Chances are, you have noticed that I haven’t had as many interviews lately. I’m still waiting on some people to finsih their questions. Not to mention, it is the holiday season and people are getting busy preparing for it.
With that being said, let’s see how some Upper Cervical Chiropractors got into chiropractic.
Dr. Tony Palermo
“When a new practice member presents to my office I often tell them that while they may be suffering now – they will someday consider their experience the best thing that ever occurred in their life. I then go on to explain my statement by offering them my introduction to chiropractic…
After years of suffering with a variety of upper respiratory symptoms, a plethora of over the counter and prescription medications, I finally and reluctantly agreed to visit a chiropractor. I honestly did so in order to silence the repeated referral by a family friend.
I attended my chiropractor’s Orientation Class on my first day of care. I can remember offering up a prayer during that class in which I said, “I hope that I have one of those ‘subway stations’ (subluxations) in my spine.”
Within three visits I noted improvement beyond any I had experienced in the medical model. On visit five I told my doc that I wanted to become a chiropractor. Unfortunately my four years of undergraduate business school did not lend to my doctorate endeavors. However – those studies would give me a tremendous advantage in running a successful practice!”
Scott Livingston
“In 1996 my Gonstead doctor planted the seed and encouraged me to go. Over the years that seed has been watered by many other docs and I have felt God leading me in this direction with a burning passion to help others.
That passion has been amplified as a result of my own health issues being resolved through specific upper cervical chiropractic care, those of my family and the countless others who have been under the care of an upper cervical doctor.
I know that God has put me on this earth to not only share the good news about His Son Jesus, my Savior, the true life saver and healer, but to also add my voice in the mix proclaiming that upper cervical chiropractic does in fact change lives and in a different manner, saves them!”
Dr. Jon Schwartzbauer
“I first decided to become a chiropractor after shadowing a D.C. in his office for a few days. I was allowed to talk to his patients and I discovered that amazing outcomes were common under chiropractic care. That inspired me to start on my path as a chiropractor. I was a senior in high school at that time.”
Dr. Moses Bernard
“In January of 2003, I was running track with the University of British Columbia, and tore my hamstring. Being a college athlete, naturally I opted for the (free) physio and massage route. The PT said what PTs say: my hips were out of balance because of a weak core (’weak core’ being the the ultimate PT catch-all).
Things improved very slowly over the next four months or so, but not the way I thought they should. I tried acupuncture as well with limited results. At that time I moved back to my hometown in Saskatchewan, and couldn’t afford $75 a visit, 5 times a week for PT. So I needed another option.
There happened to be a chiropractor literally two blocks from where I lived in Saskatoon, and I figured I was running out of options so I gave it a try. (Injured hamstring = no scholarship money). At this point in my academic career I’d had 3 years of exercise physiology under my belt, so I felt like I understood how the body worked pretty well. Apparently I used an anatomical term on my intake paperwork (that the average person wouldn’t have used), so the Dr. knew he could ‘talk shop’ with me on the anatomy/physiology of what was going on. I explained to him my past treatment, and how I thought they were kind of on the right track, but were taking the wrong approach.
Then he asked me the $64,000 question: “Why did your sciatic nerve tell your hamstring to contract during a part of your stride when it was supposed to be relaxed?”
Physiologically, this seemed like the most obvious question in the world, and I was quite frankly upset that no one had ever addressed such a simple concept. He said the way I looked at the dynamics of the body as a whole, and not just an injured muscle was a very ‘chiropractic’ way of looking at the body.
He also enlightened me that my current route towards personal or team training would be a waste of talent. By time that visit was over, I left his office with DD’s “The Science of Chiropractic”. He also PROMISED me that under chiropractic care, my athletic performances would be greatly improved.
When I showed up for my second visit, he had brochures waiting for me from Palmer, Life, and Parker.
So from there I started looking into the profession and told my family about it. “If you’re going to do that, why don’t you be a REAL doctor?” was the general theme. I’m embarrassed to say it, but I thought the same thing, so I went to my University’s Medical school and started looking into that as well. I had no idea at the time, but I had the grades for medical school as well. So I started comparing the two professions side by side and it was EASILY a no-brainer to go with the good guys! I guess the rest is history.
And for the record, I won a national championship my first year under chiropractic care.”
Dr. Kyle Troyer
“The answer I love to say is Innate led me to do it! The steps to that process including my going to college focused on physical therapy, based on the fact I knew I wanted to spend my life helping people and that seemed the most logical approach for me. However, after my first semester of 3.22 GPA at the University of Northern Iowa I quickly realized that was not an option (at that time you needed a 3.95 just to apply to PT school!). I had a friend at Palmer College of Chiropractic and she was pushing me to look at Chiropractic. In my last semester at UNI I was set to move to San Diego to work in the Biotech industry (pharmaceuticals!). What else to do with a BA in Biology?
I visited Palmer College at Lyceum 1999, on my friend’s insistence, and heard Dr. Guy Riekeman speak about Chiropractic. That talk changed my life. My better 7/8 Jaime, who was my girlfriend at the time, was set to lose me to San Diego before I heard Dr. Riekeman’s talk. The day I returned home she was helping me fill out my application to Palmer College. I am thankful forever to Dr. Riekeman and that talk that began my love affair with Chiropractic.”
Dr. Opal Garman
“I was enrolled in nursing school at the time. I planned on becoming an RN, and as I was in the orientation class when I made the decision to change my career path.
The instructor was speaking of the enormous amount of time that we would need to spend to make it through the course work. They told us that we would need to “kiss our family goodbye” in order to be focused enough to complete our degree. I thought to myself that if I needed to devote this amount of time to anything then I wanted more than just a degree in nursing.
I left the orientation and headed straight to the career exploration center to be tested for a new field of study.
Chiropractic came up #1 on my list for a career field. My family had been to a Chiropractor and had amazing health changes as a result. I had never contemplated the thought of becoming a Chiropractor before that time.”
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Great!
We need more Chiropractors to serve the people
I love how Chiropractic finds and chooses it’s Chiropractors. Your chiropractic stories are all great, thanks for sharing them..