They Call Me Galvez

Thoughts from the train…

Well, the train broke down AGAIN!  I’m stuck between San Diego and Oceanside probably until 1AM.  Other than this hiccup, I’ve had a great start of the week!  On Monday, went up to Loma Linda in San Bernadino county.  I had never been up there before, so I was excited to explore a new area! San Bernadino is east of LA, located close to “the valley.”  I was going to give a talk at the Loma Linda Physical Therapy school and help out with 2 neurology lab sessions (basically, I was going to be a “Guinea Pig” for a bunch of 2^nd year Doctor of Physical Therapy students to practice on.) My main duties in lab were to give them feedback on their technique and teach them some tips on dealing with patients.

* YIKES!  OK, THE LIGHTS JUST WENT OUT ON THE TRAIN…. I’M SITTING ALL BY MYSELF IN COMPLETE DARKNESS IN THE CABOOSE OF A STRANDED TRAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!  THIS IS THE PREMIS FOR A HORROR MOVIE! At least I have a window seat… actually a bunch of window seats!  I’m not claustrophobic cause I can see the sky!

Was kinda funny because I remember the whole student mindset.  In grad school, we had to learn how to do “critical thinking.”  Sometimes there is not clearcut right/wrong answer. We had to choose “the most correct” answer.  Determining the “more correct answer” drove me nuts!  Each question had something “correct” in it, but there was always one little detail that made it incorrect!  I had friends in school argue every little point of each question they answered incorrectly to squeeze every point on their quest for the perfect score.  That was definitely not me. I figured that ultimately, I’m not going to waste my energy arguing minute details if ultimately I understood the value of the question. Anyways, I got to tell my personal story as a young physical therapist who got the rug pulled out from underneath him and had to recreate himself. I usually talk about helping patients find their own path.  In the lab session, I got to meet the students and challenge them face-to-face. It was kinda cool seeing the “light click on” when I’d give them feedback on their techniques.  The fact that I actually taught someone something that they can use to help someone else was a pretty cool feeling!   It was similar to the feeling I first got when I taught a patient with a spinal cord injury how to successfully transfer from his wheel chair to the mat table independently!  I remember thinking “Someone will actually be applying what I taught them! COOL!” This is what drew me to the Physical Therapy profession in the first place!

*Lights Back on now!  The last trip I scheduled to LA got canceled because someone decided to literally lay down on the track!  Yikes!  Anyways, I’m doing a lot more speaking at PT programs.  I think I’ll be helping out at labs more often now.  I find them more fun because there is more interaction.  Seeing the light “click on” was such a cool feeling!  Plus I enjoy messing with students… hee hee hee!  There are no “nervous testing hands” because I’m not grading them.  I’m really looking forward to doing another lecture and lab at San Diego State University this semester!