“Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never – in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” -Winston Churchill
I don’t know what’s in the water these days, but I thought I would take the time to vent a frustration of mine on The Atlas of Life.
Health care in our country is a farce. We all know that. It is actually sick care, no way around that.
Chiropractic has become a brand of sick care in this country. And that is the fundamental problem. Chiropractic is not about treating sicknesses or diseases.
Chiropractic was founded on a completely different principle than modern medicine… one that touted removing interference to the nervous system.
In 1907, Shegataro Morikubo won a trial in which he was first charged with practicing medicine without a license. That charge was dropped, but he was further charged with practicing osteopathy without a license. His attorney, Tom Morris successfully defended him on the grounds the chiropractic dealt with the nervous system, not the circulatory system as osteopathy did. In that trial, chiropractic was defended on the grounds of its PHILOSOPHY. It was accepted that chiropractic was separate and distinct from osteopathy, medicine, etc.
Today, it’s hard to tell the difference between a chiropractor and an osteopath, naturopath, physical therapist, etc. The profession is rolling down a slippery slope of symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments at breakneck speed.
Yes, our society is allopathic-minded. Sure, many patients choose to become identified by their disease. I understand validating their pain, symptoms, etc. But that does not mean we as chiropractors have to lose our identity in the process.
We are DOCTORS, are we not? Do we determine patient care, or does each and every patient who comes into the office determine what is best for them? Of course not, and it’s preposterous to think like that. Or teach that in the schools.
Yes, good nutrition is great and essential. Yes, exercise is a must. Yes, sunlight and outside exposure is important for our health and well-being. Yes, a positive mental attitude is important. I have no problem with teaching patients those things, especially in leading by example.
But to actually become a dietary nutritionist, a personal trainer, an orthopedist, a physical therapist, and a self-help guru all in one is not what I signed up for. That’s not chiropractic.
It’s lacking the respect we owe to those chiropractors that had to fight through the medical persecution many of us can’t even fathom. Can you imagine being arrested for practicing chiropractic? Can you imagine worrying whether your family will be threatened while away on a trip or work? No, obviously not. Neither can I.
Those things I previously mentioned all make up one aspect of good health. Chiropractic makes up another. To pretend we as chiropractors can help our patients avoid any and all trauma or physical stress, emotional stress, and toxins via food and pollution is ridiculous. People have to live their lives and go through these things. It’s just a fact of life in this day and age. When people are bombarded by these things, as we all are, vertebral subluxations occur. Should we remove that subluxation, or leave the nervous system interference there and prescribe some B12 instead?
Quitting is not the solution
Which brings me to my main point. I know several doctors who have, in the last couple of weeks, become fed up with stuff like this. They have decided to give up fighting for what they believe in. I don’t necessarily mean quitting their practices, but just trying to make a difference in the profession overall. They’ve thrown their hands up because they can’t get through to students and new or established doctors.
That’s what the self-professed Doctors of Chiropractic Medicine or the Chiropractic Physicians in the schools and licensing agencies want. They don’t want people like us speaking out against their “selling out” of our profession. They only want their evidence-based medicine to prove their version of chiropractic. They forget that modern medicine can’t even prove 85% of itself.
The medipractors want students and new doctors to believe their version of D.D. Palmer’s discovery of chiropractic. It goes like this: Harvey Lillard told a funny joke. D.D. Palmer laughed really hard. In the process, he gave an endearing slap on the back to Lillard while holding a heavy book. Lillard heard a pop and his hearing was restored. Evidence-based? Are you kidding me? That’s so far-fetched, I might need Gandalf the Grey to help me understand it.
Quitting, especially when you have good insight, knowledge, or something else of value to offer our profession is selfish. It doesn’t just affect you. Sometimes we have to do what we have to do, but in the end, we know the mistake we made.
I quit chiropractic school, only to realize that wasn’t the answer, and came back a year later to finish. Throughout that entire ordeal, I know my family suffered through difficult moves and a lot of uncertainty because of my decision. I wasn’t the only one affected.
Our predecessors never quit
B.J. Palmer had so much garbage flung his way by his own profession, yet he continued on and never gave in.
Herbert Ross Reaver was jailed for practicing medicine without a license 12 times. You don’t think he was in despair for being jailed unjustly?
Quitting is not the answer. Sure Facebook discussions can get a little frustrating, but don’t throw in the towel because of that. The politics in our profession, or any profession can get ugly, but they won’t change if we all quit… they’ll get worse.
If we want to change the direction our profession is heading, quitting won’t help. If you don’t care about the profession rolling down the slippery slope of only treating back pain, then disregard this blog post.
Quitters NEVER win, and winners NEVER quit.
Cliché, but true.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
It was Valdenia Simmons (Simons, her exact name escapes me) who claimed the slap on the back story, as told to her by her grandfather, Harvey Lillard. Unfortunately, history is a recollection of events, so who really knows what is true and what isn’t? The fact that DD himself had differing accounts (Sept 1895 versus Jan 1896) and that BJ was a fan of rewriting history as he saw fit doesn’t make things much easier to decipher. Unfortunately, some of this stuff is just lost, so who the heck knows?
For doctors who get frustrated by these discussions, I hate to say it, but what they need to do is stop taking part in forums, blogs, Facebook, etc, and stay focused on what they feel is right. I have been involved in pro- and anti- chiropractic discussions online since about 1997. They are as frustrating as anything on earth, and if you don’t have a very strong personal identity and rudder, they will break you down very quickly. For people like that, it’s best to go into a bubble and forget about all the abstract discussions, in my opinion.
I see where Steve is coming from. I would just add that any such discussions should not include, if at all possible, any emotionally charged comments. I have serious doubts as to how helpful they are. If you know your stuff, have clinical expereince, research sources, and/or anatomical/physiological information in your arsenal than by all means we need you championing our cause. As I have been told, BJ said, “When you know you are right, force the fight.” Or something like that. If your are certain of something you should not give in. Great post Brandon, I needed to hear that message today, thanks! Great comments Steve.
I can’t tell you how many times I have run across a young chiropractor who talks a good talk and tells me they will be a straight chiropractor and then ends up being a mixer when they find out how hard it is to be straight. You have to be willing to explain to the new patient that chiropractic is the correction of vertebral subluxation and not the treatment of disease and be willing to turn the patient away if they want their symptoms treated and not their subluxation corrected, even if the doctor is struggling financially.
I think I lost part of the post so I will write it again.
Chiropractic is sacred and has been passed down from BJP to about a hand full of people thru Clarence Jenson, Bud Crowder and the like. I spent 5 years in an apprentiship type of training learning chiropractic. Chiropractic is NOT taight in chiropractic schools and is NOT learned over the internet. I have noticed that there are many neophytes that have graduated from chiropractic college in the last few years who think that they know what chiropractic is all about. It takes an extensive internship and about 10 years of practice to become adequate at this stuff. I would recommend that if you are one of these young chiropractors who just graduated from chiropractic college in the past few years and want to become good, find someone who has this knowledge and spend a few years with them. Then practice it for 5 or 10 years and we will have some good chiropractors. Also make BJP your mentor by reading his books, read them daily. I have spent the last 20 years studying chiropractic, I have read all of the green books several times, I spent 5 years learning pattern work, more hours on just that one aspect of chiropractic than I spent in chiropractic college. I knew people like Herbie Reaver and communicated with millie a lot after herbies death. I knew Fred Barge and made him a mentor, I learned from people like Rutherford, Crowder, Mary Ann Pruitt, Lloyd Latch, Jim Sigafoose, Reggie Gold and too many to mention. I now take young doctors under my wing and pass on the knowledge I have aquired so that chiropractic can be passed on. I want to always keep learning and if someone has something to teach me I want to learn it. I hope that others will take that attitude.