Clinic Entrance

I have never studied harder in my life.

Clinic Entrance is a test that is three hours long where you vocalize and perform tests that you have learned over the past year and a half. The following are the subjects that we are tested on:

• Toggle
• Diversified
• Droptable
• Gonstead
• Spinal Analysis
• Vital Signs
• Ab-Thorax
• EENT
• Neurological and Orthopedic
  
• Extremities (more orthopedic testing)
• Physiotherapy
• Case History
• X-Ray

You have 5 minutes to read the question and then 5 minutes to perform and answer the questions. You would think that this would be doable, however once you in the position of performing the test, you heart rate goes up, your throat gets dry, your mind starts racing, and somehow you forget your right and left.

If you perform the exam and do everything right except for something that would harm the patient, then you automatically fail the station. If you perform it right, but vocalize it wrong, then you become dangerously close to failing if not fail completely. If you vocalize it right, but perform it wrong, again you will most likely not make a passing grade (75/100 points).

Thankfully, they give you points for just introducing yourself and being professional. However once again, because of your state of mind when you are in that situation, you seem to forget even the simplest things.

Typically at least 50% of the test takers would have to retake the exam the following week. Because of this I started studying 3 weeks before the test came up. I spent around 4-8 hours a day looking over the different sections and did group studies with Emma Lockwood to make sure that we would pass and not make the little mistakes that are so easily done. As the time got closer though it seemed impossible to be able to know everything and that it was inevitable to have to take remakes.

The day before the exam both Ric Bollen and I have school from 7:30am to 8:00pm which gave us no time to study at all before the test on Wednesday. Once I got home at 8:20pm I had to run to the dentist office to clean that since Monica and Kim are in Hawaii for 3.5 weeks helping out David and Jeanette. This meant that I wasn't going to get home till 9:30pm. There was no way to do anything. On the drive home from the dentist office I felt the spirit whisper to me that I should go to Matt Alexander's home to ask him for a blessing.

I didn't have my phone since I lost that when we went camping two weeks ago at Zion's Camp in the Sierra Nevadas, so I just knocked on the door hoping that they were awake and that he was willing to give me a blessing. Thank goodness he was and he gave me a blessing and sent me on my way. I felt peace come over me and knew that I would be able to stay calm during the test.

On Wednesday just before entering the testing area, all the students waited in the entrance to the school. All of us were worried and you could just feel the tension in the air. I tried to stay by myself to keep a clear head. I didn't want to feel to someone's negative energy. I hummed "I am a Child of God" repeatedly for 15 minutes as we waited to enter the clinic area to take the test.

I started at Toggle and made my way around. I felt pretty good with each exam. I did make a few mistakes such as I had forgotten to introduce myself in the Gonstead station, almost ran out of time in vital signs because the examiner wanted me to perform it bilaterally instead of just saying that I would do so like every one else, and I thought I bombed the x-ray station.

Once done everyone relaxed. I went home and vegged till 2:30am. I just didn't want to go to bed. I still went to school and continued to be the good student. Friday came around and at lunch time the results went up. I was performing a physical exam on a patient already so Ric went to see what I got.

I PASSED!! I couldn't believe it!! Not only that but most of our class made it! I was so proud of everyone. This means that we can now move on in clinic and start helping student families, faculty at LCCW and any other courtesy patients. We still can't take on Out Patients till we are drafted in a pod (group of interns under a licensed D.C in the clinic) and have made 30 adjustments. We are all on our way to make it to graduation and beyond to a beautiful practice.