Here's a question for you: how long have you known your best friend? A few years? Maybe a decade? Since college?

How many can say that they've had a best friend since before kindergarten? Well, I can ... and it's a very cool thing indeed.

I've had the good fortune of knowing Richard since I was 3 or 4 ... and yes, that would be 38 or 39 years now! You think it's a long time - but when you look back on it, you realize that it's all gone by so quickly and goes faster every day. It seems like yesterday that we were in kindergarten together - and yes, I do vaguely remember that. Growing up in a small town, it's pretty easy to envision going to the same elementary school and the same high school. And what never ceases to amaze me most is that no matter how long we've not spoken to each other or seen each other, when we pick back up again it's like no time has passed. We invariably pick up where we left off last time.

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In the midst of trying to summarize some of the key elements of clinical practice and reasoning for PT and PTA students, I've found myself pulling together many of the practical aspects of "being a clinician" that I've learned over the years. After 19 years of clinical practice, there are certainly a number of things I wish I'd learned in school! In many practitioners' training, much time is devoted to the "practices" - the "what" to do - as opposed to the "principles" - the "why" to do. Very little time is devoted to the art and science of learning how to think.

So if David Letterman has his "Top 10" list - I now have my "Top 13" list. Why 13? It's my lucky number, of course!

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I'll be the first to admit that I can get caught up in the "day-to-day" as much as anyone. Suddenly, you turn around and look at the calendar and :::poof::: another week (or month - insert appropriate time factor here) has gone by without a trace. Or at least it seems like it's without a trace.

When I was a child, I can remember always thinking that it was such a long time to wait until my birthday ... or Christmas ... or any other day of note. You know how it is as a kid - time seems to plod along. It seems like forever for the summer to start. School seems to drag on forever. My birthday could never get here fast enough (note to self - my oh my how THAT perspective has changed!). I can always remember my mother telling me that I should enjoy it now because as I got older, the time would seem like it was just flying by me.

Of course, as a child, what an adult says doesn't necessarily have a lot of credibility or relevance. And, worse yet, if it's your parents telling you that, then how much can it be believed or trusted, right? It's your parents!! What do they know?!

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Clinical reasoning is much like being part of a crime scene forensics unit. The diagnostician (be it a chiropractor, orthopedist, neurologist, physiotherapist, massage therapist, etc) has a goal - of putting the pieces of the puzzle together, establishing hypotheses, testing these hypotheses, and using good methodical clinical reasoning in the process. Much like a crime scene investigation, the evidence has to form a picture that can be subjected to scrutiny. In the days of yore, they called this the "scientific method".

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This week marked a significant passing for me, a date and time that won't be easily forgotten.

It was May 8, 1982. Twenty five years ago this past week. And what made this date so important?

It was the day that Gilles Villeneuve died.

So the next question I'm sure is "Who is Gilles Villeneuve?", yes?

In 1982, I was a 16 year old that had a fascination with Formula One racing. Actually, in all reality, I had a fascination with almost any type of auto racing - excluding NASCAR (which to me, is a whole different issue). It was a time when I was pondering the possibility of becoming an automotive engineer. But I didn't want to be just any automotive engineer - I wanted to design Formula One racing cars for Ferrari.

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"First, do no harm -
Second, revere the healing powers of nature"

The phrase above has historically been attributed to Hippocrates, the 'Father of Medicine' who is credited with revolutionizing medicine in Ancient Greece. Fielding Garrison, an authority on medical history, states in his landmark text An Introduction to the History of Medicine, "He is, above all, the exemplar of that flexible, critical, well-poised attitude of mind, ever on the lookout for sources of error, which is the very essence of the scientific spirit". Hippocrates believed that the body must be treated as a whole and not a series of parts, and that   "natural forces within us are the true healers of disease".

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Photojournalists are an amazing breed. The ability to catch a moment in time - perfectly - on film - is an incredible skill. For the photographer, it's all about being in the right place at the right time - and yes, timing (and location!) IS everything. Photojournalism - or photography in general - is always something I have held in very high esteem. The ability to compose an image in the space of the viewfinder, and to do it "on the fly" (or perhaps under intense pressure or extreme circumstances) - now that is a skill to behold.

This was almost my chosen profession.

I had a camera in my hands from my earliest memories. My father was a photographer - a hobbyist, and certainly not a photojournalist - but he exposed me to the world of photography at an early age. I can remember my first Instamatic ... and then my first 35mm camera (an Olympus OM-10 that my father had won in a contest). I was hooked. Eventually, I took photos for the school yearbook. I developed an admiration of the skill required to take a good photo ... and the difference between a good photo and a great one.

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