Frustrated With Health Care

O.K., so you want to know the Gods honest truth?  Can you handle the truth . . . ?

When I first decided to become a chiropractor it was not for altruistic reasons.  There, I said it, I feel so much better now.  Are you shocked? 

At the time when I first discovered chiropractic I was floundering around, tending bar for a living; I had no real direction.  After first being introduced to chiropractic, it wasn’t long before I thought, “this could be a respectable, lucrative profession”.

During my first week of classes as a new student at New York Chiropractic College, one of our professors asked, “How many of you have never been to a chiropractor before”.  About 30% of the class raised their hand!  In spite of my decision to pursue chiropractic purely as a business venture, this realization surprised me; these people were REALLY there strictly with the thought of chiropractic as a business.  I mean, if you have never experienced chiropractic before, how could you possibly have a passion for arousing someones innate intelligence?  For me, even though I initially viewed chiropractic as a professional career, I HAD experienced being adjusted before deciding to go to chiropractic school and I was VERY aware of the power of innate.

So what’s my dilemma, you ask?  Well, my dilemma is that now that  I have immersed myself into chiropractic and experienced the power of arousing innate first hand I want everyone to have it!  I wish more people can experience a chiropractic lifestyle and have their innate stimulated.  There are way too many subluxated sick people out there who are stuck on drugs and who have poor habits of daily living.  Just a slight change in direction can get them on the path to improved health and vitality! 

So how is this a dilemma, you might ask?  It’s a dilemma because I still have stuck in my head that I would like to make a professional living at being a chiropractor; if not, then to just be able to feed my family and put a roof over their heads.  Actually, NO, I really want, no, I deserve, more than just eking out a living; EVERY chiropractor should!  However, I can’t even enjoy a modest living if I literally give my services away simply because I believe everyone should have it. 

Part of this, of course, goes back to my feelings about the perceived value of chiropractic.  You see, I believe the value of an adjustment is often times beyond measure, since we are giving health & vitality.  On the other hand, we have to convince our patients of that, which is often times difficult because of their pre-conceived notions about health care, chiropractic, and their own priorities in life.

You see my dilemma?  So . . . with all this in mind, how cool would it be if I/we were able to give our services away?  I think that would be so great!  I mean, if I were independently wealthy and did not have to worry about money it wouldn’t matter if a patient drove up in a Mercedes or a jalopy, it wouldn’t matter if they were rich or poor.  The only thing that mattered is if they came in, regularly, with their family, to receive an adjustment; to have their innate aroused!  To me this would be the coolest thing in the world . . . I can just see people lined up outside my door to come in for their weekly adjustment because they want to get and stay healthy, period!

Well . . . the truth is that I do have plans in place to seriously supplement my income, which I do intend to share with you sometime soon.  But, the truth is also that I believe that totally free care does not work; there has to be some exchange for there to be value to those who receive it.  The easiest system I can think of for this is the ol’ “Box on the Wall”.  In fact, the chiropractors I first worked for after graduation at one time, long before me working there, had a “Box”, but that was before we got insurance to cover our services, which we all are aware has seen better days. 

So . . . that’s it; this is my ultimate goal in practice.  To make enough supplemental income to be able to practice with a box on the wall.  Think of the lives you could change if money was truly no obstacle!

O.K.; so this was a long one; thanks for sticking with it.

Until next time at www.frustratedwithhealthcare.com.