![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
My, that's a big fucking pond.
Jan. 8th, 2011 12:03 pmIt occurred to me this week that I could get my graduate degree from Columbia University in New York. Theoretically, this is now a possible thing.
The thing is, the prestige of the school is daunting, as is the percentage of applicants accepted and the fact that it's jumping into the deep part of a huge pond I never expected to be swimming in. It was on my list because the list started out as every program in the area up to an hour away, which is about a dozen before I began eliminating.
Just reading the summary of their program and philosophy started an achy glow in my chest; the kind of therapist they seek to train is the kind I want to become, someone not only comfortable with being a first-line health care provider, but someone with the understanding and training to handle management as well. Training to be an excellent clinician and to also help direct how that profession fits into the bigger picture of health care and the even bigger picture of helping communities.
When I see myself as a therapist, I don't just see myself working with people to improve how their bodies function. That's a big part of it, being a source of guidance and expertise as people heal. But I also see myself heading a team. I see myself responding to a community's needs, reaching out to people who are under-served and creating what's missing. We ignore too many people in medicine (people without resources or power), and we turn away people (due to race, culture, LGBTQ and social issues), and as I don't want to be that kind of status quo uninvolved practitioner I need to educate myself carefully. I need to know how the bigger systems work and I need to be socialized as a mover and shaker in addition to becoming the best therapist possible.
I need high standards as much as they scare me. That was the whole point of failing to be happy as a cog in cubeville. But I feel like a pup who dreams of eating bison, and damn, that's a pack of big dogs I need to learn to run with.
The thing is, the prestige of the school is daunting, as is the percentage of applicants accepted and the fact that it's jumping into the deep part of a huge pond I never expected to be swimming in. It was on my list because the list started out as every program in the area up to an hour away, which is about a dozen before I began eliminating.
Just reading the summary of their program and philosophy started an achy glow in my chest; the kind of therapist they seek to train is the kind I want to become, someone not only comfortable with being a first-line health care provider, but someone with the understanding and training to handle management as well. Training to be an excellent clinician and to also help direct how that profession fits into the bigger picture of health care and the even bigger picture of helping communities.
When I see myself as a therapist, I don't just see myself working with people to improve how their bodies function. That's a big part of it, being a source of guidance and expertise as people heal. But I also see myself heading a team. I see myself responding to a community's needs, reaching out to people who are under-served and creating what's missing. We ignore too many people in medicine (people without resources or power), and we turn away people (due to race, culture, LGBTQ and social issues), and as I don't want to be that kind of status quo uninvolved practitioner I need to educate myself carefully. I need to know how the bigger systems work and I need to be socialized as a mover and shaker in addition to becoming the best therapist possible.
I need high standards as much as they scare me. That was the whole point of failing to be happy as a cog in cubeville. But I feel like a pup who dreams of eating bison, and damn, that's a pack of big dogs I need to learn to run with.
