Training And Experience Evaluation: Fill & Download for Free

After I served ten years in the Navy, I went to the U of Central Florida, hoping to go to their electrical engineering school. The first step was to have my military courses and experience evaluated by the university.There is a standard way to grant credits for military experiences. Boot camp counted as “physical education” and my Navy tech training was worth nearly all the core courses of an entire college degree! My rank—E6—counted as a course in management. There was plenty more.In the end, they apologized that standard academic policy precluded them from granting anyone more than 60 credits. No sweat, I said.That half-hour in the counselor’s office saved me TWO YEARS of study, tuition, fees, rent, food, living expenses and taxes. Two years. Definitely, the courses I took in the Navy were quite valuable.

“Just so you know, he said he could’ve banged you...”About ten years ago I was the only woman in my SCUBA divemaster class. Our primary instructor was about thirty years my senior. I came to like and respect him during our training.I had missed a testing segment and was making it up on a Saturday afternoon. It was a more difficult portion of the training and I was thrilled when I received great feedback and high marks. My instructor said, “Let’s grab a beer across the street while we go over everything”.We chatted about the training and I had a chance to pick his brain a bit. One beer turned into several. I was really enjoying myself. Keep in mind, I was 25 years old, having a couple beers with someone I considered a mentor. Our conversation was centered entirely around SCUBA. I went home that evening feeling proud that someone I admired thought highly of me.The next day, a classmate told me my instructor had been bragging to two other members of our class about having a drink with me, and my supposed availability for “banging”.I felt my cheeks flush. I re-examined our conversation, my body language, everything- looking for anything I could have done to give the wrong impression. I re-evaluated my performance during testing and wondered if I had actually done well. I was mortified.A similar scenario happened several years later with a paramedic preceptor I admired.Men, if you are in a position to mentor a woman, particularly in a field that is predominantly male, please be aware of your influence. Don’t be an asshole. Don’t use women who want to learn as a way to score points with other men. Share your knowledge and experience with someone of the opposite sex without strings attached.Don’t be a creep.

I’m a Board-Certified Pain Management specialist. Often, by the time a patient is referred to me, s/he has already been escalated to unreasonable doses of opioids and other meds to try to help them. My job then devolves to detox and evaluation for other modalities in Pain management.That having been said, it is my experience that a patient’s pain and functionality can be both improved with opioids and/or other meds with various Interventional techniques.Frankly, the government and various third-party payers need to let us practice Medicine and stop fanning the flames of the public’s fears so we can help them appropriately.Further, primary care providers not trained in pain management need to refer patients to Pain specialists earlier to avoid the long ride up the escalator. We’re trained to do this. Get out of the way and let us work.Are you going to jog the Cardiologist’s elbow, or let him clean up the patients coronaries? All of that medical education and training and experience actually do add up to good care if we’re allowed to go there.