Today's post will serve as recap of 2018 - both personally and professionally - and a look back at some of my favorite posts of 2018. As for 2019, I don't think I'm going to write a plan or set goals - other than to keep writing.
The Seattle Storm and UConn Connection |
I'll start with the Seattle Storm winning the WNBA Championship, which I wrote about here. I was so fortunate to be able to attend WNBA Finals Game 3 in Washington, D.C. with my brother, and still love basketball despite my poor skills at playing the game. I'm already looking forward to next season and it's still several months away.
Dear Evan Hansen, New York City, July 2018 |
Seattle Seahawks @ Denver Broncos, September 2018 |
I saw the Goo Goo Dolls perform their 20th Anniversary celebration of Dizzy Up The Girls.
I rode in a helicopter for the first time. Total trip time was about 3 minutes. It was awesome.
I read the first five books of the Harry Potter Series and watched the first three movies... my first time for all of that. Don't worry, book six is in progress and I'll finish all of it in 2019.
I read a lot of books in 2018, actually. Some really deep, sciency stuff. Some much lighter and more relaxing. I have come to embrace the audio book for commutes. I read The Origin of Species which I wrote about here and definitely do not recommend others read, but feel like I can read anything if I could get through that.
I got addicted to yoga. And then dropped out of yoga. I miss yoga.
My 2018 Physical Therapy Continuing Education was primarily focused on three areas.
1) Orthopedics from Mike Reinold, Lenny Macrina, and Eric Cressey. I took Mike's shoulder seminar, which I wrote about here, Lenny's knee seminar which I wrote about here (and his elbow course), and Eric's shoulder course which I wrote about here. I'm so grateful that there are mentors willing to share their expertise and knowledge online, and who also have made trips out to the West Coast for me to learn from in person.
2) Chronic Pain, primarily from Lorimer Moseley and Adriaan Louw. I've written about those experiences here - from reading Explain Pain, and here from reading Explain Pain Supercharged and from meeting Lorimer Moseley at his presentation at the University of Washington. Starting in two weeks, I'll be working with the Seattle Children's Pain Clinic as part of a collaborative team to help kids experiencing chronic pain. I'm looking forward to putting all that learning to good use.
3) Strength and Conditioning. I passed the CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) exam in 2018, which I wrote about here and took a Medbridge Education Course instructed by Sue Falsone on this topic as well. This has definitely made an impact on how I treat patients, specifically by loading them more and manipulating rep/set schemes a little bit more than I did in the past. A few PTs have asked me if I thought this process was worth it, and for my patient population and side gigs, I feel that it is definitely useful. I work in Pediatric Sports Medicine so my patient population is mostly athletic and getting back to sports. They've generally never worked with a strength and conditioning coach or a physical therapist and don't understand any of the key basics of movement or how the body works. I love having this background knowledge to educate them!
I feel like I spent a lot of time working towards growing as a physical therapist in 2018, but when I look back, it wasn't even close to what was most important.
Looking forward to 2019: I'd be lying if I pretended that 2018 was perfect. Social media sometimes has that impact... nobody posts their tears and struggles on Facebook and Instagram. I certainly only post the happy times and the beauty I see around me. In truth, 2018 was a hard year. I'm not sure 2019 will be easier... but there will be more family time and more hard work and growth. And for all that, I'm grateful.
Happy New Year!