More on my mind

I think I think too much...  

There is so much excess thought that goes through my mind daily beyond the busy work school sends my way.  It is like swimming through sand, with a snorkel, of course.  My gosh is it draining!  

Everyday I sit and ponder what it is the health care system needs to be better.  I read about the major killers of our nation and think how pointless it is to approach health in this manner.  People die everyday from preventable disease.  Heart attacks, strokes, and cancer to name a few.  The list goes on and on.  If they only learned how to live more active lives with adequate intakes of nutrition.  What does it take to change unhealthy behaviors?  Personally, I think it takes a shock to your inner core.  Fear of the worst case scenario perhaps.  It takes guts to confront others on their poor behaviors.  In my ten year history as a personal trainer and coach I can count on one hand how many folks I felt comfortable confronting.  It is hard to earn that level of confidence in another person because it is tough for most of us to hear the things we avoid at all costs - the things you make excuses for and possibly lie about to save face.  To be honest and come to grips with exactly where you are in life is a difficult thing to do.  And to have another person point these things out to you can sting.  

I think fear drives most stubborn human beings to change.  For example, say you have a patient who is constantly getting sick.  You know they eat crap food, they don't exercise at all and they constantly come running to you for every little problem.  In your mind, you know they could take control of their health if they understood how their lifestyle was causing the problems.  So what do you do?  Do you tell them they are causing their problems by living an unhealthy life?  Or do you be their "doctor" and take care of their acute needs?  It is a tough question because nobody wants to lose a patient to another doctor.  How do you get a person's attention, scare the shit out of them, get them to change and keep them as a patient?  Well, I think it comes down to being passionate about your role as their doctor.  Showing them you really care about their well being might help them trust all the harsh things you confront them about.  People know when another person cares for them.  It is one of our unique human qualities that makes us human.  

If we don't learn how to do this, the thing that will end up getting their attention will be a chronic, debilitating disease.  That would suck knowing you missed the opportunity to get their attention by only worrying about their immediate needs versus their long term needs.  Now might a be a good time to start thinking about these things as we add more and more knowledge to our swollen brains.  

Something worth noting is how people in our class perceive my constant, never ending effort to increase the quality rather than quantity of our program.  There are some who speak the same language as I do and there are others who have no clue how to 'deal' with me.  It is not my intention to make people hate me or to be 'holier than thou'.  Quite the opposite, actually.  Some may feel my words aren't worth much and if I just shut my mouth or turned off my opinionated mind, their life would go back to the peaceful normalcy it once was.  Sadly, for them, I don't intend on shutting up anytime soon.  My intentions are to get people to think about things deeper than their notes spread across their desks.  The long forgotten world of antiquity used to suggest to be a physician was the top of the social pyramid.  The trusted doctor used to be one who was gifted in ways others are not, who provided services and education to those in need.  Their job was to think about things in ways the population was unable to.  It seems as if those values have been lost in the modern world's profit driven, self centered ways.  How many patients can I see per hour?  How can I hold onto my patients and keep them coming so that I can be a wealthy "doctor"?  I am sure you can see where I am going with that.

The point I am trying to make is that our profession lacks identity in modern health care.  There is a dichotomy that exists which keeps mainstream medicine from accepting us as equals or referring to us as physicians.  Half of the profession believes in magic and the other half try hard to be doctors.  We lack trust in the public's eye and DC's are notorious for going against mainstream thought.  Many times the technique systems out there are the real culprit for such behaviors.  Every patient gets the same treatment, and same advice.  I have personally witnessed this in action during a 1 year internship with a sports DC and technique system DC.  Guess who lost the most patients?  Not the sports DC, that's for sure.  One could argue that many folks who become chiropractors do so to make big money.  They have no intention to help the greater good.  The more money they can make, the better.  No matter what it takes or who it hurts in the process, the goal is to get rich.  Is it because that person lacks substance in their life and money is filling the void?  Probably.  One thing is for sure, if there is no biological plausibility in a technique systems' use, there must be another logical reason to use the system... MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!  Pathetic.  

If you are under care from a DC that adjusts you head to toe for no apparent reason or says you must come back twice a week for LIFE, run.  Run away as fast as you can.  It is very hard to make money as an ethical DC.  Chiropractors have to be businessmen and women because there are no hospitals with lots of patients waiting for them to treat when they graduate.  One DC I spoke with in Boise who graduated from WSCC said that he converted his practice to a 'subluxation' based system when he found out he couldn't make it being a "musculoskeletal doctor".  He is now a very rich man who lacks wealth.  

I share these stories because I have personally seen how hard it is for new graduates when they get out.  I strongly believe that if we focus on wellness through building fitness programs (or hiring trainers to do this) and guide patients through health education we will be deeply rewarded for our efforts and not just monetarily.  We will help them grow and become their best or at least help them avoid a debilitating disease.  Our role must be defined as first contact preventative care doctors.  And if we invest into fitness, nutrition and conservative primary care, our practices will blossom effortlessly.  

Thanks for reading.