Surgical Zip Code Risk
Who says that medical care is based on what the patient needs? According to a front page article in The Wall Street Journal:1
"People with weak hearts, sore backs and breast cancer may think their symptoms alone decide their care. Not so. A patient's odds of getting a major, invasive procedure can be swayed by something else: his or her zip code."The author cites a study by Dartmouth Medical School and the American Hospital Association which revealed enormous differences in the application of invasive surgical procedures. The article suggests that this may have a lot to do with the number and aggressiveness of the surgeons in a patient's area.
1. "Maximum Medicine," The Wall Street Journal, July 16, 1996.
When I graduated from chiropractic college in 1981 and started practice, I heard it all, and very little was positive. “You are a quack; you do not know what a subluxation is; you couldn’t get into a real health care program, so you chose the one that is slightly above a mail-order degree; you have no proof that chiropractic works; Are you really licensed?”, and so much more.
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A central challenge in creating our identity is that chiropractic is a method of care, not a technique or procedure. This is an important concept for us to promote. Our patients are treated with lifestyle modification, exercise, nutritional supplements, diet and a whole-body approach to accelerate the natural healing process. We are not simply CMT providers.
The results of a global survey released late last year (2023) unveiled some startling findings among medical and nursing students. The “Clinician of the Future: 2023 Education Edition” surveyed 2,212 students, of which 446 were in the United States, from 91 countries.
