In reflecting on my awareness and understanding of our profession in the role of a college president, I recognize that we must look into the past to realize our future.
The challenge we face as a profession is that since those great individuals may no longer be with us, we must look to their writings to see their opinions and accomplishments. We must also consider when they were written, and what was going on in the profession at that time. It seems to me that early on in our profession, many writings were authored for the sake of protecting chiropractors from going to jail and making sure the profession was not perceived as practicing medicine without a license.
Consequently, there have been many writings advocating that chiropractic must always be distinct and separate from medicine, and that the profession has no room to be compared with medicine. But along the way, we noticed that this profession has entertained two ways of thinking: one being based on vitalism; one being based on mechanism. The amazing thing, as you look into our history, is that these two levels of thinking have been around since Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who, incidentally, before he passed away, became very vitalistic in his thinking and writings.
A primary issue for us today is: Do we continue to dwell on the fact that there are two different thought processes in our profession, or do we come together to find ways that we can move our profession forward - and embrace the value of the different interpretations of the philosophy of chiropractic?
I believe we should embrace ideas, rather than judge or criticize that which we do not believe. I learned at a very young age that just because I don't understand something does not give me the right to judge, deny or persecute it.
I would like for you to think about where your premise or philosophy for chiropractic comes from. Did it come from your chiropractor? Did it come from a chiropractic assistant? Did it come from the chiropractic college you attended? Or did it come from seminars that you took over the weekend, or books that you have read, written by individuals within our profession?
Once you recognize that there are different thought processes out there, you begin to realize that everyone's opinions are only based upon their experiences. If you read D.D. Palmer's early writings, you understand that this profession was intended to be much greater than what it is today.
This profession had a component to it that was not only based on a physical plane, but also a social/emotional plane and a spiritual plane. For the reasons I mentioned above, our profession has primarily been on the physical plane. However, today's patients are seeking the emotional balance and spiritual balance that has been so grossly lacking in our society for many years.
Right now, we have an opportunity as a profession to clarify in simple terms what our premise is; begin to recognize and explain our chiropractic terminology - for which we have way too many definitions; create curricula within our schools that are consistent with one another; and begin consistency in our scope of practices through our licensing boards that allows chiropractors to exercise an open or a narrow scope of practice, depending on what they choose to do.
We must look at our national organizations and begin to embrace their diversity, but always with the encouragement to make sure they work together as a unified voice to legislators and public. We also need to join them all, or at the least, one. In addition, we need to better support our state associations by not only belonging to them, but by becoming part of the solution to issues affecting all of us within our respective states.
We also must begin to help those nations that are beginning to develop chiropractic and help develop chiropractic, programs and curriculums, so that the rest of the world does not develop differently than we have over the last past 118 years.
So, you ask, "How do we move this profession forward?" I've often said that the chiropractic profession is truly a reflection of what the chiropractic practice is to us individually. And the best way to help our profession move forward is by helping ourselves, individually, become more successful in our practices. We need to all become more knowledgeable about our history, become more proficient in our techniques, become more knowledgeable about our research, become better communicators of what chiropractic is, become better CEOs of our businesses, and not make statements that confuse the public regarding what we can and cannot help them with.
My suggestion is to look within your lives to see if your behaviors are congruent with your philosophy of chiropractic. Do you exhibit behaviors that demonstrate that you believe in the value chiropractic provides in stimulating the body's innate healing abilities? Do you get adjusted regularly? Do you invite your chiropractic assistants to get adjusted regularly? Do you invite your community and friends to get adjusted regularly? And most importantly, do you care for your spouse and children with chiropractic regularly?
The latest statistics show that we are serving only eight percent of the U.S. population. That means nine out of 10 people we meet have not experienced chiropractic care yet. And the unfortunate thing about the eight percent is that the majority primarily come for symptomatic reasons, not on a regular basis based on an understanding of prevention and wellness.
We must begin with the eight percent that we currently serve in our practices and determine how we can better educate them to take advantage of the chiropractic services we provide. We need to educate them so they can experience a better lifestyle - and not just wait until something goes wrong and they develop the symptoms that bring them to our offices.
Second, we must ensure that we properly communicate to them the benefits of chiropractic. We need to encourage our patients to share this vital information with their families and co-workers. They can be your voice in the community you serve.
Third, we must be more patient and compassionate to the suffering of others around us. I've noticed that we live in a world in which many people are suffering, but we don't bother to offer chiropractic care as a possible solution to ease their suffering, or perhaps, completely alleviate their suffering.
Fourth, we must look at possible venues through which we can tie-in the chiropractic message with what is popular in society - for instance, the importance of exercising daily, the importance of eating a well-balanced diet throughout the day, the importance of getting enough sleep, the importance of using mental relaxation techniques on a daily basis, the importance of having an awareness of their position and posture of their spines. These are just a few examples of what we can do so others begin to see us as a component of what they already know, rather than something unique and different.
As chiropractors, we must constantly ask ourselves a few simple questions: Why did I enter this profession? Did I enter this profession to help others? (This is typically the answer prospective students give us on their applications to Parker College of Chiropractic.)
Did I enter chiropractic to help bring to others the awareness that there is another option in dealing with their health problems other than drugs or surgery? (This is the second most popular answer we receive from our prospective students.)
And then, once school is finished, do I feel just as passionate as when I entered school to go out there and help the sick get well? Or do I feel overwhelmed with the responsibilities of having to find a job; how to begin a practice; how to finance a practice; how to pay off student loans; what city to practice in; whether to go to a small town or a large city. These are questions that sometimes prevent us from fully recognizing that the true reason we are here is to serve others.
And if for some reason you have an attitude by which you blame other people for the lack of success you are having, think again! In life, we may not be able to control the circumstances around us, but we can always control how we react to those circumstances. I can tell you from my studies into the successful people of the past 20 years, your attitude determines a great deal as to where you end up in life.
So, stop with the blame. Begin to take responsibility and be accountable for your actions. Begin to recognize that success is something that is within you, not something that is external. It's crucial to understand that success is not measured by the things we have, but most importantly, by the character we have developed over a period of time. When your patients look at you, are you reflecting what they are seeking you for - good health? And the best way we can inspire others to be something is by being that something we want to inspire others to be.
I hope this article serves to perhaps stretch your imagination a little bit. Perhaps you will concentrate on being a little kinder to your chiropractic brothers and sisters who may have different opinions than you. Perhaps this gives you a little motivation to take the action steps you need to take to succeed in practice and in life. Maybe you recognize that you have an opportunity to train and support your chiropractic assistants to be great representatives of your beliefs and your practice. But most importantly, I hope you have been reinforced with the understanding that the chiropractic profession was created for the sake of serving others, not for the sake of serving ourselves. You can be the solution to the problems we inherited!
Fabrizio Mancini, DC
President, Parker College of Chiropractic
Dallas, Texas