Preceptorship Week 1 of 8

I had a really relaxed first day. I thought I'd be running around like mad trying to keep up, but it wasn't that way at all. Since this is a holiday week, and the clinic is closed for 2 days, there aren't any new patients. In fact, yesterday, we were able to leave by 5pm instead of 6pm since the last scheduled patient was finished early. The staff said that early close time NEVER happens. They were super excited about it.

My first day was relaxing due to the fact that I got to experience the Young Living Raindrop Technique . . . which is a treatment that combines essential oils, trigger point therapy, and massage. Dr. Dennis mentioned that he uses this for his out-of-state patients who get the intensive scoliosis treatment, and that the therapy helps them relax before getting chiropractic treatment and rehab. He asked if I wanted to try it out . . . who am I to refuse a treatment that my prospective patients will endure, especially if it has essential oils and massage! It was great, and Dorie avoided using any oils that were potentially harmful to a pregnant woman and developing baby, so I only got a truncated version of the therapy. Wow was it cool . . . and it smelled great!

Day 1, I also adjusted 1 patient's thoracics, applied a few therapeutic modalities on patients, read some current research and chiropractic-related reading material, and I got the run-down on the front desk operations. I only had to analyze a few sets of films. I got the first set correct, but I forgot a couple of things on the lateral cervicals for the last 2 sets. I'll never forget those body base lines again. Since I was thrown into analyzing an S-curve lateral cervical with a very short time limit, I messed up the math on the loss of curvature. However, once Dr. Dennis pointed out what the value SHOULD be, I was able to see where I made the error, and I know I'll never mess it up again (hopefully). It finally makes sense to me.

Day 2, the clinic isn't officially open, but a few emergency patients and a couple of out-of-state patients are receiving treatment. Tuesdays are when I get a weekly 1-on-1 meeting time with Dr. Dennis to ask questions. Today, my questions mostly focused on employing staff, firing staff, wages and bonuses for staff, office policies, worker's compensation, & accounting and billing. There's only 1 more patient scheduled for this afternoon, and I'll also get treated later on today, YAY!

Next week, we're expecting 2 out-of-state patients for intensive treatment. They are daughters of chiropractors. So, their dad's will be observing and learning in the clinic, too. It should be a busy and fun week.