all my projects out of the way before I go and have some fun.

I only have one class tomorrow and that is x-ray III. We have a quiz in this class every Friday so I guess that is the first thing I am going to study this afternoon. Have a great weekend!

A Little Vacation

Last week we decided to take a few days and head down to St. Augustine, Florida making stops along the way in Savannah, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida. As much as I have been enjoying my time in the clinic working with patients, it is always nice to get away and not have to worry about school, boards, etc. Savannah is a quaint southern town but I felt the same way about Savannah as I did about Charleston, South Carolina. These are beautiful cities but I feel they are lacking something. I can't quite articulate what it is about these cities that leave me unimpressed, but I just feel they don't live up to the hype.

On the other hand, I love Florida. We had so much fun in St. Augustine just walking around, site seeing, and shopping. St. Augustine is a nice little escape from my daily life. I even love the little towns from Jacksonville down to St. Augustine. Who wouldn't enjoy spending the day at one of the country clubs in Sawgrass? As with everything, our time in Florida had to come to an end and we are back in school studying and awaiting taking part two boards.

Projects

We have had so much busy work this quarter and even though I have kept on top of it from the very beginning, I am still finding I have much work to accomplish. From papers to power points there seems to be something due at least once per week. Although none of these assignments are too difficult, they are time consuming. For example, each quarter, we have to write a narrative on one of our patients in the clinic. This project takes some time as you have to continuously refer back to your patient's file. Writing a narrative is definitely something we must learn as they will be requested by other doctors, insurance companies, etc. in our own private practices. However once I get into practice, I hope to have a computer program that will help me write these narratives quickly and effectively.

Today I have to work on studying for boards, writing a paper on a chiropractic technique, and finishing my power point presentation on Paget's disease. I hope to get the paper and power point out of the way before the end of the week so that I can just focus on boards the rest of the quarter.

And remember, it is important that everyone see a chiropractor to locate, analyze, and correct their vertebral subluxations. Come on in and see me in the Sherman Health Center, I would be happy to take care of you!

IOC

Today I am the intern on call or IOC. Although this may sound glamorous like you get all the walk in patients, it is truly anything but. I consider this to be more of what one would consider housekeeping duties. For example, you check in with the clinic's receptionist and then you collect all of the dirty gowns and throw them in the washer machine. It is very important that you keep the washer machine running all day so the health center does not run out of dirty gowns. Then, it is also The IOC's duty to wipe down all tables, refill headrest paper, and turn off all the computers. Who would have thought that as chiropractic students we would be learning the duties of a maid? I understand these are duties that need to be maintained in the clinic, but after a full day of school running around and cleaning up after everyone is not something most students want to be doing. It is a shame that the school can't just hire someone for these everyday duties. So, this is just a small glimpse into what we must go through to earn our D.C. degrees.

Daily Happenings

It seems like just about everybody in my classes is sick. I have been trying to fend some bug off for weeks but it seems to have caught up with me the past few days. In fact, I cut all of my classes today and slept. It took all of my energy to get up at 1:00 and go to the clinic to take care of one of my patients. Although I love taking care of my patients, it is just no fun when you are not feeling well.

It seems as though I have been at the clinic non-stop trying to start up one of my new patients. At Sherman, in order to adjust, you have to get in a spinal exam, a physical exam, x-rays if necessary, and then meet with the case doctor so we can determine a plan of care for our patients. With this being the case, I performed a spinal exam yesterday, and today we went through with a physical exam and spinal check. Tomorrow, we will take x-rays and get in one more spinal check. I am hoping to have all of these x-rays analyzed and make an appointment with the case doctor by early next week so that I can adjust. This doesn't sound like a lengthy process, but there is actually much paperwork and red tape necessary before an actual adjustment. hopefully I will get in a good nights sleep so that I am not feeling so badly tomorrow and I will have more energy for my patients.

Start of School

Our first day of the quarter began this past Monday. It is hard to believe that time flies by so quickly and I am already 10th quarter! Thus far, classes seem to be running smoothly and looks as if there will be several group projects in my classes. It seems like there may be a great deal of busy work but this is nothing to complain about as it doesn't compare to the workload we had when we first started at Sherman.

This quarter, my classes consist of research, alternative adjusting, x-ray review, x-ray III, pediatrics and geriatrics, pediatric adjusting, clinic lab, and applied technique. This does not include the hours that we have to put in to the clinic. This quarter I need to get in 120 hours in the health center. This should not be too hard to accomplish as at least 20 of these hours come from my clinic lab class.

I am looking forward to this quarter as I hope to be starting some new patients at the clinic!

10th quarter students. This is my class. The photo was taken last quarter at our pin ceremony.

Movies

This past week I have seen two movies. I saw both Kite Runner and National Treasure. Both were quite enjoyable yet completely different and I recommend that you see both of these movies.

I finished reading the Kite Runner a few weeks ago and I have been looking forward to seeing this movie in the theater. Although this was a somewhat sad view of Afghanistan and Pakistan, it was sobering to watch the changes that have taken place in those countries as a result of the political and religious unrest. I even recently heard that the children actors in the movie have had to move out of their country fearing the backlash that would most likely result in their portrayal of the country. Although this was a heartwarming story, it is sad to think things like this are happening in the Middle East.

On a much lighter note, National Treasure Book of Secrets is a movie not to be missed for that uplifting feeling. The second National Treasure movie is much like the first with the same characters once again looking to decipher codes that will lead to treasure. Although many people are saying it was not as good as the first movie, I enjoyed it none the same.

I suggest you take advantage of the holiday movie season and go out and lose yourself in the magic of cinema!