working for a chiropractor

[katiemaude]

A lab instructor for one of my courses is a chiropractor and she is going to school to become a PA because it is too unstable with her and her husband both working for their own practice. He needs help while she's in school. I respect and admire this woman greatly -- when she offered to set up an interview with her husband, I was ecstatic. Supposedly the job is going to have hours that work around my class schedule and I'll get lots of patient contact.

I've been out of work for over a year and despite some sporadic freelance income, I need a regular job. I'm really lucky to have been offered one after months of searching but here's the thing. It's for a chiropractic office. I was nothing but excited until someone pointed out that this might look bad to adcoms. What do you think?

Also, not sure if it matters, but they only practice the musculo-skeletal aspects of their profession. They don't profess to cure colds with adjustments.

I'm inclined to believe I can emphasize the experiences I have working with patients, and reasonable admins will see the benefit in a diversity of experiences. (I also volunteer in a hospital ED.) My initial plan was to get a job as a patient care assistant and I can still do that, but it required full-time training for 12 weeks (paid) and I'm taking ochem and physics I this semester. I'm afraid training full-time will torpedo my grades.

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[Pons Asinorum]

Supposedly the job is going to have hours that work around my class schedule and I'll get lots of patient contact.
It's for a chiropractic office. I was nothing but excited until someone pointed out that this might look bad to adcoms. What do you think?
Also, not sure if it matters, but they only practice the musculo-skeletal aspects of their profession. They don't profess to cure colds with adjustments.

I'm inclined to believe I can emphasize the experiences I have working with patients, and reasonable admins will see the benefit in a diversity of experiences. (I also volunteer in a hospital ED.) My initial plan was to get a job as a patient care assistant and I can still do that, but it required full-time training for 12 weeks (paid) and I'm taking ochem and physics I this semester. I'm afraid training full-time will torpedo my grades.

I would say that if you work for a DC, then it should go on your AMCAS as a job, not as some kind of medical experience. Take the job and make the best of the situation, but I don't think you will do yourself any favors trying to make hay of the "patient care" aspect of working in a DC's office. You get to decide how you list it on your AMCAS, nothing wrong with having a significant part-time job while pursuing your prereqs. I wish I had saved the link, but at some point somebody in one of the med or residency forums had posted a fantastic video of an MD from the Midwest discussing the practice of Chiropracy. It was an eye-opener, and analogous to my experience with MD's and their feelings towards DC's. Be careful of what you assume "reasonable adcoms" might feel about what is considered (here it comes...) pseudoscience by many in medicine. There will be some here who feel the other way, "patient" contact is patient contact, play it up. I just don't see what you gain since you already have other considerable, traditional patient contact that demonstrates you have an understanding of how health care gets doled out in the U.S.

 

[katiemaude]

OK, good point about listing it as a job. I'm mainly doing it for the money, flexibility, regular hours and the fact that is a job interacting with people and not sitting in front of a computer all day or making triple venti non-fat mochas. I also really like this teacher and if her husband is as nice as she is, it should be a pleasant work environment.

Would it be better to start training as an ER tech or OR patient care assistant? I'm worried the full-time hours for training, which will last for 3 months, will make it impossible to do well in school. Once the training period is over, though, I can work part time. It would just be one hell of a semester.

Care to weigh in on that possibility? And if not the tech or pca job, what else could I do that would give me patient contact and a paycheck? (I would continue volunteering in the ED.)

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Care to weigh in on that possibility? And if not the tech or pca job, what else could I do that would give me patient contact and a paycheck? (I would continue volunteering in the ED.)

You need a job that allows you to lower your stress level, pay your bill and supports the kind of studying you need to make A's and rock the MCAT. All the other stuff is secondary. Nobody will read about your awesome EC's if your stats get you pre-screened.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I agree that Chiropractic might look bad if listed as medical experience. There is a lot of bias against them. I've personally met a few that have SOME good qualities to them, but I agree that overall their profession is pretty much pseudo-science.

This semester I was going to take a "wholistic" health class just for fun even though I don't believe in elixirs and Chinese medicine stuff, but I was afraid it would look bad on my transcript.

 

[g8orlife]

I'm mainly doing it for the money, flexibility, regular hours and the fact that is a job interacting with people and not sitting in front of a computer all day or making triple venti non-fat mochas.

I agree with Pons that you need to make sure you perform well in your classes. I have worked and volunteered in many different fields that has given me a much different perspective on traditional and alternative medicine.

A little of my experience was with Chiropractors, too. I did not list it in my applications, but I did use it in my personal statement to describe how the experience has made me well-rounded.

As for another option, CNA might work. Their hours are very flexible; and depending on the training sites in your area, you could be certified very quickly. Long ago, I got my CNA license through a 2 week FT crash course. I got a job 1 week later where I scheduled work hours around my classes.

 

[CookDeRosa]

If I can give you something else to think about. There is a high degree of likelihood that your patients (when you are a doctor) will use chiropractic care to some extent. Studies show that up wards of 50% of patients use some form of alternative/complementary medicine, and many do not share this information with their physician. Your knowledge and exposure to it will benefit you (and them) greatly. You'll be able to talk to them about he usefulness and limits of chiropractic care. They will be able to ask questions, and you may even be able to establish a trust which allows you to keep these people as patients. Your respect for their belief system is ethical and good. Your knowledge alongside your MD/DO credential gives you global understanding. You'll know what is reasonable, complementary, and more importantly - you'll know what's a big deal vs no big deal.

*this makes you VERY UNLIKE your colleagues who won't even take a class for fear of it looking bad to adcoms, but how do you look to a patient? Dismissive and ignorant?

 

[Pons Asinorum]

*this makes you VERY UNLIKE your colleagues who won't even take a class for fear of it looking bad to adcoms, but how do you look to a patient? Dismissive and ignorant?

I don't think there needs to be another "Are DC's the same as physicians?" thread on here. I think that at the end of the allopathic/osteopathic medical training experience you'll have all the exposure needed to direct your patients with regard to the value of chiropractic care. You don't need to be a secretary for a DC to avoid being "dismissive and ignorant" by the time you're a physician and directing patient care.

So I'll just go ahead and disagree with this comment...

Your knowledge and exposure to it will benefit you (and them) greatly.

Before the OP can provide any patient care as we're discussing they need to secure admission to an MD/DO program. That would be better served claiming other, traditional medical experience as their clinical experience, and not trying to pass off time spent in a DC's office as relevant clinical experience. You get limited space to show off your outside-of-class experiences. They need to be used wisely. Acceptance is the goal right now; greatly benefiting future patients isn't in the same ballpark yet.

 

[CookDeRosa]

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[katiemaude]

I'm OK with a job that won't advance my med school application, but I don't want it to HURT it either.

So if I list this position as a job, not as medical experience, should that be all right?

I need the steady paycheck to make it through the semester. I'd rather be a tech in the ER where I volunteer but I don't think I can get A's in my classes and do full-time training for 3 months. Or would I be better off getting any job in retail or whatever. I'm starting to get the impression that working for a chiropractor would have the same level of respect as if I said I was working for a mob hit man.