Burdy
Member
Hey there, everyone. Hope all are doing excellent.
I have a question if you guys don't mind. As a student in chiro school, what should one do to learn the business aspect of the profession in order to 'hit the ground running?'
Is there anything else I should be concentrating on while in school(besides the school portion? haha)
Thanks again,
Mike
Mike, now don't take this the wrong way. You need to read and re-read every post that has been written in this entire forum. It's ALL THE BUSINESS OF CHIROPRACTIC! Being patient centered is number one. The rest, well that's all up for debate. What specific things are you looking for? What software to use? What size space? How many employees? How much you will REALLY need for start up? The list is huge.
Like I said... Don't think I'm being a wise ass (although I am) I just don't think there is a topic in this forum that won't help you with the business end of practice.
Dr Frank (or someone Dr. Frank stole from) said it best:
BUILD YOU AND THEY WILL COME!
Anonymous
Unregistered
Hi Mike,
What a great thing to be thinking about in school. My biggest advice would be to go and observe in offices that you respect and admire. But don't just follow around the doc, follow the staff as well. One of the best things I ever did was to work in a chiropractors' office as a front tech. You do not learn any of that stuff in school and it was the best experience I had. And if you can afford it, and if Dr. Frank is making it available to students, the DCM 90 is an excellent training program to get you moving in the right direction right from the start. And when you are ready... hire a coach. In my opinion DC Mentors is the only way to go! Good luck! Chiropractic is the best profession you could have chosen for your community, yourself, and your family.
I echo Dr. Curzie's sentiments from the post above. There is a ton of invaluable information posted right here, so take advantage of it. As Dr. Danella said, if you can start learning the DCM 90 info now, that would get you ahead of the game.
Surround yourself with trusted mentors and high achievers. That may or may not be the instructors at your school. Make sure your mentors have the skills and knowledge you hope to acquire. Choose mentors that have better leadership skills than you, so they can help guide you through the process. Read. You may already be sick of studying, but read books on communication, leadership, and why certain businesses thrive. Check these forums for suggestions on different books. Go to your library and check out books for free, or get cd's or downloadable books through the library or audible.com. Many docs on here like to listen to books while we run.
Start training your mind and your body for success now. Get quality sleep each night. Eat well. Exercise vigorously 5-6 days each week. Walk the walk. Take responsibility for your actions and the results they produce. Persist against all challenges. And most importantly, do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, whether you feel like it or not.
Hope this helps. It's things we've all learned and are currently working on ourselves. Best of luck to you. It sounds like you've already got a good mindset for learning and growing.
Anonymous
Unregistered
Well said Brad! I agree with everything said above as well. The one thing I would add that has been re-iterated throughout my coaching experience is to really focus on becoming a "Master" of what you do. Be careful of becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none. Pick a Technique and become a master of that Technique! You will not learn this in school.....you MUST get to seminars and learn, learn, learn! DC Mentors is the only way to go in my mind as well.......and as Dr. Frank knows.....we've pretty much been clients of every other coaching program out there. This fits and just makes good sense. My wife and I started with the DCM90 Online program and it really is AWESOME, but if you can swing becoming a member, that would be my recommendation. Personal mentoring doesn't compare!
Good luck to you. I wish I were thinking like you are when I was a student. You'll come out of the gates rockin'.
Burdy
Member
Dr Curzie, thank you for your response. I’ve started reading the posts and you are absolutely correct, a lot of them would answer the questions I would’ve had. Dr Frank’s quote is great, I’ll use that from now on.
Dr Danella, thank you also. I emailed Dr Frank asking about student’s and what not, so we’ll see what he says. Agreed on chiropractic being a great profession. Can’t wait to get out into the real world.
Dr Hassig, thanks for the advice. Especially about walking the walk. My friend who recently graduated told me the exact same thing. He said something along the lines of ‘you have to be what they strive for so they look up to you.’ Thank you for re-affirming it and also about what kind of mentors to look for.
Dr Russ, thank you for sharing your experience with coaching programs. Its funny really, a lot of chiropractors I talked with told me the same thing you did, about becoming a master of one technique; where-as my teachers keep trying to make sure we know everything from gonstead -> activator -> SOT, etc, etc while at the same time not really giving us enough time to truly learn anything half way decently.
Thanks for your responses.
--Mike
Mike,
Congrats on the forethought other than that I am just jealous that you have this at your fingertips at this stage in your career. :)
As far as learning alot of techniques in school, I think that is a great idea. I went to Life and, at least when I was there, we were probably taught a broader variety of techniques than anywhere and Activator was not allowed in clinic. I was okay with it in that school is a time to take it all in. Practice is a time to apply what you have taken in. BIG difference. I was Advanced proficiency rated in ACtivator 7 months before graduation and never took the class at school. So preparing for practice, as you are obviously doing very good. But what all my SOT, Gonstead, diversified, etc. taought me is different ways of looking at the same problem. So if I am stumped on occasion I may still adjust "Activator" but use a trick I learned in something else to help me be a better detective. Also, most of my patients that have been to chiro's before have not been adjusted Activator, so it is helpful for me to tell them that I understand what they had done before and that I was trained the same way in school and so I have an understanding of what their previous chiropractor could and could not do based on the technique. Although most of us do Activator, Dr. Curzie is proving that success is technique irrelevant, but then again he is in Alaska so all of his patients don't expect to feel their toes most of the year anyway. :) So not that you would, but make sure you take it all in. The more you know, the more you know. But as you get close to graduation you want to start focusing things. The difference between being a "jack of all trades" or the "master of ONE."
Have fun with it and if we don't see you at some point down the road, you apparently really aren't as smart as we think you are. ;)
Burdy
Member
Dr. Perron,
Thanks for the helpful words. Its good to hear about your opinion on what knowing various techniques can do. Yeah, so far, I'm learning as much as I can in school, and supplementing what I think is lacking w/ a few seminars here and there.
I'm sure we'll see each other at a brain spa at some future date :) haha
--Mike
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