Work to Live, Not Live to Work

This could not be more true in my current situation.  I am currently working two part-time jobs with the goal of simply paying the bills and gaining professional experience.  This may not have been the most financially responsible decision, but it was one I chose in an attempt to fulfill my goals of taking a chance, experiencing a different part of the country, and living simply.  In doing so, I have learned so many new things (work related and personally) and am eager to continue to learn, meet new people, and broaden my horizons.  To give you an idea of the work I do, I have provided brief descriptions of my positions and the how they have met my goals.

Assistant Athletic Trainer, Cal State Monterey Bay
     I began my position at CSUMB on Monday August 13th, the day after arriving in town.  To say I was thrown into the new position is an understatement!  The first practice of preseason began at 7am.  I was driven, by my co-worker Crystal, to the Otter Sports Center (OSC) athletic training facility (ATF) at 6am and given a brief overview of where water  coolers and bottles, tape and first aid supplies were located.  Contrary to my traditional feelings, I was quite calm and experienced relatively little anxiety in a situation that would typically cause a knot in my stomach and frantic and unorganized thoughts to race through my head.

The Otter Sports Center located on the outskirts of campus

     It has been nearly 5 weeks since beginning work with the women's volleyball team and there have been several trials and triumphs.  I have several tall girls with tall girl mechanical problems and thus knee pain.  I have hitters with chronic shoulder pain that can only be attributed to the fact that they hit and have hit balls for a majority of their athletic career.  I've had to tell a player that her ACL and likely MCL were torn (later confirmed by MRI).  But I've also had the opportunity to utilize evidence based practice (EBP) to help treat patellar tendonitis in the attempt to avoid post-season surgery.  I've improved my ability to apply kinesiotape, rotator cuff strengthening exercises, and instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization.  And inspire, give hope, and motivate my patient with a torn ACL and MCL to work hard  during pre-hab to optimize her post-surgical outcome.  What I'm most proud of is that I've been able to assess the whole person, build strong interpersonal relationships founded on trust, and exercise independent practice.  Additionally, I'm elated to be able to practice in a way I feel reflects my philosophy as an athletic trainer.  I have not achieved every goal for myself, but I'm glad that I have already instituted EBP, I've started to use electronic medical records, and I can keep and organize the ATF as I see fit.
     Although I am currently working with the volleyball team, I will have very limited responsibilities during the winter season as we only have men's and women's basketball that will be covered by the full time staff athletic trainers, and I will then again pick up more responsibilities in the spring with women's water polo.  I look forward to being able to enjoy the CSUMB basketball games as strictly a spectator and be able to explore the area a little bit more with more with free weeknights -- I hope to make it to the aquarium.  Most importantly, I'll be extremely excited if I'll be able to pick up more hours at the PT clinic.  

Physical Therapist Aide, Terrapin Physical Therapy
     In order to afford to live out here, I've picked up another part-time position as a physical therapy aide at a nearby outpatient PT clinic.  The owners have been incredibly nice and helpful in getting me the position.  I am currently just working Monday and Tuesday mornings for a total of just 8 hours per week.  It's not much, but it provides a paycheck and has also given me another resources of education.  As an aide, I do a lot of cleaning and laundering, but I also have the opportunity to work patients through their rehab exercises and talk with the physical therapists and physical therapist assistants.  What is perhaps the most unique part of the job is being able to do aqua therapy with the Hydroworx pool.  Although a little disappointed that pretty much every patient does the same exercises, independent of their ailment, in the pool, it's still a great experience to be able to utilize a tool I would not typically have access to.  I have already begun to think about the type of exercises I could use in a standard pool for my own patients at school.

The pool has an underwater treadmill, front and
side jets, as well as underwater cameras that give
feedback to the patient and PT/PTA/aide 

The clinic is very nice.  They put a lot of effort into making the clinic physically appealing with wood floors, dark wood cabinetry, dimmed lighting, "spa water," and matching staff shirts that have coordinating colors for certain days.  For example, Monday I wear royal blue and Tuesday I wear maroon.  This position is relatively easy because of the large amount of overlap between my duties as an AT and the necessary tasks of an aide.  However, I wish the PTs would realize this as well!  I sometimes feel like the PTs or PTAs talk to me in a manner that does not respect the amount of knowledge I have - I have a Master's degree, I am a peer, I am a professional for goodness sake!  Despite some unfavorable feelings, I will continue to work hard, clean vigorously, and learn as much as I can because my attitude is ultimately what will make my experience.  There is no reason to be miserable the whole time so I promise to smile while I make spa water, not roll my eyes when a PT explains to me a concept I already know, and be an advocate for athletic trainers as health care professionals.
     I am happy this opportunity has presented itself and I will work hard to try to get Tony, the owner and one of the staff PTs, to start a patient load at CSUMB so that I can work as an aide for him while he's on campus.  That will increase my hours as well increase the convenience of working with Terrapin.  Prayers and thoughts of healing and health for my ailing volleyball team are greatly appreciated! :)