Choosing the Primary Care Path: A Golden Opportunity
Dear Editor:
I agree with your opinions and applaud your insight. This question [of whether DCs should consider a role in primary care - see "A Golden Opportunity in Primary Care," Jan. 15 issue] is not a new one, but in my opinion it is an increasingly important one. The opportunity void has existed for some time.
Personally, I would welcome the scope expansion and chance to serve in a wider capacity as a physician. It would not require a lot to provide the necessary classroom training to prepare DCs who chose to become authentic, full-scope primary care providers. Those who chose an expanded path would also need the necessary clinical training (rotations, etc.) to prepare them for the role.
The biggest obstacle would come from members of our own profession. The "ostrich syndrome" and apathy is alive and well in our profession, and we have almost exclusively, for the greater part of our existence, focused on fighting to maintain the status quo or defend our existence as subluxation "fixers," and failed to grasp that if we are not growing we will eventually diminish in relevance and influence as a profession.
Perhaps your influence can provoke the profession into action. Evidence-based medicine is gaining on us, and what's more, our enemy is mostly us! As you know, our slice of the health care pie is growing smaller despite increased educational and licensure requirements to become a DC. The majority of graduating chiropractors are faced with large college debt, yet the median income for new DCs and, for that matter, established DCs, is not at parity with other health care practitioners.
Thank you for asking the question. I sincerely hope our professional leaders are listening, asking the same question, and willing to take action.
Ronald O. Williams, DC
Morrison, Ill.
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.
