TRI-5, Wk8, Day 303, Thur - Dx Imaging & Random Thoughts.

Diagnostic Imaging, Dx Imag, Die Imaging Die! (that last one was a post on Facebook from a fellow classmate)

Looks like about 5 hours and 19 minutes until our Dx Imag Midterm.

I think I can readily define frustration as putting forth tremendous effort and getting marginal results.

The last two times I filled my car up with gas, I got 40 mpg or better! (40 & 41)

Waiting for my pot of coffee to finish brewing then I think I'm going to head off to a nice 24 hour restaurant on Manchester called Uncle Bob's.

I think my recent attitude towards this trimester is to get through what I can.

I think I'm going to check my coffee.

Coffee is good! :)

It's almost 2:30 a.m. and I'm already showered, dressed and ready for the day.

Looking ahead I've learned that there are four parts to Diagnostic Imaging, a full two years worth of diagnosing x-rays (two years in a traditional educational environment) but, we'll get it done in 1 and 1/3 years

5 hours, 5 minutes left until D-Day.

Dx, short for diagnostics.

Hx, short for History.

Rx, short for prescription

Tx, short for treatment.

btw, short for between.

bc, short for because.

Also, since either Tri-1 or 2, I stopped worrying about crossing my T's or dotting my I's when taking lecture notes longhand. I guess I've also been relying on my laptop more and more to take notes during class.

It would be a GREAT benefit to have internet access in our classrooms. I have over 15 of my textbooks available online but need the internet to access them.

At this rate, I'll be leaving by 3 a.m. and getting breakfast by 4 a.m. and could be to school at 5 a.m. which, really isn't a whole heck of a lot of time.

I've been considering practicing in Alabama due to a Forbes article I read which cited Alabama as the highest paying state for chiropractic which is nothing I would have guessed. A rural area in Illinois is another option due to possible legislation which allows 25% of a student's Federal loan to be paid off each year for up to four years when practicing in an underrepresented area.

I don't think I'd mind taking Dx Imag over again as much as I would mind taking Div IV over again. Dx Imaging criteria for passing is much more objective.

Either way, one way or another, I will become a chiropractor.

The notion of going on to get an MD is not as appealing as it was in earlier trimesters. There are two reasons for this. One, the DC program is amazingly difficult & time consuming and I'm just not sure I'd want to subject myself to the whole thing all over again. Two, I wasn't *fully* aware of just how much overlap and regular doctor stuff there was to becoming a chiropractor. I'm not sure what I expected but, whatever it was, a person cannot truly know what's involved with an endeavor until they are actually on the road to achieve the specified goal.

It is proper to write Dr. Scott Dukowitz or Scott Dukowitz, DC.

It is not so proper to write, Dr. Scott Dukowitz, DC

However, I think on my tombstone, I may have them write the not-so-proper way. Perhaps if the DC where in parenthesis then we would have acceptably formatted grammar. Either way, I'll be proud of the fact that I'll be a doctor as well as a chiropractor.

I tend to like Chiropractor's underdog status in the world of health care. Walk softly and carry a big stick. Chiropractors big stick consist of the undeniable results patients can achieve under the care of a chiropractic physician. Chiropractic is advanced medicine. Some chiro's dislike using the word medicine when it comes to chiropractic but, I think of the Indians who talk of "good medicine" and the generalized nature of the word. Maybe I'm old school but, I still have a tendency to think of medicine as that which will engender good health within a patient and I do NOT see it as necessarily prescribing a drug.

I do not think all drugs are necessarily bad. I wonder about all the chiro's who preach at the top of their lungs the vile evils about prescription medication but probably still take advantage of things like birth control pills. ...I could go on in this vein ...

MD's are amazingly well educated and valuable professionals and I should not want to live in a world without them. I think the biggest problem was the AMA who had a smear campaign against chiropractors in the 70's. The were subsequently sued for such actions by chiropractors in the early 80s. The AMA lost, appealed and lost again.

On the plus side, however, I like to think part of the AMA's agenda is to simply protect the public from "snake oil salesmen".

The pharmaceutical companies are another story and, as corporations tend to have profit as the bottom line ...at least one of the bottom lines. Again, I'm sure there are many individuals working for those companies which genuinely want to help provide cures.

Maybe it's like some of the individuals in school who have already worked in hospital environments, the nurses and radiologist techs who have seen the political side of a hospital where there is an administrator with an MBA who knows very little about health care and must protect the bottom line of the hospital. With the pharmaceutical corporations, we have captains of industry, CEO's who must steer their companies in the direction of a profit lest they die but, those CEO's may not know as much about drugs, health care & medicine as would a doctor.

I believe France is ranked as one of the best countries when it comes to health care and longevity. Now, countries like France may have a greater number of people who smoke & drink yet, they still live longer than those born in the US.

Many statistics still cite Japan as having the longest lifespan and it is interesting to note that the Japanese don't give out all the vaccines that the US does. It's more of a buffet style arrangement where certain vaccines are selected based on the patient.

As a positive note towards vaccines we might consider the Soviet Union which in the 20 years preceding circa 1982 actually had a decrease in life expectancy and did not have a very robust health care system which included vaccinations.

One of the best arguments in favor of vaccines I've heard was from an MD who pointed out that we should also consider the specific diseases that any vaccine is trying to protect a person from. I've seen enough pictures to know that some of the diseases are rather horrendous.

Still, I tend to perceive that the concept of vaccines has maybe gone a little overboard. If a pharmaceutical company can get one of their drugs to be mandated by the federal government then they've got a cash cow which may or may not be in the public's best interest. The last one I read about was for pertussis (whooping cough) which didn't actually prevent the dz but help to lessen the severity of it.

Some vaccines seem like big hits ...homeruns, like those used for small pox or polio while others are more like a batter simply getting walked to first base.

Education is one of the most important things to the chiropractic profession. From a business perspective, education and income are the most likely consumers of chiropractic.

I guess my tangents regarding various aspects of health care could go on for some time and yet ... I have a Dx Imaging midterm in 4 hours and 13 minutes. I should conclude this post and get moving. I might opt now for an egg McMuffin on my way to school and go straight to the cafeteria at Logan to conclude my studies. Egads! Did I actually say I was going to McDonalds for sustenance?! ...yeah, I guess I did.

Today's pic is of an Egg McMuffin ...probably because I'm hungry. I have to admit, having downloaded the photo it does look rather processed and not the best thing to put in my body.

I guess I could fry up an egg at home and put it on a piece of toast but I don't have much else besides eggs & bread. Grocery shopping and cooking are not my strong points. My parents were nice enough to drop off a veggie tray earlier this week and I've eaten much of it and have to admit, getting up in the mornings have been much easier which is probably a combination of those vegetables and the nice workout I got in the gym a few days back.

....yeah ...dx imaging still looms - better get something in my head as well as my stomach before test time ....