Ever since this program started it has been a battle of trying to forget my past business ventures with my fitness studio and starting fresh with this chiropractic path. Having worked with numerous patients and clients already and having to behave as if I haven't is arduous. It is honestly driving me crazy. I am not saying I know it all but I do know this can't go on very much longer.
I am a little concerned when a professor sits in front of the class demanding that everyone participate in a ridiculous discussion on how we are going to explain a subluxation to a new patient or an MD. I find this so damn annoying that I sit there fuming inside desperately wishing it would end. My eyes watch the minutes pass by on the clock to my left and my ears ring with the professors loud obnoxious voice demanding the "quiet" ones speak up on their thoughts about the subluxation. Give me a fucking break! Seriously, is he for real? I am paying him to teach me something not to allow everyone a chance to explain what a joint restriction is.
It is so incredibly bothersome to sit and listen for an hour to everyone explain what a subluxation means to them and how they plan to explain it to their future patients and counterparts. Why there is any leeway on this subject is ridiculous and obsurd. I can see administering a nutrient with hopes of bolstering the immune system or to decrease inflammation as an alternative to allopathia, but administering a spinal adjustment with hopes the nervous system is freed up to do its job and cure the illness is ludicrous. How a school that claims to be evidence based allows such stupidity to continue to exist is very difficult for me to accept. The problem with chiropractic is in the schools. Now, if one were to say there is a psychosomatic relationship to laying ones hands on another's back, I would say there is more evidence for that then the prior. The concept of relaxation is the inverse of sympathetic overstimulation which DC's can affect with their work.
I am honestly so damn tired of hearing about the subluxation, what a subluxation is and why nobody can agree on what it is that I am seriously annoyed. The restrictions in our vertebrae don't cause all disease. They cause some kinds of disease but not all. We are merging into a therapy-based profession and not a wellness-based or even alternative medicine-based profession. Physical therapists are now doctors and portal of entry professionals. How are we different then they are? Our evidence is quite similar to theirs... Hmmm... Science is weird isn't it.
What is it that we offer that makes us any better? From the looks of it, we have a much different educations then they do. We get much more science in the beginning and way less time treating patients. They are more focused on therapy throughout the entire educational process then we are. So, why be a DC if we are evidence-basing ourselves into physical therapists? I am just curious? I know we have a history of being "wellness" based doctors and not just therapists but if you really look at the manual medicine side of things there isn't much difference between PT's, DC's and DO's. Eventually, I see the professions merging somehow into a unified profession.
The reason I entered chiropractic was not to become a doctor or a therapist. I entered to learn more about health and I was excited about the supposed emphasis on alternative health chiropractic advocated. Learning that wellness consists of a straight-spine in the chiropractic world is depressing. In my opinion, this is not alternative health.
I know there is a place for manual therapy but our nation needs a real alternative to the allopathic model. One that supports the natural processes we all possess to obtain wellness.
For example, on a personal note, my brother is slated to have his gallbladder out in a couple weeks. I have been searching and searching to find a different way to help him without having him go under the knife. The reason he is sick is systemic. From what I have read the gallbladder is not the culprit, it is the liver. Actually, it is the crappy food being processed for many, many years that has created huge stones in his gallbladder from the processed chemicals being sent from his liver. Now, if a person learns that their diet and behavior caused their disease and there were ways to reverse the damage by making changes and applying natural cellular support via intravenous nutritional therapy, would that be a better way to address the real problem than to cut out his organ? See, this excites me! So many people have unneeded procedures done that could be avoided and treated from a different perspective. This is alternative healthcare!
Is it in our scope as DC's to do this? In my opinion, our education is heavy on the musculoskeletal system and this education sets us up to be musculoskeletal specialists. This emphasis is why we shouldn't venture into other areas of health without more training. When some DC's do take this path without more training they end up buying into a technique system which is centered around correcting the subluxation as the path to wellness. This makes the musculoskeletal doctors look like shit in the public's eye and to the rest of the healthcare world.
I will update with my brother's prognosis when I learn more. Who knows, he might end up having to have surgery because it is too late. However, wouldn't it be wonderful to learn he avoided it altogether and made headway on living a life of wellness and avoidance of these kinds of issues for the future?
I know this kind of work isn't for everyone and most of my colleagues are here to become musculoskeletal doctors, which I respect. And honestly, I am digging the adjustive skills I am learning. They are so applicable to alleviate aches and pains everyone experiences. I love performance and I love learning ways to gain advantage over the competition by way of nutrition and physiological boosters. Now, having access to the wonderful world of IV therapy would really help me play the game I love. As DC's we can't push fluids via IV therapy, which sucks! We will be trained to take out fluid with needles but we can't put them in. I wish there was a way to link the ND program with the DC program and get the extra training while I am here in DC school versus going an additional 2.5 years at ND school when I finish.
If I have to, I will go the extra distance beyond the DC program. I don't think I will jump ship and go to ND school now. I am too far along and they don't accept credits as readily as I had hoped. Once finals are over I am going to try and make headway to get a program linked with the local naturopathic college here in Portland. I might see what interest there is in this by sending a mass email to the student body, if I get permission that is. :)
Time will tell. What is great is that the process of being in DC school has opened my eyes to the endless opportunities out there and I am pretty confident my education up to this point has been pretty top notch minus a few glitches (professor sludge in my mental cog set).
All for now
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