First Interview !

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Montserrat

Proud of my Pats
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I'm pretty ecstatic... just got my first interview at Loma Linda. Also get to schedule a climbing daytrip in the San Bernardino mountains after my interview. Keep up the hope, sub 3.0 BPC'ers !
 
congrats. Be sure to take your Jesus action figure.
 
Plenty more coming your way buddy.
 
congrats, but still got to lockdown on the interview. no mercy til you grasp that acceptance letter in your clutches. good luck.
 
Congrats!~! I really enjoyed my interview there and I hope you do too.👍
 
Congrats Mont...if anyone deserves an interview its you.
 
Congratulations! Hope it goes well:luck:
 
Montserrat,

Congratulations on your interview, I wish you the best. From a fellow climber, I was wondering if you have any concerns that rock climbing may interfere w/ your choice to become a dentist. I deeply enjoy climbing, but I am concerned that one day if I were to injure my hands climbing, it would affect my career.

I'm sure you've thought about this problem as well, what are your thoughts?

climb on.
 
Yeah, it was on my mind for quite a while.

The old anecdotal story is that it takes 5+ years of training to develop the tendon strength to mono or dead hang a crimp without too much fear of your tendons snapping. After this time, you can sit on your butt twiddling your thumbs, but your tendons will still retain their tensile strength. So really, if you started climbing at an early age, your tendon and stabilizer strength should be phenomenal, and you'll be FAR less likely to hurt yourself. Some dentists I know have developed wrist pain, lower back pain, and foot pain. As a climber, these will be far less likely, because of a stronger core, lower leg and foot, and more stable forearms. It's really not all that bad. Overuse injuries can happen doing anything, but as a climber, you've probably learned how to read your body a bit better, and manage your injuries.

I made a brief list a while ago, bugged older friends to chime in, and it boiled down to this. My list of concerns was the following:

1) how long you have been climbing
2) whether or not you have sustained strains or damage to your pulleys or ligaments in the past
3) the type of climbing you prefer (dynamic vs static, overhanging bouldering vs. traversing, general bouldering vs trad, etc)

If you're a power and crimpy bouldering type, you'll have more concerns about wrecking you hands. However, as I've gotten older, I've become more static, technical, and less likely to run out the rope on a crux section. With maturity I've found it's a combination of knowing your body, training to compensate for weaknesses, and not being too unnecessarily dynamic - in general, taking better care of yourself.

Remember, there are more than a few dentists who climb frequently, and also a few who are Brazilian Jujitsu experts on the open circuit and compete - with all of the grappling, they still manage to stay healthy. It's all about training and knowing your body well enough to back off before the problem becomes too large to manage.

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to send me a Private Message.
 
Thanks guys - I really appreciate the sentiment 😀.
 
Congratulations that's awesome!! and good luck in the interview!
 
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