I paid $99 to attend this weekend's conference, and I went last night to catch one talk. It turned out to be a total rehash of the same lessons I've been learning every Wednesday on my clinic shift. The speaker was Dr Frances, who I much admire. She is the attending on my shift. I didn't last long at her talk because I'd heard it all before, and recently. I think she has been practicing on us. I circulated some amongst the vendors and only the sales people were eager to chat. There weren't that many docs there, unfortunately. One of the vendors commented that the sparse showing represented weakness in the NW Naturopathic organization. Probably true.
Now I'm looking at the schedule and the one lecture that I really wanted to catch today has already happened, it was from 7-8am, overlapping the yoga that I would have also liked to do. I was sleeping. I needed the sleep more than I needed any more education. So I'm going to the 9:30 talk on kinesiotaping, and I have a little time. This is good. I'm not too interested in the majority of speakers because they are mostly professors at my school and they are giving the same lectures that I have heard more than once. It turns out that most people develop a few presentations that they use over and over again. I will probably do the same.
Actually I am working on my presentation about What Is Naturopathy and in spite of my mixed feelings about the curriculum and the education, I find that I can be positive about Naturopathy. It is because I really do believe in the 6 underlying principles of Naturopathic medicine. The philosophy of Naturopathy is the answer to all the ways that modern medical care is insufficient. We need it. Desperately. So I can definitely talk about it, and have been working out my power point that I will present over the summer. I am going to buy a projector and give the talk to any group of 3 or more people who are interested. By the end of the summer I hope my talk with be pretty smooth and likewise quite entertaining.
I do know how to engage an audience. My training at public speaking was being a trip leader for river trips. I learned that if you are talking about something that they really care about (personal survival is a topper), they will pay rapt attention. And if you ask regularly for their participation, even the people who don't care that much will be sucked in because everyone loves being asked for their opinion and experience.
Next week is midterms. I am uninspired. I am sure at some point I will decide I need to study, but right now I have the feeling that I could pass these midterms without cracking a book. We shall see about that. I'm ahead of the curve on Emergency Medicine. I was certified as a WFR for many years and that is a very useful emergency medicine training. I took the full course twice because I worked an accident after my first cert and found that I wasn't too good at it yet. But the real reason I'm comfortable with emergency medicine is that I was a river guide and ski patroller. I consorted with EMTs and paramedics on a daily basis. I worked quite a few minor emergencies over the years, and a few major ones. There is a lot I haven't seen yet, but I have heard stories. I have shoveled up the bloody snow. I was happy that the emergency medicine class covered the ailments that come from rising from a depth without exhaling while scuba diving, because I haven't been exposed to those yet.
I also have an exam in nutrition IV. That's the one I really should look into. Maybe I'll take the study guide with me and circle things that need more looking up. There's no midterm in cardiology but that's the class that I put the most energy into. For good reason. I already took my manipulation midterm, did fine.
I hope to meet some more docs at the conference and to ask them their opinion about practicing in unlicensed states. Information gathering, that is what I'm up to.