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October 2005, Vol. 15, Iss. 4
Table of Contents
A Time to Change • CBP® Annual Convention News • CBP® Performs Groundbreaking Car Crash Research • CCE Cited for Accreditation Violation • Dr Colloca Becomes a Reviewer for Spine and the European Spine Journal • ICA's Involvement in Hurricane Relief Efforts • JMPT Publications: Impulse™ Fairs Best Among Chiropractic Adjusting Instruments • Its Paul's Opinion • Letters to the Editor • Life University Opens Its Arms and Hearts to Katrina Victims • Micro-Reports Don't Work • PosturePrint™ Can Determine Axial Rotations • Quackbuster vs. Dr Ted Koren • The Chiropractic Genome • The Start of Something Big • The Unspoken • Updates on Aspertame
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A Time to Change
by Mark Radermacher, D.C., President
Total Practice Management Int’l, LLC
Dr. Radermacher has been a chiropractor for the last 25 years and has been coaching some of the largest, most balanced and profitable practices nationally and internationally for the last 17 years. He is the author of: The 5 Minute Report Of Findings©, The 5 Minute Pre Consultation© (including the invaluable Life Impact Points©), The Dynamic Micro Report© (communication with patients during adjustments), The Fade and Fade Response©, The Minimization and Minimization Response©, Cluster
Scheduling© and The 24 Hour Per Week Mega Practice©. He is currently the leader in coaching chiropractors in patient communications and practice building.
There was a time when our young chiropractic profession vied for attention while competing with snake-oil-salesman, phrenologists and palm readers. The chiropractors of this era had to use everything in their tool chest to survive. From excitement to sales-tactics, from evangelistic preaching to scare tactics, from statements they couldn’t defend to promises they couldn’t keep.
To their credit, these chiropractors kept the profession alive. Each generation of chiropractors has picked up the torch and carried it further. Negotiating courses through legal battles, defending unreasonable attacks, surviving internal bickering and attempting to satisfy a changing public. Each generation handed
the torch off to the next. Often very tentatively; often fearing the next
generation would perhaps be inadequate and somehow “lack the fire” to protect the torch and carry on. Yet chiropractors, and chiropractic, have survived.
Chiropractic, in the public eye, became known as the alternative care and the chiropractor became known as “the back cracker.” The decision as to whether the care was successful was relegated to the lowest common denominator — if the pain went away after a few visits, then the care worked and the problem was solved. There was no defendable reason to get any adjustments once the symptom was gone. And, there was no science to suggest that continuing care if the symptom wasn’t gone in a few adjustments, made any sense either.
Then came the science. Public opinion can be tough to change, but the opinion of professionals should
never stand in the way of the proof of science. The majority of public opinion today is still the old chiropractic
model, that is “once the pain is gone, the problem is gone.” It may take a number of years to change this
perception. But, it may take generations to change this perception if the public is constantly exposed to and
confused by the “old” and the “new” models simultaneously. With science having defined a normal spinal
model, the guess work of “when” a patient is done with care has been eliminated. With science having defined “how” to render the care necessary to move a spine to normal, or as near normal as possible, the type of care to administer is no longer in question. So why is it that all chiropractors don’t unite in delivering the care that can most benefit the patient and the profession? The reasons are plentiful but mostly feeble.
Due to the history of chiropractic, many chiropractors are still mired in opinion instead of science. Much of their opinion is based on their own exposure and experience. A few chiropractors had a life changing experience with chiropractic that impressed them to such an extent that they became chiropractors themselves. Exposure in school certainly has tremendous impact on opinion. Chiropractic philosophy in some schools is evangelistic, yet in others, schools philosophy is barely addressed. And then there’s technique. Techniques that are taught as core curriculum or extra curricular also have impact. It stands to reason that the level of philosophy taught in school, combined with the technique a chiropractor was most impressed with and learned, shaped the style of how that chiropractor would practice. Once this style of practice was established, it became more than habit, it became “concrete” for many chiropractors. Philosophical circles were developed almost like frat clubs; “stick together and protect your own” became honorable. Technique clubs became even more entrenched.
Defending the technique you used was taken to unbelievable levels of political influence, money raising and “back stabbing” all for the purpose of identity and survival. Irrational defense of technique became much more intense and ridiculous than the silly defense many people display in automobile brand loyalty. The style of practice dictated by philosophy and technique became a way of practice life. Equipment matched the
technique while posters and pamphlets espoused the philosophy. Once the money, the time and the effort were spent to practice a certain “style” of chiropractic, a long list of reasons was created to defend that style as the best to be used. The list of reasons mostly consisted of rational-lies.
Habits die hard because change can be painful. In chiropractic, it’s not that difficult to break habits but
admitting the need for change can shake the very pillars supporting the philosophy and technique learned in and out of school. It’s one thing to change, but it’s another to have to admit defeat. Just think what people felt like once science proved the earth was round instead of flat. They had to have been crushed. Their opinion based belief system destroyed... science can have that effect. There are still “flat earth societies” that exist today. Foolish you might say? Bizarre would be a better adjective. At least someone believing the earth is flat isn’t hurting anyone. A chiropractor who believes a style of care is best while science has proven otherwise, can hurt the opportunity of many.
For generations, the chiropractic profession was neither definable nor defendable. It persisted on anecdotal proof, an evangelical level of philosophy and a tremendous amount of intestinal fortitude. Many leaders in the profession were strong-willed individuals with powerful egos who used their skills well in order to safeguard the survival of the profession. Today, however, we are facing a public that doesn’t know or really
care about the history of chiropractic; yet, if the public were exposed to the science of chiropractic the profession would be elevated to the finest health care profession on the planet. This would require a phenomenal time of change. It would require egos to be set aside, philosophical frat clubs to be dismantled and technique clubs to become but college memories. Instead of admitting defeat, chiropractors could embrace success. And, this would not be anecdotal success, this would be science driven success. A definable, defendable and replicable success that could be presented to a health hungry public. We, as chiropractors, could advance chiropractic while proudly closing a chapter of confusion in our history. We’ve come a long way in a short 115 years. We’ve out lived the snake-oil-salesman and seen public opinion define the phrenologists and palm readers as rip-off-artists. We still have a long way to go. We can no longer be shackled by our past history; with the science we now have in chiropractic, we can reposition public opinion and understanding and elevate the profession in a fraction of a tic on the clock of history... all it will take is for enough of us to be reasonable enough to change.
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