Published: 2010-09-03 02:21:39
Author: Allan Freedman | Dynamic Chiropractic | May 6, 2010
Having been on both sides of the journey into a profession - as a student and a teacher - I credit myself with the ability to comment on what must be one of the most difficult challenges: being able to finally and fully comprehend the "Big Picture" and remain focused on it through decades of professional practice.
Let's start with the definition of the Big Picture as it relates to the chiropractic profession. There are three major components similar in substance to other professions, particularly those related to health care.
First, a student of any profession is going to have to come to grips with the ability to diagnose or analyze the issue brought to their office by the patient. It may well be that the problem presented by the patient is lacking in substance or may well end up as a difficulty quite different than what was first thought of by the patient. The problem may be miniscule on a scale of potential problems or of such magnitude as to require additional intervention by other health care practitioners.
The second major component of the Big Picture is your ability to deal with the problem as diagnosed. The treatment may be long and complicated. It may involve a referral to another health care practitioner, or a determination that the patient does not require treatment. In any event, you must be able to deal with the diagnosis in accordance with the accepted standards of your profession.
Third, the environment in which the professional practice is being carried out is an important consideration. For many chiropractors, or for that matter, professionals of all ilk, cultivating the practice environment can be the most difficult of tasks. It is unlikely that a future chiropractor, future dentist or future lawyer gains entrance into a professional educational institution with the thought that they might have to spend hours upon hours of their precious time dealing with such matters as human resources (hiring, firing and managing staff), economics (arranging loans, dealing with banking and accountants, and ensuring that the financial accounting systems are operating correctly), regulatory issues (licensing renewals, insurance forms, WSIB bureaucrats), office maintenance (leasing, equipment acquisition, repairs) and even practice marketing. In fact, a student might well think at the beginning of their journey that the simple premise is, "Start the practice and they will come."
It is amazing how different life can be from the day a student naively and happily enters their first day of chiropractic college to the day reality sets in and they realize that chiropractic, like medicine, dentistry, law and many professions, are businesses. They are enterprises that require funding to sustain the environment in which appropriate care can be provided.
The "office environment" is of such major concern to the overall
validity of a practice that if the office procedures, including such
matters as economics and staff relations, are kept in "check" and are
not allowed to fall below what is required to maintain the
sustainability of the office, you will be able to do what you have been
taught to do and to deal with what was the basic premise for entering
chiropractic college - treating patients. On the other hand, any
practice that is delinquent in its operation, an economic failure,
and/or lacking in office protocols and procedure is basically a disaster
waiting to happen.