This week marked the end of 9 weeks at internship, it's hard to believe how quickly the time is going by! At this point I'm settled into my routine, and already starting to think about the changes in my schedule that will come at the end of the first quarter. I'm hoping it won't be too difficult of an adjustment, as I'm only going to be changing 2 of the groups that I do... it should also open up some time in my schedule, and I'm hoping to add some more things at that point! When we first started, all of the staff told us that it would be hard to adjust to everything in the first quarter, and reminded us not to over-fill our schedules as we could always add more later (but once added, we can't really take things away!) I'm glad that I've finally learned this lesson in life (not over-extending myself) and I think I did really well building my schedule, giving myself space to get acclimated, and now I will be soon looking to see what activities I might want to add to round out my experiences this year.
The craziest part is that although we've just finished 9 weeks out of our year-long placement, it's already time to start thinking about applications for the next year! This is the last year of requirements for my degree, and some people choose to be hired immediately after. But, in California you have to have an additional year (1500 hours) of supervised clinical work after you obtain your degree, before you can be licensed. Although some people get hired somewhere immediately after graduating, they have to either arrange for (or pay for!) this supervision. The other option is to complete an additional training year in a Postdoctoral Fellowship (Postdoc). This guarantees that you will complete all 1500 hours (if you work privately, it can take a lot longer than 1 year to complete the required hours), but the downside is that it tends to pay less than a "real" job, ha! Within the VA system, it is quite common/expected to complete a postdoc position before getting hired (although this is not always the case, at least in other states.... I have a friend who was offered a job at the end of her internship!). In addition to completing hours, it also means one more year of training (sometimes even 2!), supervision, and more focused learning in an area of specialty. So, although I'm just starting to feel settled into internship, it's time to look at sites, decide where I want to apply, prepare applications, and ask for letters of reference!! ("Hi, I know you've only known me for 9 weeks, but wanna say a bunch of great things about me?" Haha!)
I was looking over my last post (about being too tired to go to the advanced dance class) and realized I have an update there too! I have been going to the beginner class, which is fun (but much less strenuous than I'm used to), but I also have a medical explanation for why I've been so tired all the time. I'd wondered for a while, but at my last physical my blood work showed that my TSH levels were high, it took a few weeks to get the results, then a few more weeks to get another appointment, but by the time they did a re-test (including all of the thyroid levels) my TSH was even higher, and the blood work showed that I have an autoimmune disorder that results in hypothyroidism. I've been taking medication for about a month now, and have a follow up appointment this week (I"m assuming they will check the blood levels again, to see if the medication needs adjusted). It's a bummer to realize that I will need to take thyroid medication for the rest of my life, but it is nice to know that there is a "reason" for my low energy. (I've noticed some changes with taking the medication, including not being as tired at night/not falling asleep as early, as well as decreased appetite/snacking-- guess my metabolism is starting to get back on track!)
In other news, my progress towards 101 in 1001 has been quite slowed recently due to some stressors in my personal life (I'm not going to expand on that here, but I would appreciate any prayers/positive thoughts sent my way!) Although, I have the 5K for pancreatic cancer research coming up in a couple of weeks, and I completed 5 hours of community service for an event with school. That was a really rewarding experience-- there is a homeless shelter that Pepperdine is affiliated with (this is where I worked for my first year of clinical experience) and they have a facility in the foothills north of LA for women & kids (called Hope Gardens). Pepperdine organized a back-to-school event for the kids, where donations were gathered and each child was presented with a backpack of new school supplies. We also had a morning of activities including crafts, games, water balloon toss, and a bouncy-house that had a water slide in it--- that was so cool! I'd never seen that before and the kids loved it! Anyhow, a friend/classmate of mine went with me, and there were probably 15-20 volunteers from Pepperdine (the psychology & education program) including staff, students, and alumni. I had a really great time, and I wished I"d participated before! (Assuming I stay in the area for postdoc year) I hope to participate with them again next year!!
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