Part of our profession wants to emphasize our similarty to medicine. Part of our profession wants to emphasize our difference from medicine. The part you belong to will determine, to a great degree, how you practice.
Part of our profession wants to emphasize our similarty to medicine. Part of our profession wants to emphasize our difference from medicine. The part you belong to will determine, to a great degree, how you practice.
Your statement is , unfortunately, true. Thus, all of the Chiropractic profession defines itself in light of another profession( medicine) which it neither inputs nor controls. No wonder that the world has had difficulty taking us seriously.
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I heard a Chiro recently say that the movement to describe us by including the term drugless was off base, because describing ourselves by saying what we’re not is like saying I am the Fredless chiropractor. It doesn’t really say what we are about. He and I see the point of making the distinction to make a stand but let’s stand up for who we are! (Mirror check!)
Scott, I have no problem with telling people what I don’t do. I don’t check their oil level or their windshield wiper fluid level. I check their spine for vs. The problem with the “drugless” term is the inference that we are an alternative to drugs and that could not be further from the chiropractic objective.
Hey Scott,
Our foundation is drugless. The “movement” is to stop being drugless. I know it is a fine point but it does cut to the heart of the problem. Part of that problem is being lumped into healthcare, when chiropractic is more than that. Another part is being called Dr. which many assume means “treats” with drugs. {Once again we see evidence of new thoughts being conveyed in old language.} As we have discussed on this blog in the past, chiropractic has nothing to do with medicine or religion. At one time the term drugless did help to distinguish us as separate and distinct. Indeed being drugless did set us apart from the vast majority of “health” professions, but you are right in that it says nothing of what we are or do.
You know, since we cannot distinguish between limits of matter and adaptive response, we can truthfully say chiropractic has no “known” side effects. Side effects or the lack thereof is also non-descriptive of chiropractic but the statement still holds true, as did drugless until recently.
On that same train of thought.
We were never trained to be “primary healthcare providers”. We were trained to be “portal of entry” providers, there is a big difference.
Steve,
Believe it or not, I was only trained to LACVS. Though I was taught many irrelevant things about which I had to pass National and State Boards. What do you mean “portal of entry” providers. To WHAT?
Hey Claude,
All this talk of expanding the scope ( dropping drugless ) got me thinking. At Life we were told we were being trained as portal of entry healthcare providers. This meant we were a portal or doorway into the general field of healthcare capable of being the first Dr to be seen by the person in need, without a referral. We were not a “do it all” Dr, but we were expected to know when a life threatening situation arose and when to send that patient for emergency (medical) care.
Now Claude, before you start, I realize there is a difference between diagnosis and analysis. We do not have to diagnose/name the problem but we must analyze the situation and recognize our professional boundaries as well as the patients best interest. Primary care is the treatment of symptoms (effects) and for that you need a diagnosis.
Steve, I hope after reading this blog for as long as you have that you now realize you were lied to at Life and that the the above distinction between PHCP and POE was a crock so that the traditional straight schools could justify addessing medical conditions with chiropractic. NTOSC was a POE because VS is not a medical condition. Massage therapy was also a POE as were barbers and beauticians, you did not need a referral because a back rub was not treating a medical condition nor was long unruly hair…but insurance doesn’t pay for it. The minute you were addressing a medical condition, its cause or determing its “life threatening situation”, you were a primary health care provider(PHCP). TSC colleges wanted to call themselves a POE (which they were) but they also wanted to be PHCP (for the insurance) and possibly could not unless they rejected NTOSC and were were PHCPs which they wanted to be included in. The need for “emergency (medical) care” and the claim that NTOSC would not do that was a political straw man (we maintain any medical condition could be life threatening and whether you give it a name is irrelevant) They (Life) created that perception so they could distort NTOSC and publish articles like Enjoin the Bastards and get on the good side of the CCE who was pressuring them to repudiate NTOSC, Sherman, PennStraight and SCASA.
2 cents worth
1) We are ,as a profession, part of the “healthcare” system whether we like it or not
2) The general population has a very limited idea of what health is and what part we play in it, if any.
3) The only way I see the perception changing “en Masse” is a national reindoctrination campaign which is out of our means monetarily and would also mean having a unified voice
4)Unified voice is the key in # 3,. Call me cynical but…………
Bob,I agree with your first two points. I’m not sure we need to or can change the world “en masse”. However, when one chiropractor changes, his practice changes. When his practice changes, his practice members change. When other chiropractors see those changes, some of them will change their practices. When enough change their practices, the community will change, then the county, then the state, the country and then the world. Will that happen in my lifetime? Probably not. Will it ever happen, I don’t know. Meanwhile, it is a great and rewarding life, watching that change continue in me and as a result a (very) little corner of my practice change. I once read a book titled 12 Men Who Changed The World. All of them received their impetus from One Man. Would that we all had the same Power and Wherewithall that He did.
That we may have the power, love and a sound mind to change one day at a time. Grassroots does change things over time just like it takes time to grow your life expression.
Better to light one candle than curse the darkness.
Agreed.
It seems though that anytime the profession tries to do a “national” campaign the message is never clear, concise nor correct. Kind of off point but explains my point about changing cultural perceptions
Steve,
“At Life you were told you were trained as portal of entry health care providers”? –
– WHAT does this have to do with the OBJECTIVE of chiropractic?