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January 2007, Vol. 17, No. 1

Table of Contents

• Are You Busy Selling Chiropractic or Correcting Subluxations

• BJ's House Needs Repairs • Another Look At Cell Phones

• Chiropractic R.I.P. • Colloca and CBP Nonprofit Study Wins Best Paper Award • Help Us Locate Allen Botnick • Letters to the Editor

• Michigan Chiropractic Society Sees Evidence of Growing Need For Chiropractic • Meeting With Success • A New Look At Mirror Image Exercise • Mourning The Loss Of Tony Keller • Past Present and Future In Chiropractic • Posture Study By UQTR Researchers and CBP® Published by JCO • PostureRay™, PosturePrint™ Helping Doctors Help Patients

• The Importance of A Clinically Relevant Presentation of Findings

• It's Pauls Opinion • Research Corner • Scoliosis: SpineCor Brace

• Triano and CCGPP's Will Give You Six Visits

• Clinical Indications for Videoflouroscopy

• Western States Chiropractic College Receives NIH Grant •

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Meeting With Success

by Dwight DeGeorge, MS, DC

Dr. DeGeorge graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.  He has been in for 13 years. He was past president of the Pettibon Biomechanics Club at Palmer College and he has taught spinal biomechanics/biophysics throughout the country for the last nine years. He is responsible for the first research papers ever published in JMPT by Palmer College students.  He practices CBP® technique and is CBP® certified instructor.  Presently, Dr. DeGeorge is the inventor of the Compression Extension Traction Table as well as the Spine Aligner adjusting table. Three studies have been published (one at SPINE and two at JMPT) from studies done at his office.  Dr. DeGeorge has now implemented program to help other doctors gain more from their own practices.

Meeting with success, for the most part, is not reliant upon the system you choose to implement in your practice. Most systems utilized in practice, if not all, are beneficial when implemented appropriately. However, we all know or have seen our colleagues who use similar, or even identical systems and yet, they result in different levels of effectiveness. Why?

              Success can be broken down to a formula:

A+B=C

              Where A = The Practice system (reproducible); B = The individual (not reproducible); and C = The product of a reproducible system which is fueled by the individual (the individual, who, by definition is not reproducible)

              The B part of the equation is one part of the formula that is never consistent from one success story to the next. Each individual has their own “natural limits” for allowing them to manage, change or process information with which they are provided. (Natural Limits — The concept of capacity: the amount of space in our brain for certain kinds of information. We can only handle so much information at once. Once we pass a certain boundary, we become overwhelmed. This is our intellectual capacity.)

              This being said, when I first started in practice, I was exposed to some great pieces of information, but this information needed to be developed so that it was a working, successful and functional reality in my life and in my practice. The first time I met success with a piece of conceptual advice, it was at the lowest common denominator, and all that followed was predictable. Time has shown me that the room for growth beyond this point is where true success begins. Once the concept is achieved it needs to be developed, so that it works for the individual doctor.

              Some of the best advice and some of the worst advice were shared with me within the same conversation. If I followed all the advice that day, I would never have had as full and successful a professional career! Once you are introduced to a concept, you need to implement it wisely. A concept from its conceptual design to a working, successful and functional reality, both in life and in practice, are never the same. Mastery of a concept takes on a life in of itself.

              When you first open your doors, often times it is good to have a management group to help you get your start. However, most practitioners find that after a few years you can soon outgrow your consultant (This by no means is an insult to any consultant). As a practitioner, you should outgrow your practice consultant. At a certain point in time, to achieve real growth, both professionally and internally, you need to use tools that you gather from your own experiences, your patients, and your vision. This doesn’t mean you don’t “check” yourself by attending seminars in areas of patient communication, practice technique or other areas of specialization or interest. Surprisingly enough, however, I must confess that I have found my greatest growth-both internally and professionally—to come from “listening” to my patients and evaluating my experiences within the office, and then adapting my practice to these needs. 

              Here is an example of identifying a need for growth. A doctor, who I will call Steve, attended one of my Practice Tutoring Seminars. As part of evaluating patient communication skills, attendees demonstrate their understanding of communication skills via a mock Spinal Care Class. Steve volunteered to demonstrate his Spinal Care Class for critique. As soon as Steve began to speak, most obvious to me was something I found both unusual and distracting: he scanned the class, methodically, from left to right as he spoke, looking at each person for about a second. Once he scanned each person in the class, he began again, starting left to right. This action was repeated until the class ended.

              Steve presented great information in his Spinal Care Class — he could not be faulted for that. Yet, his lack of sincere eye contact with his listeners had me question his “style” of presentation. Steve told me that another consultant had noticed him avoiding eye contact with his listeners. This consultant told Steve to be sure to look each person in the room, briefly, in the eye during the class. Steve had found it reassuring to be able to look so briefly at each person in the class. This characteristic soon became his habit. Why would you choose to avoid looking at your listeners/patients? I asked Steve why he had been avoiding looking at his listeners. His reply was, “I guess I’m scared.”

              Instantly, I understood what had transpired between Steve and his consultant. The consultant, correctly, had noticed Steve’s avoidance of eye contact. But rather than help Steve discover the sources of his own behavior — and a way to change it that was suited to Steve’s own individuality — the consultant had given Steve a mechanical prescription. Unfortunately, focusing on the consultant’s advice had led Steve to disconnect even more from his patients. This is the worst kind of advice. It not only substitutes for your own fresh thinking, it takes you further off the path to effective communication.

              I could tell you many more anecdotes about great coaches/consultants in my life. While each helped me in a different time of my life and in a different way, I realized that the ones that impacted me the most and moved me forward, all did something in common. In every case, they honored my intelligence and my creativity. To be sure, they used their own intelligence and creativity in the process, but, they never tried to substitute their creativity for mine.

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