From Student to Teacher

Are you a little confused by the title of this blog post?  Let me explain.  It is my undying quest to get you students to think like doctors even before you have graduated from school.  This subject pertains to the elective technique classes that are offered at your school. 

You know what I am referring to.  Classes like Thompson Drop, Activator, Diversified, S.O.T., and all of the other possible techniques that your school may offer.  As a doctor in the field for over 11 years now and someone who came out of PCCW knowing basically Diversified technique only, practice was a rude awakening of how much I really did not know. I learned very quickly that one technique was not going to help me be a success.

Out there in the field of Chiropractic, it is wise to know one technique very well so that can be the foundation of your practice.  However, to not arm yourself with more information and skills in other techniques will be potentially harmful to the types of patients you can serve.  You need to have as much exposure to the other techniques as you can so you can find other tools and methods to treat the multitude of patients that will come to you.

You should take as many of the technique classes offered in your school as you possibly can.  You can learn so much about how to be a wonderful practitioner because each technique has something to offer your treatment style.   The doctors teaching these technique courses may be on the current faculty but in somc cases, a field doctor will actually come onto your campus and teach the class.  In either case, what an opportunity for you to learn first hand practical information that you will use the rest of your days in Chiropractic.

Once you are far enough in school to be eligible to take the elective technique classes, get the list and see what is offered.  Plan it out so you can take them all.  If it is not feasible due to the amount of classes or the times offered, then do as many as you can.  I know weekends can be a real pain, but when you out in the field practicing and you have a spouse and children, it’s even more of a pain.  Take the time now while you can and reap the benefits later on.

I welcome questions and comments from you on any of the blogs I have written or if you want to hear about something I have not written about yet.   I am here to listen.

Gut instincts are very important to us human beings.  In some serious cases, they keep us out of danger. In other cases they can help us choose the right answer to a test question that we are not quite sure of.  In any event, there are certain segments of the population that are good at listening to their gut feelings.  They trust what they feel and they go for it. 

Deciding on where to practice is one of those ”gut feeling” questions you need to ask yourself.  Finding the answer can involve a long thought process.  As you go through school, you are constantly being exposed to new ideas and concepts by your instructors, your text books and the seminars/electives you choose to attend.  These help you shape your viewpoint on how you may eventually want to practice. 

I have told you before that one of my jobs in writing to you is to make you think about things that I never did. You need to take a few moments after each quarter or semester and think about were you want your practice to be located when you graduate.  To start you off, you need to ask yourself this question: What does your heart tell you?

One of my favorite instructors at PCCW, Dr. Gary DeWet, taught our Practice Development quarter (13th Q) while we were interning in the field.  I remember him saying “practice where you are going to love to live”.  He was and is so right.

If you love the community you are practicing in, you will become connected to the community and its’ events.  You become part of things and it goes a long way to building a positive reputation for years to come.  People see you around town, you become part of the Chamber of Commerce, enroll your children in the local schools. It is a wonderful feeling.  I myself am practicing in my hometown of Orinda, CA near San Francisco.

So I ask you, what geographical area would you love to live and practice in?  Is it your home town? Is it where your spouse or significant other is from?  Is it right near your school?  Is it another country? Wherever it may be, I hope you follow your instincts!

How well do you really know the instructors teaching the classes you are taking this semester?  Look beyond the title of the class and even the information you may be learning in the lectures.  I want you to think for a second about the instructors that are teaching your current classes.  Have you ever thought about the amount of knowledge they have within them that they could be sharing with you?

 I mean it, teachers are human beings too.  I have been involved with Chiropractic education for going on 12 years now.  When I taught at Palmer West part time for my first 3 years in practice, I loved talking to students.  I still do! In fact, I love talking to students so much that it is the reason for this blog.

 Many of the instructors of your school are Chiropractors who have lived or are living another life outside of the classroom.  The Chiropractors you are lucky enough to have on your faculty have treated hundreds of patients; ran successful practices; dealt with insurance companies; managed employees; started practices from scratch and a wealth of other experiences for you to tap into. Most of them will love to talk to you if you bother to try.

 I can tell you that when I was a student, there were some teachers who were a lot of fun to learn from and the information they shared was amazing.  As a student, pull your head out of the books and remember that real life awaits you when you graduate.  You will have to go out into practice some day and every little bit of information you acquire will be needed. 

At school, a wealth of incredible talent surrounds you in the form of your Chiropractic instructors.  They love to talk about what they do and what they have done in their past.  We all end up teaching at Chiropractic college for a reason. For some it is the twilight to a great career. For others, it is only a stop along a continuing pathway.

 Talk to your instructors and Clinicians and get them to tell you why they love our profession so much.  You will never have so much concentrated knowledge around you for such a long period of time as you do in school. Take advantage of it! 

 I know some of you have been wondering about ideas on how to be successful in practice.  My last article started giving you food for thought in that arena.  Now I am going to go over these points individually and really help you do the headwork.

  I had friends in Chiropractic school that  sure they were going to take over a doctor’s practice when they graduated.  I can tell you honestly that by the time we graduated, many of them did NOT end up going to work in these practices they thought would be in.  What changed? Perhaps the opportunities  waiting for them ended up disappearing.  Or maybe it was the students themselves that changed.  Maybe the job they had waiting for them was not what they were looking for?

Open your own practice or go to work for another doctor?  Hmmm! What to do? You could do either or.  How about considering working for another doctor for a specific amount of time (say one or two years), then going out to start your own practice?

There are those who enjoy working as associate doctors for a senior doctor that usually owns and runs the practice.  There is no fuss with paying the staff, dealing with scheduling, payroll, managing the books and expenses and all the other logistical and administrative headaches that come with running your own business.  Some associate doctors often brag about getting paid vacations, sick time and being able to leave the business at the office and not take it home.

I can tell you that I was an associate doctor for 4 years.  It was hard for me to financially get ahead.  Part of everything I made from treating each and every patient was going into the other doctor’s pocket in some form or another.  Whether it is rent or a percentage of your earnings, working for someone else can have its’ drawbacks. 

 When my wife and I finally opened up our own practice, it was scary but rewarding for my wife and I.  This is our 8th year with our own practice. Even with all of the responsibilities self employment demands, we are always glad we did it.  The financial freedom it has now afforded us has made it all worthwhile.

So do you really want to be your own boss?  Hopefully I have given you some good food for thought.

A student who just entered clinic this trimester was asking me what he should do when he graduates from school.  Talk about a loaded question.  “How much time do you have?”, I replied.  Seriously, this is a question that you students should all be asking yourselves no matter whether you just started your schooling or you are in clinic.

When you begin school, it is all about class, studying, tests and other academia.  Don’t forget that when you leave school someday, you need to have some sort of plan.  Otherwise you will feel lost and unfocused. Some of you out there may already be the type to write down daily, monthly or yearly goals.  These goals can change as you move through the quarters or trimesters, but you should get in the habit of writing them down nonetheless.

 You need to ask some important questions of yourself to help figure out what you plan to do after you graduate.  These questions are not rocket science, but they are the ones I remember thinking about or ones I wish I had given more thought to while I was in school.  Here they are:

1. Do you enjoy working for someone else and being an employee?

2. Do you want to be your own boss and run your own practice? 

3. Do you see yourself practicing solo or would you like other doctors to be around you?

4. Would you like to be in a multidisciplinary setting? (M.D., P.T., Acupunture, Massage therapy?)

3. When you think of your dream practice, what city or area of the country/world is it located in?

4.  Are their any type of specialties in Chiropractic you may be interested in? (like Neurology, Radiology, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Extremities, etc.)

5. Are there any segments of the population you want to concentrate on treating? (like atheletes, children, elderly people, etc.)

6. If you could think of your ideal work schedule, what would it be? What days of the week? What time would you start/end? Have you factored in vacations?

 These questions are among the more important ones you should be asking yourself.  In future blogs, I will go into more detail about these questions but for now, I don’t want to influence how you think about them.

It is never too early to start formulating your ideal practice, keeping in mind that your wants could change as you mature in school.  It is amazing how visualizing in your mind your ideal practice setting can cause it to manifest itself after you graduate.

In case you were wondering, I left school in December of 1996 and I was not ready to open my own practice.  I spent four years working as an associate doctor for someone else.  I learned a lot working closely with the two doctors who ran the practice, but it was a trade off.  In retrospect, four years was probably too long for me to work for someone else. 

 I hope this gives you some food for thought.  Any questions? e-mail me, I am here to listen to you and help you as much as I can.

 Kevin M. Wong, D.C.

As I start to get to know all of you as a new blog contributor to studentdc.com, I will remind you that I am here to help you students make a smooth transition to practice. 

My wife, who is also a Chiropractor, and I were having a discussion this morning and we were talking about student loans.  Now, I have been out of school for 11 years now and I know that when I got out, the expected amount of debt for the average Chiropractic student was over $100,00.  I have been told that the current number is now around $125-135,000.  That’s a chunk of change! 

If you are one of the many students using financial aid in order to go to school, I want you to step back for a second and clear your mind.  I know you have been exposed to people who tell you to not borrow too much and be careful.  It’s like telling a smoker not to smoke because it is bad for their health.  Obviously they know this, but they may not want to do anything about it.  When we are going to school, it is hard to be able to think about the consequences of the financial choices we make and how they have ramifications for the rest of our lives. Most of the time our heads are buried in the books or in class.

These days, many people have a “live large” lifestyle where they are using loans or credit cards to pay for “things” they feel they need.  Remember, what you borrow now, you will pay back later at a cost of sometimes 1.5 to 2 times more than what you paid for it.

Do you know exactly how much debt you have racked up so far?  Ask yourself if you actually have a budget.  Are you spending as wisely as you possibly can.? Did you know that when you sit down to study at the coffee shop and order a latte (the average person does this 4-5 days per week), you are adding over $4,000 to your student loans that you will some day have to pay back? 

 I just want you to close your eyes and think about reading your credit card bill or your student loan statement in 5 years.  How will it make you feel to see a large sum of money that you owe.  Do you have the control now to help yourself for the future from starting your practice in too much debt?  I am not saying to never borrow money.  I know how hard it is for most of us to  go to school without some form of financial aid. 

I just want you to make smart choices, and realize that wherever you are in your Chiropractic education, it’s never too early to keep a lid on your expenses.  This type of thinking is also preparing you for the day when you are running your own practice.  and eventually a household with your spouse and children. Work on gaining the knowledge and confidence about the financial choices you make now so that you do not have too many regrets in the future.

All the best,

Dr. Kevin Wong

I remember studying very hard in Chiropractic college.  Back in those days, I had no one else to worry about except myself.  I could come home from school, take a short break and hit the books.  I studied a lot and with that hard work brought me a lot of perceived success.  It means I did well in school and I was able to maintain that level of performance all the way to graduation.  I graduated top of my class in December of 1996 with a 4.0 grade point average. 

Do I tell you this story to impress you? No way!  I tell you this story, because there has never been a patient that has ever asked me how well I did in school.  When you eventually get into student clinic and then out into the field to work for a living, the patients are only going to care if you can help them feel better.  The patients want their pain to go away and you are the one they are looking to for help.

Does this mean getting good grades in school is meaningless? Of course not.  Work hard in school; learn your material, but keep your eye on the prize.  You need to arm yourself with as many tools for success as possible.  Sign up for technique electives when they are offered.  Go to technique and practice seminars to learn more information at great student prices (some seminars are even FREE for students—so take advantage!).  Go volunteer or observe with Chiropractors practicing nearby to see how offices are run. 

Grades are important but so is learning how to be a great Chiropractor.  Get your head out of the books every so often so you can look around and take advantage of all that you have access to as a student.

My name is Dr. Kevin M. Wong and I wanted to say hello to all of you who have chosen to read my blog, “From Student to Teacher.”  I also wanted to thank Amy Mitchell, Editor of Student DC.com, for asking me to be an online contributor.  Here is just a short bit about me and why I am here.

I am a 1996 Summa Cum Laude graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic West in
San Jose, CA.  After graduation, I practiced part time while also teaching in the classroom and the student clinics at PCCW. In 2000, I left PCCW and entered full time practice in my hometown of
Orinda, CA.  I began teaching technique courses to field Chiropractors and have been teaching ever since.  I have been an instructor for Foot Levelers’ seminar series for over 3 years now and my 12 hour seminar focuses on the feet and extremities.  I also teach courses for the International Chiropractic Association of California.

On a personal note, I have been married for 8 years to my wife (also a Chiropractor) and we have two children, a 5 year old son and a 2 year old daughter. 

I enjoyed my days as a student and an instructor at Palmer West.  I also love being in full time practice and teaching continuing education.  The experience and insights I have gained from over 11 years of practice and being an instructor form the basis for what I offer you in my blogs. I want to make sure that you as students make the transition to becoming a doctor as smooth as possible.  I will do my part to provide information useful to you as you move through your Chiropractic education and eventually leave the hallowed hallways of your school and go out in the field.

Thus I am relying on your feedback and questions to help me provide information that you want to hear about.  Please feel free to ask me questions on any school or practice related topic.  I am here for you and I am listening.  I look forward to talking to you.

Kevin M. Wong, D.C.