Clinician 2.0
I taught Art of Assessment this past weekend in Bettendorf, IA, with a great group of docs and students (mainly students). Throughout each and every course that I teach, themes and patterns emerge. The theme this past weekend was how to continue on the path to clinical mastery. More specifically, most of the students felt they didn’t know where to look, what courses to take, or a semblance of a road map to get to where they wanted to be.
I started the first student club of Rehab 2 Performance in 2012 while attending Logan College of Chiropractic. Before being asked to help with this fledgling rehab group, I was the sports council president and heavily influenced my mentor at the time Brett Winchester, DC. As I was nearing graduation at Logan, I handed the reigns of R2P over and went on my merry way. Something had changed, though. I saw a road map that had been laid out on the (at the time) International Society of Clinical Rehab Specialists website. This compass of courses detailed 50 core curriculum hours that were a conglomerate of DNS (Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization), MDT (McKenzie Diagnosis & Treatment), Perform Better, and the list goes. On top of the core curriculum, an additional 100 hours led to the full ISCRS certification of 150 hours. That’s all it took; I was off to the races.
For the next two years, I tore through DNS A, B & Golf, SFMA 1 & 2, TPI 1, 2, 3, FMS, FRC, RockTape, and the list goes on. I was on a path, a predetermined path. I was grateful for the direction and the knowledge I was gaining, but there was a problem. I was heading for an iceberg in dark waters, and I had no way of knowing it or correcting course.
At this point in time, I was about two years into practice at The FARM, and we were crushing it. At least, I thought we were. The same thing would inevitably happen as I would go to a seminar, gain some insight, and then try to bring it back to the clinic. The ease with which the instructor administered the concepts in the weekend course was like watching a 10-car pile up on the freeway when it came to my implementation in the clinic on Monday morning. I was clunky and inefficient, and I didn’t know what I was looking for or how my newfound information fit into my personal treatment paradigm.
Luckily before the barrage of seminars took place, I had been given some invaluable advice while interning at Brett Winchester’s office. At this time, around 2012, DNS was just starting to surge, and although I was chomping at the bit. Brett, who is an instructor for DNS, told me not to rush into too many seminars as I would not know how to integrate what I was learning. He told me to take a course or two and then…wait.
Apply. Understand. Integrate. Adapt. Create.
Due to this information, I did not come out of chiropractic school with a resume that cost me $250K for school plus another $75K in seminars. Instead, I had a few core methods I had been introduced to and was able to hone the fundamental skills of our profession.
Palpation.
Adjusting.
Soft Tissue.
Rehabilitation.
So, when I was asked toward the end of my own seminar (yeah, I might be part of the problem now, haha), “What courses should we take to get to where you are now?”. My answer was simply to be involved with MPI (Motion Palpation Institute), take a DNS course, MDT course, and some sort of soft tissue course. If you want to put some sprinkles on your clinical cupcake while in school, throw in NDS (Neurodynamic Solutions). Once you have your quiver loaded, learn how first to know WHAT TARGET TO AIM AT. Then, deliberately practice which arrow to shoot and become more accurate and precise over the next few years.
Once you have been in practice for a year or two, you will naturally determine which arrows you are missing. Now you are set on your own path, not one that has been determined for you.
“Students are drowning in information, yet starving for application.”
- Brett Winchester, DC
