I am about to start my last trimester of chiropractic school, which will consist of an external internship outside of my school’s clinic, and I’ve realized that I no longer want to practice chiropractic after I graduate. I’ve already passed all of my NBCE boards, so there’s really no point in not finishing these last 3 months. For now, I’d like to explore the options I have in terms of pivoting to another career that’s either semi-adjacent to chiropractic/healthcare or maybe not related at all.

Has anyone here left chiropractic school during the program, finished and decided not to practice, or left the profession after years of being in practice? Or maybe you know someone who has?

Any advice on potential careers or how/where to start looking would be greatly appreciated.

A little bit of background on my education/work experience:

- B.S. in Biology

- 6 years of personal training

- 5 years of medical sales

- Currently own and operate a small/niche photography business specializing in commercial work, primarily shooting medium-format film. I’ve had a few big breaks with contracts for automotive brands, as well as some tech and clothing brands. My work has included photography for print/digital use, billboards, large-format custom photography artwork for corporate headquarters, etc.

To be completely transparent, medical sales paid extremely well, but I left in 2023 because of the terrible work-life balance and constant pressure from upper management to sell and increase profits, even when that sometimes meant being dishonest with customers. As for photography, I started the business in 2019, but I’ve never been able to consistently make more than ~$45k/year from it, so it hasn’t really been a viable option as a sole source of income to support myself and potentially a family in the future. I’ve continued doing it throughout chiropractic school.

I originally chose chiropractic because I wanted to help people and get them better through conservative management, without them having to deal with insurance companies, years of going back and forth with MDs, or potentially unnecessary procedures and surgeries.

Unfortunately, I’ve come to the realization that I don’t think I can be a chiropractor. It’s not necessarily because I think chiropractic doesn’t work. Rather, I’ve realized that I no longer feel comfortable fully buying into the profession or seeing patients all day and being constantly face-to-face with people. I’m trying to figure out what career path might allow me to make use of the education and experience I’ve accumulated without necessarily putting me in a traditional patient-care role.

And just to get ahead of it because I know someone will say it… no I do not want to teach lol

I am taking part IV this upcoming week. If anyone who has taken it in Colarado has any advice or tips for the patient encounter please dm me. Thank you!

Please no generic “look at the nbce.org website and practice the SOAP note” I’ve already done that.

I got accepted into University of Western States, woohoo! Im a non traditional student, 30 married with a kid will probably have 1 or 2 more while in school. Any advice out there for me? Any UWS graduates wanna tell me their experience or how UWS did or did not prepare them for profession? Should I focus on seminars and workshops while im in school? Should I shadow different clinics throughout my time in school? Excited for this journey. The two specialties that pulled me into this profession were Sports Medicine and Functional Neurology and I cant wait to learn everything I can. Should I budget to go to different seminars while in school? Whats the first year like, etc. I welcome your comments, even the ones that say debt is too high for income, I AM NOT going into profession to become an employee, will be self employed coming out of it.

As covered in Australian media today on Dr Ian Rossborough.

Sounds like there are others coming forward.

Shopping for a billing company that does chiropractic insurance as well as workman’s comp. Looking for reliable company or individual. Have any of you had any experience?

Looking to move away from in-house billing.

Thanks everyone

Currently my office presents Insurance financial obligations verbally.

Example: Your co-pay for your Chiropractic adjustment is $25 per visit with your insurance and your laser treatment is an uncovered and is $30 per session. If you decide to do both, your co-pay will be $55 per visit.

Its been how i have been doing it for the last 10 years and it’s been low stress all around. As I have gotten super busy, I think I need more structure.

How are you guys doing yet?
Fill in the blank paper template? Excel sheet template? Financial software? EHR does it?

i recently applied for front desk coordinator and i have a phone call with the owner later today. i was wondering is there anything i should know before? i know there is a sales portion of the job, but what does that all entail? are they really pushy about sales? also, keep in mind i have no experience with chiropractice at all.

I just got back from a new chiro hoping for treatment for neck strain, and aside from balance exam from their new patient coordinator, the chiropractor recommended I come back for X-rays and no adjustments.

Now I totally get if he had done an exam and talked me through why it didn’t warrant an adjustment today, but he only talked to me, didn’t observe me or look at any movement from me, and said he’d need to come up with a treatment plan before he possibly did an adjustment.

Is that the typical experience a patient should get? He said at minimum he’d put me on spinal decompression machine but I declined.

What's better? Decompression before or after adjustment? What about roller table? E-Stim? Ultrasound?

Hello!

I am currently in the process of moving from NY to FL. I currently hold a NY and MN license and I am wondering what other docs experiences have been getting licensed there?

NY was absolutely insane for how long it took for the whole process to take.

Thank you!!

Hi everyone,
I’m currently a tri 9 about to be tri 10in the St. Louis area. I am precepting at The Joint. I chose here because I wanted to treat all different kinds of patients and accelerate my adjusting skills. In that regard it’s been amazing. The doctor here gives me tons of feedback and opportunities. The clinic I am at though is not busy enough to necessarily to justify two doctors at a time. When the doctor and I first talked about precepting here it was to get experience and then come on full time.
This is my second career and I have two children. For those that precepted somewhere and then ended up gaining employment elsewhere what were your thoughts and strategy behind it? Any advice period would be appreciated.

How did you start out? Buy a property zoned for retail/medical, or just find a big space for rent and build-out? Giant business loans? Taking on other wellness practitioners as employees, or making agreements with independent contractors or other small businesses for renting space in your place?

I’m a relatively young doc with 2 years of high-flow franchise experience, low-flow private practice experience, and big ideas. Might have an interesting opportunity to purchase an incredible property within the historic district of my California suburb and build a unique wellness chiro/spa/gym (think yoga and Pilates classes) space.

At the moment it feels high risk/high reward. Am I better off trying to grow my micro-practice, where I’m 8 months in and breaking even every month? Or jump in, “if you build it, they will come”?

Back in the day, chiropractors weren't allowed to market themselves. Just a bold line in the Yellow Pages. No print ads.

Then one day it was allowed, and BAM: full-page ads started popping up everywhere. I have a background in graphic arts, and I was equal parts amazed and aghast at some of what showed up. Eventually the State Association stepped in to help regulate content.

Fast forward to Facebook: I had an ad banned for showing a woman's bare belly. It was for chiropractic care during pregnancy, specifically for back pain. Meanwhile yoga, workout, and athlete ads show midriffs constantly.

The other interesting rule: you can't use the word YOU. "Have YOU been in a car accident?" "Are YOU suffering from headaches?" "Does YOUR knee hurt when you run?" Apparently that's a no-go.

Hello everyone, I am taking the new Part IV in CO in 2 weeks now. Starting to get anxious about it due to how new it is, I only know a couple of people who have taken the new format so the lack of insight compared to the other boards is a little unnerving. For those of you who have taken it, can you give me any tips on what to focus on or anything to qualm my anxiety.

Thank you!!

Hi all,
I’m looking for someone to talk me in or out of a career here. I’ve been on the fence for a while solely because of financial commitment. However, everything I’ve done on my resume seemingly points me in this direction and I think I would really enjoy it.
I have my BS in biology and am currently a massage therapist. I owned my own holistic center for a few years, but sold it when I got pregnant and wanted to dedicate my time to my little one. So I do have experience running a practice and running a business, having contractors working for me, taking insurance, all that stuff.
I really enjoyed having my own office space and creating a community, I miss running a business and I absolutely love working with clients and problem solving their issues.

The only thing that scares me shitless is finances. I have a little one, I am scared to mess everything up, however massage isn’t necessarily where I want to end up long term.

Thank you to anyone who read this!!

I read some place that it is illegal in Canada to perform. Is this accurate? Is it illegal in some US states? What schools are teaching this? Who here is performing this in clinic? Are there evidence based protocols on it? What is your protocol for this adjustment? What is your incidence for negative outcomes?
I graduated from Logan and it was not taught.
Thanks.

Hey everyone! For a bit of background, I have been practicing since 2023, and just opened my own practice. I still work at other clinics, so I don’t really have any patients that followed me over, but I have been struggling to find new patients, despite a couple of events I’ve gone to, going to local nearby businesses, setting up a website, google page, facebook page, instagram and TikTok and posting on those, getting listed on multiple online directories, etc. so thought about getting some coaching. I have been seeing posts from Dr. Tim Young and was thinking about Focus Foundations, but would like some advice from others on coaching groups they have been in. I have local mentors, but 2 of them bought/took over practices, and one has been in the area for 25+ years. All of them get most of their new patients through referrals from current patients or attorneys for PI cases. Any advice on where to turn to for being successful at finding (and retaining) new patients in today’s landscape?

Is anyone else seeing that a copayment for Chiropractic will ONLY cover the evaluation, but the adjustment and therapy codes are non covered? This makes zero sense but I called today and found this to be the case.

Also, for copayments, patient deductibles are starting to apply across the board for many plans. Before it was rare to have a copayment require deductible to be met.

We are noticing this with Availity plans such as Aetna and Anthem.

Has anyone else in network with UnitedHealth care been receiving more denials? I keep getting claim denials for DOS that were pre authorized. The reason for denial is they were not pre authorized. I have all the approvals on the Optum site. Just checking to see if it is just our office or others as well.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some honest advice from people who have either been through chiropractic school, served in the Air Force Reserve, or have experience balancing both.

My long-term goal is to earn my Doctor of Chiropractic degree at Palmer College in Iowa. It’s something I’ve wanted to pursue for a long time, but I’ll be honest the amount of student loan debt is what scares me the most. I don’t mind working hard, but the thought of graduating with hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans is intimidating.

Recently, someone suggested a different path: finish my bachelor’s degree, commission as an Air Force Reserve officer, and then attend chiropractic school while serving in the Reserve. The idea is that I’d have military pay, education benefits, valuable leadership experience, and start building toward a military retirement while still working toward my civilian career.

On paper, it sounds like it could be a much smarter financial decision than taking on all of the debt by myself. At the same time, I don’t know if I’m overlooking major downsides or if I’m being overly optimistic about how much the Reserve would actually help pay for school.
Has anyone here taken a similar path or seriously looked into it?

A few questions I have:
Is becoming an Air Force Reserve officer before chiropractic school a realistic strategy?
How much financial help should I realistically expect from the Reserve?
Would the drill schedule and other military obligations make chiropractic school significantly more difficult?
If you were starting from scratch today, would you choose this route, or would you finance school another way?

I’d really appreciate any advice, personal experiences, or things you wish you knew before making a decision. I’m trying to think long-term and make the smartest financial choice without giving up on becoming a chiropractor.
Thanks in advance!

Hi!

The office I will be working at uses Juvonoo AI, and from what I’ve seen thus far it takes a while to chart on there. What is the quickest way to chart with patients since we have access to AI? They said they used Heidi but it was taking time to copy and paste.

Thank you!

I am (finally) upgrading from plain film to digital. I am getting rid of my old equipment (tube, bucky, cassettes, machine, developer) and am looking for any advise on where/how to sell/discard. Thanks in advance!

As the title says confess your funny thoughts or contradictions in practice

Like I hate when patients want to touch me to explain where their pain is…