Teaching Day 4

Over halfway done the class may be fun for the students, but very stressful for a professor trying to complete all of the content and feel accomplished in passing along the information.

The students started the day by doing cases to prepare for the practical. They have never done a mock practical or practiced doing patient care on each other with prepared scenarios. Most of their early classes were spent learning as much content as possible. I was fortunate to be able focus on clinical reasoning and combing already learned material with advanced skills. They had done a great job up to this point learning and reasoning through the various aspects of patient care. I was very excited for them to put it all together with one student acting as a patient and another acting as a therapist.

Sadly the activity did not go as smooth as I envisioned it would go. The patients were not used to acting and the ability to think on their feet when the therapist did certain tests was unfamiliar. The therapists were also not used to following their own structure and flow or working with patients who were acting which made it a struggle. Even with all of the challenges of doing something new, they worked hard and upon reflection stated they enjoyed the experience and could see how it would benefit them when out in the clinic. Taking something completely foreign in stride without complaints shows the adaptability of the Haitian people. We spent some time after the exercise allowing the students to give each other feedback and they really respected the opinion of their peers.

I had my final meal with three of the Notre Dame members before they head back home tomorrow. They had a very productive week and progressed far with both projects in Leogane.

All of the students were in their seats early after lunch because they had been waiting all week for the next lecture/lab on manipulations. We spent time reviewing safety and purpose of manipulations. I emphasized the mechanisms behind manipulations and the application. In the lab portion of the class, they did a great job breaking the steps down and performing the skills very well. Each student was able to get at least on cavitation (the pop) between the thoracic and lumbar techniques. We do not judge success of a manipulation if you hear the sound, but when learning the skill you gain confidence and excitement when you are able to get that instant feedback. They were like kids on Christmas today!

(one student practicing a thoracic manipulation on me so I could provide better feedback)

The final part of the day was the final case practical for three of the students. The patients and the therapists took the practical very serious and did a great job. I was impressed how they improved from the morning attempt to the afternoon test. All three completed and came up with a solid examination, assessment, treatment, and plan. After they concluded and distressed, I sat down with all three of them individually and we reflected together on their experience this week, their strengths/weaknesses, and ways to improve as they transition into the workforce. I was humbled by the insight they provided me about my teaching style and their own growth from the few short days together.  I know I gained as much of them as they did from me and I made sure to express that to them.

After class today I was able to Facetime with Olivia and catch up on everything back home. She let me know that our Mortgage Specialist and Friend Marlin Beitzel with Integrity Home Mortgage had sent us something. When we closed on our house one month ago Marlin donated money to Olivia's school for education projects. He knew about my travel and medical mission work and decided to match that donation and supported this trip as well as SUPT Thrive service trips! We cannot thank him enough for not only helping us purchase our first home, but supporting us in our dreams as professionals and servant leaders.

Sad to finish the class tomorrow, but I am so happy how well the week has transpired.