Yesterday, as I sat in my last Case Management lecture ever, a classmate passed me an issue of the Chiropractic Journal. He had it opened to an article entitled “The Wussification of the Chiropractic Profession.”
The writers of this article made the point that the chiropractic profession has gotten away from principled chiropractic and gotten into the mode of just making money, or doing the things that insurance will pay for. They pointed out the chiropractor that won’t stay late for an ailing patient becuase they have to get to their yoga class or the chiropractor that won’t see a sick new patient because they have to have their lunch hour… or two.
Don’t get me wrong. I fully believe in having policies, procedures, and schedules in practice, because while we are helping people by removing their subluxations, it is also a business and should be run like a responsible one at that.
However, there are businesses that run better than others. Those businesses that are successful GO THE EXTRA MILE for their customers, clients, or patients. As chiropractors, we have that responsibility. Most MDs won’t…it’s easier to prescribe pills, potions, and lotions.
If I can help someone have a better quality of life by specifically adjusting their atlas and removing that subluxation, I’m willing to skip my lunch hour.
Where The Disconnect Is
The chiropractors that get into this profession because it changed their life or because it is a calling, will always be successful. They have a higher purpose that involves helping as many people as they can.
The chiropractors that get into this profession because they saw it was the #4 best career to get into according to the U.S. Department of Labor, don’t always do so great. They are the ones who struggle in practice, not having an identity, eventually selling out to the insurance games, doing modalities and rehab just so they can break even.
Sure there are chiropractors who choose this profession based on the capability of making money, and they have all the extra gadgets and gizmos, and they do well. But they are few and far between.
If you don’t believe me, take a look at Chiropractic Economics, or the Chiropractic Journal, or Clinical Chiropractic. How many practice management advertisements are there? Tons. Why? Because there are thousands of chiropractors struggling just to make an extra $700 a week.
I know… I have a friend that went to school with me who is struggling to do just that.
What Chiropractic Is and Isn’t
The point is, we have the best thing in the world at our disposal. We must shed the little man’s complex the profession has when it comes to healthcare. We are not MDs, or PTs, or personal trainers. We are chiropractors. We do not treat disease. We detect and remove subluxations.
As an Upper Cervical Chiropractic student, I am proud to say these things. I know that Upper Cervical Chiropractic IS enough. Who cares what the diagnosis is? I am a soon-to-be chiropractor and I will only diagnose subluxations. That’s it. I won’t care what disease a person has. I know that all diseases can potentially crumble under the weight of a fully functioning Innate Intelligence. All it takes is a specific Upper Cervical adjustment to remove the interference.
The people who don’t believe chiropractic is good enough, the ones that want to use ultrasound, or zap people with lasers, or grind muscles with Graston, or “prescribe” their nutraceuticals can do all that. That’s all fine and good. Those things might even work sometimes.
Just don’t call it chiropractic, because it’s not. Don’t drag those of us who DO believe in the true principles of chiropractic down into the muddled shades of gray the majority of the profession is playing in.
The need to be accepted by the AMA and insurance companies is what got our profession into this mess. The funny thing is, the AMA and insurance companies still don’t respect or understand chiropractic. So what’s the point?
Why not just stand tall, hold onto our principles, and do what is right by the patient? Because, ultimately, isn’t that what chiropracTIC is truly about?
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Awesome post! And you don’t have 1 friend going through that, but many.