Desert Magnolia

When I graduated from Oriental Medical school I had some preconceptions about what my life would be like as a practitioner. I envisioned a hectic but rewarding practice, the daily rigors of balancing the art of medicine with the business of business, and a sense of constant growth and development as both a physician and a human. Those preconceptions were spot on, but with a stutterstep in between graduating and practice that was comprised of endless board exams study/completion, continual self-doubt during the board gauntlet (was I really cut out for this? could I really get through all of the silly exams without doing permanent brain damage? would I ever be able to pay back the ginormous loans I'd amassed during school? etc.), then, finally, licensing. After which realities present that require contemplation and action (or nonaction if you prefer.)  Where to practice? How to make a living while a practice grows? To accept insurance? Deciding to practice with former school col...

To say my life is full of blessings would be a gross understatement. I am incredibly blessed in countless ways. My marriage is working. After 30 years of give and take, raising a family, riding the roller coaster that is life in the modern world, we're solid. We still love each other, and are closer than I ever recall our being. Our communication has strengthened, our shared goals have morphed into simpler but infinitely essential tenets - often with our kiddos at the center. My health is good.  I still need to work on my stress levels, which continue to ebb and flow as I navigate this new profession I've launched.  My kids are great. My son continues to redefine himself after 10 years of East Coast schooling/working for NYU in the Middle East. He's fine. He's contemplating any number of futures. We'll see what he comes up with next.  My daughter, well, she's amazing, and is navigating the rigors of being an analyst at the world's largest brokerage of...

Life has taken on a new rhythm now that I'm practicing. There are clinic days, there are private practice days, and there is the weekend. At least, sometimes there is the weekend.  Sometimes the weekend is for practice. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes one weekend day is a clinic day. I'm learning to adapt to a changing schedule. What I'd really like, though...is to have a full week, followed by an empty weekend. I can work really hard all week knowing I have a couple of days to catch up on life, domestics, rest, etc. This may be my many years in corporate life projecting on my new career. I'm not sure if that's it, but my preference would be to have a slightly more normal schedule. Honestly, when you first start practice, you accept patients mostly on their terms, because, mostly, you're just delighted to have patients to treat at all. But after awhile you realize that setting some time boundaries is good for everyone. And preserves a sense of order dur...

Friends of mine who graduated before me and have therefore been in the practice trenches for awhile have often shared stories of how differently they are practicing than they thought they would practice. Everyone had preconceptions in school, developed business plans around those ideas, then entered the real world as practitioners and often changed, dramatically, their intended directions. Funny, but now that I am a seasoned 3 month practitioner (ha), I am realizing that what we thought we knew in school is nothing like real life, and that flexibility is key to growth and survival, moving forward. I thought, for example, that I would launch a mobile practice focusing on retirees, but as I've connected with a clinic and am feeling more at home there, I am not sure I want to be on the move all the time. Also, as I've begun to develop my greater mission of focusing on bridging Oriental Medicine and Western medicine, I am close (I think) to establishing a working relationship ...

Next week I take my final National exam. It's a doozie, Herbs, and I am studying my ass off right now. Five down, one to go. A few months ago I couldn't envision this moment, but now it's upon me. That's life, isn't it? You steam along and make your way through whatever is ahead, then all of a sudden it is behind you, you've been birthed into a new challenge. Trying to take breaks. My colleagues who have recently run this same gauntlet say breaks make all the difference. As does believing in your ability to draw on the vast well of knowledge required to successfully complete the exams. So, study study study, yoga or some workout, study study, maybe a catnap, study study study. Rinse and repeat for the next week. Then? We'll see. If I pass, I'll b e dancing. If I don't, I'll be regrouping . Hugs, Stevie the (Exhausted) Student