Favorite things

One of my favorite things about teaching is seeing someone have his/her "ah ha" moment. It is very gratifying to think that I had a small part to do with it. I realize that our students are very bright and they will have many "ah ha" moments regardless of who is teaching, so I feel lucky to be part of that.
In the courses I teach I have the extra bonus of having both diadactic (lecture) and psychomotor (lab) elements. One particular moment that I see year after year, that I never seem to tire from is the skill of manipulation. In a manipulation the student positions the patient in three planes and then provides a high velocity, low amplitude thrust to a joint. This often occurs with a audible pop or, as we say in the business, a cavitation. In lab when this first occurs there is much rejoicing with some high fives, some whooping and hollering, and a lot of smiles.
As we get older sometimes the high fives go away and perhaps there are not as many bursts of joy but that feeling of happiness and accomplishment that we feel inside continues, which is yet another reason that I love the field of physical therapy. We, as physical therapists, pretty much always have something else to learn, some new skill to acquire, another "ah ha" moment to accomplish and what is even better is our patients benefit with each new lesson learned, with all the newly acquired skills, and with every "ah ha." Pretty cool...pretty cool!