6 Suggestions to Help Chiropractic Interns Complete their Outpatient Clinic Requirements

I’m not sure how it is at other chiropractic colleges, but the outpatient or public clinic at Parker College of Chiropractic was/is/always will be something many students dread. There’s the frightening aspect of attracting new patients, the stress of completing all requirements by graduation, the hassle of getting all your qualitative assessments, and the grind of doing all this while finishing classes and National Board exams.

Personally, I didn’t find the outpatient clinic difficult at all. I didn’t finish six months early and with a gazillion adjustments like my buddy Dr. Vic Manzo, but I moved at a steady pace, and finished right at graduation without any problems.

Not everyone else does, though. I know one person who checked out of clinic literally three minutes before the deadline, otherwise he would have had to pay for an extra trimester. Others weren’t so lucky… some of them did have to stay and pay for an extra trimester.

Because of all this, I thought I would offer some suggestions to help you chiropractic students get through the home stretch of your academic career, also known as the dreaded internship (insert scary music here).

1.) If you don’t do anything else, please learn the ART of chiropractic… you will need this in the real world anyway.

You don’t have to worry about the science part as much… you get that drilled in your head to pass National Boards. But so many students neglect the actual art of chiropractic. Just like in many schools you have to study the philosophy of chiropractic on your own time, same goes with the art.

Too many people I went to school with couldn’t move a bone to save their life. Considering a vertebral subluxation is bony misalignment of the spine that causes interference to the nervous system’s ability to communicate to the body, this is a skill you better know, and know well.

This was actually one of the main complaints I heard clinic doctors griping about when I was in clinic. They were frustrated that so many of their interns couldn’t step in to help another intern’s patient if he/she was unavailable.

I will admit that I haven’t been terribly great at many things in my life, but adjusting is something I’ve been able to do well. Before I made it to public clinic, I probably had about 600-700 adjustments (diversified/Thompson/toggle) under my belt. It’s not the most, but I had the confidence to help a patient however my clinic doc wanted me to because of that experience. Due to that, my clinic doctor had the same confidence in me, which paid off frequently.

2.) Be there whenever possible.

My clinic doctor and I had a really good relationship for a number of different reasons. But one of the main reasons was that I was always in clinic, even in that first trimester when we still had a huge load with classes. Not only did he know I could adjust anyone, anytime, and any way, but I was always there if that opportunity arose. He knew he could count on me.

This paid off at the end of Tri 7. I was in danger of not completing my requirements for that trimester. But because I was always there, sitting at my clinic doctor’s desk, showing him that he could rely on me to be there, I ended up getting 11 transfer patients my third to last week of that trimester. I literally completed 2/3 of my clinic requirements that following week, just before the deadline.

3.) Find out how your clinic doctor likes things done, and do them the same exact way.

I quickly found out how my clinic doctor liked to do things, from the pre- and post-assessment, to writing the SOAP notes, to those awful differential diagnoses bubble forms. Then, I did them just how he wanted.

My clinic doctor quickly realized that he could count on me to do what he asked, that I could adjust, and that I was always there. He had a lot of confidence in me and gave me more room to breathe than other interns. This is one of the reasons I was allowed to convert almost all of my patients to straight upper cervical adjustments halfway into my clinic experience.

4.) Get all your paperwork done immediately.

At Parker, when we finished an exam on a patient, we had to come up with a treatment plan, fill out disability indexes, organize the file, and fill out the dreaded differential diagnosis (diff dx) bubble sheets. The first three had to be done before you saw the patient again, but the diff dx sheets could be done at different times, depending on the clinic doctor. Some wanted them before you adjusted the patient, others didn’t need them right away.

I couldn’t stand doing paperwork the same as everyone else, especially the diff dx sheets. But, I did them right after the patients left and turned them in immediately. Hardly anyone else did.

Next thing I know, everyone is scrambling to get those diff dx sheets done the week before checkout. That same friend of mine that didn’t check out until three minutes before the deadline, had about 30 diff dxs to do that final week before checkout. That was crazy!

But he wasn’t the only one. Most people put them off until the end. Don’t. Get ALL your paperwork done early… you don’t want the stress of not knowing if you will be able to graduate or not.

5.) Get referrals from your patients.

Everyone wants to have a referral-based practice. It’s a good habit to start while in school. Specializing in something helps, too.

Being an upper cervical-minded student really helped me. All but two of my new patients came as a result of upper cervical patient referrals. And one of the two converted to an upper cervical patient when we both realized he was getting worse from diversified.

This was another aspect that helped my clinic doctor trust me. He realized I was bringing in patients that only wanted their atlas or axis adjusted. He thought it was great that I was just bringing in new patients when so many other interns struggled with that.

6.) If nothing else, just know that every chiropractor in practice achieved their public clinic requirements and you will too.

The public clinic is not THAT big of a deal. In the first year or two of school, everyone freaks out about it. I did. It’s the dreaded unknown.

Early on, I heard the stories from the interns who whined and complained how hard it was and thought that’s just how the clinic was. The dreaded unknown became the dreaded known. But it’s not that way at all.

The people who complain about how hard clinic is, and how the school is trying to screw them, and how none of their patients will come in, etc., etc., are not the people you want to talk to. Talk to the people who are finishing early or the ones that just do their thing and don’t complain. Those are the interns that will give it to you straight.

It’s not difficult, so don’t make it that way in your mind. Sure, there are aspects of it that aren’t fun, like the fact you will feel you’re in a medical clinic (you can thank the CCE for that). But overall, my experience was actually enjoyable.

Yours can be too. Just get out of your own way and get to work.

Recommended Reading

• How Severe Back Spasms Forced Me To Get My Priorities Straight While In Chiropractic School
• The Best Online Tools a Chiropractor Can Use
• A Chiropractic Miracle Story
• Here Comes the Sun – Chiropractic for Everyone
• Inspirational Words From Rocky Balboa

* Subscribe to The Atlas of Life FREE Monthly Email Newsletter by clicking here!

* Become a part of The Atlas of Life Chiropractic Directory today by clicking here!