Traveling to a foreign country for a week or so to give the inhabitants chiropractic care seems to be a favorite activity of many chiropractors. They come back fired up by the wonder of an extraordinary experience. Usually they share with us the details of how they personally adjusted hundreds of people in a day. Sometimes they will also share their personal, private experience, what the trip really meant to them. Whatever they gain it is clearly of value to them because most seem to go back again and again and they always take new chiropractors with them who are anxious for the experience.
I want to make clear that I have never been on a chiropractic mission trip but my conversations with some of these who have and my experience with mission trips in general have led me to some interesting observations. I think one of the most attractive aspects of these experiences is the fact that the chiropractor is giving chiropractic care with no thought of financial reward. The people in these countries are usually poor and most could not afford chiropractic care even if it was available. Consequently, a chiropractor goes into one of these third-world countries giving totally of himself. He gives his time, his energy and his money. He misses at least a week of work, which may translate into thousands of dollars in income, and additionally pays for his airline fee and whatever other costs are involved. While there he has one of the most extraordinary experiences of his life. Then he goes back to his office and usually practices exactly like he did before the trip. The trip, extraordinary as it was, does not change his practice, his attitude toward HIS practice members, HIS fee system or anything else. In his own office, he still buys into the practice management lie called, “fair exchange.” Where was the fair exchange on the mission trip. An adjustment is an adjustment whether given on a $10,000 dollar Hi Lo table in a plush office, on a portable table or even a bench in a jungle. Actually, these chiropractors admit that there was no “fair exchange” because they received much more than they gave.
The question is–why relegate this activity to once a year or to once a lifetime? I would suggest that there are only two reasons. One, successful chiropractors (people) want to try to balance out what they are getting from their practice. Maybe they feel a little guilty about getting more than they give in their practice or worry about getting as much as they feel that they give (i.e., “fair exchange”). So for a week or two they can assuage their guilt and give simply for the sake of giving. The second reason is that they really do not understand the true aspect of giving or are afraid to embrace the joy of it 52 weeks a year. Now, I am not suggesting that everyone become permanent missionaries to a third-world country. I am not suggesting we give away our care in practice or even that everyone should put a box on the wall. This would be too radical for most people. Perhaps, though, there are things that we can do in our practices, in the areas that we live, to get the same feeling we would on a mission trip. And those who have never been on a mission trip can do these things with much less commitment of time and money and still experience some of the benefits.
Here are a few ideas. How about offering the first visit free to new practice members? Remove a barrier to people getting under care. You may be thinking that will bring in people who are not serious about regular chiropractic care and just want to try a free adjustment. You are right, it will. Isn’t that what everyone in a third-world country is doing? However, you will have the opportunity to explain chiropractic to someone and to send them out into the world and back into your community with an adjustment and a better understanding of chiropractic (whether they return or not and whether they reimburse you or not). You will have given more than you received. How about establishing a family fee or giving free care to children? Try giving out a thousand of the Foundation’s tapes to people in your community. F.A.C.E. promotes the Tapes for Everyone Program as a way to help build your practice. Try distributing a thousand tapes with no thought as to whether it will bring in people but rather as a means of educating your community. Buy 10 copies of Enhance Your Life Experience and give them out as gifts to people who you think would benefit from reading it.
Do some or all of the above or come up with your own ideas. Do it with no thought of reward. Consider it a gift to your community. When it comes to knowing about chiropractic and utilizing it for the right reason, your town or city is probably a third-world community. Try giving something away every week in your office, just for the sake of giving and who knows, you may have the “mission trip feeling” 52 weeks of the year. v18n1