Golden Nuggets of Advice from Dr. Rob Pape
I was recently in STL for Forward 2019 at Logan University, which was a truly amazing event. If you haven’t been to a Forward event, they are a must.
On the night before the event started, FTCA had scheduled a Doctor-Student meet and greet at a local watering hole. I was lucky enough to sit down across from two very bright and interesting Tri 4 students, Maddie Smith and Teresa Porter. While I was sipping bourbon, they asked one great question after another, and the following are their notes on my answers. Cause they took notes on a conversation at a bar! That’s how smart these women are. And they thought the information was valuable, so maybe you will, too.
So in the new wave “listicle” form, I offer you their notes, lightly edited, and with a couple of additions. Hopefully one or two of these will help you as you progress on your chiropractic journey.
1. Meet patients where they are at.
Talk in their language, understand their personality and culture to best serve them.
2. The simpler you can explain to a patient what ails them the easier it is for them to get on board with treatment and self-care.
3. Patients often forget important details.
Developing rapport with your patient will open space for them to reveal things as they remember them.
4. Every visit ask your patients if things are “better/worse/same, and how?”
It’s often the opener to important conversations/information.
5. Use test-treat-retest to know quickly whether you’re on the right track.
Patients love the immediate feedback, too
6. Stability/motor control and hyper-mobility related issues are incredibly important to understand for chiropractors.
7. You can’t do it all. Which is why you need a lane.
8. Co-managing with other professions.
Stay in your lane and specialize in making a lane.
Send people to the experts in adjacent lanes as necessary.
But you might not find your lane until years after graduation.
What you think you want to do might not be what you actually do.
Be, and stay, open-minded.
9. We are (most times) our own boss.
Many different ways to be a chiropractor, so find what you want to do and make it your own.
Most private practices are an extension of the doc’s personality, important to know when associating or are considering buying someone’s practice.
10. Don't burn yourself out in practice.
Don't schedule too many patients in a day.
If the end of the day you aren't giving your best effort like you are at the beginning of the day then you’re cheating those patients and yourself in the end.
11. Don't schedule your needy patients back to back.
Spread them out so you can still give them your best empathetic response, without burning yourself out in the process.
12. High volume vs. low volume practice.
Low volume practitioners often give better care than high volume.
Partially because you are more personal.
High volume practitioners can hide behind other employees, use of paperwork instead of face to face conversations, etc.
13. Gym hybrid = genius idea.
Contact Josh Satterlee about this.
14. Don't be an extremist on either end of our profession. Be in the middle. Middle people need to drive the conversation more than they do now.
15. Travel after you graduate.
You are in school for 6-8 years, so take time for yourself.
16. Don't let state laws necessarily dictate where you practice.
Laws change, and you don't want to restrict yourself.
17. You should absolutely love your work.
If you don’t, time to have a conversation with yourself and figure out how to get back to that.
18. This is a great profession, warts and all.
Work to improve the warts, but don’t let them ruin your enjoyment of and privilege to help people every day as a chiropractor.