First year at Osteopathy school - how did it go?

So I have just reached the end of my first year at Osteopathy school, and it seems like a good time to look back over the year and think about how it all went.

Firstly, I can't believe how fast the year has gone! That's a good thing, right? As it's a 5yr Master's degree, so that means the remaining 4 years will be over before I know it and then I can start to earn back the £35k tuition fees...(let's not go there), but, strangely, thinking back to earlier in the year, there were times where the course was dragging horribly, and going in every other weekend for an entire weekend of classes, became a real chore. At times I wondered whether it was all worth it, as it the course seemed to take over my life. Now I have completed year one, despite all the challenges along the way, I have to say a resounding YES.

The good

I already feel like a better practitioner. I have a better understanding of health and dysfunction, and the context and ways in which they can manifest in the body. I wanted to ramp up my level of anatomy and physiology and I would say that box has most definitely been ticked. I wanted to feel more clinical, and I most definitely do. I have already experienced a shift in my approach, and the way in which I treat and deal with people, and of course have learned some great new techniques and applications.

I have met some wonderful, inspiring people among my fellow students, some of who I look forward to working with in the future. There has very much been an 'we are all in this together' vibe, which is so very helpful and motivating, especially when we're all mostly gasping for air in the last few weeks of term, struggling to revise into the early hours of the morning, on top of our jobs and life commitments. 

The bad

So this course, although part-time, takes over your entire life. That is not good, and I didn't realise the extent to which this would be the case. As someone who works in this industry already, alongside osteopaths and physios, I have found some elements of the course a little slow paced. I have found myself slightly resistant to having to learn things to such a high level of detail - Krebbs Cycle, I am talking about you - when a basic understanding is really all you need. Class sizes are a bit larger than I would like, and the introvert in me has struggled sometimes with this. 

Would I recommend the course to other people?

Well, yes. I would, and in fact, I have, and I think at least one of these recommendations is signing up for next year's course. But I am honest about what to expect, in terms of work-load and commitment, as it is vast.

So a whole summer off (after I have handed in one last essay on Friday), before classes re-commence in late September, I think I have earned a bit of a break! Oh, exams. I get my results mid July, I think, but I don't even care what I get (I have a fair idea), a pass is a pass, that is all that matters, second year here I come :)