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The following is Chapter 2 from RC’s best-selling book:
“Developing A Chiropractic Practice”

Chapter 2:   GETTING STARTED

This chapter explores the various career opportunities open to the recent graduate. The advantages and disadvantages of salaried positions, associateships, shared space arrangements, group relationships, partnerships, corporations, and private practice are described. If entering private practice is desired, guidelines are offered for purchasing a practice, selecting an area in which to practice, renting and leasing considerations, establishing a professional environment, assessing equipment needs, coping with financing problems, and getting a new practice off to a good start.

Introduction

The fundamentals of the science of chiropractic are learned in college.

The art of chiropractic is learned in the field; it must be practiced.

Once you select one of the career alternatives open to you, a choice is made that becomes increasingly difficult to alter as the years go by. Thus, your initial choice should be taken with care to avoid being held somewhat hostage by a variety of commitments a number of years from now such as by financial concerns, family roots, local professional reputation, and difficulties adapting to change –to name a few factors.

    The Importance of Personal Goals

The skills you have achieved were not achieved easily during the preparatory portion of your career. There was much to learn, and there is still much to learn. There is a difference between learning how to captain a ship theoretically and actually doing it.

Shortly after graduation, a typical chiropractic student’s major goals shift abruptly from those involving obtaining credentials to those of a field practitioner. You will soon realize that the hallmark of an effective manager is to be able to expertly plan a course of action that will get you to where you want to be in the shortest possible time.

    What to Believe Is Your Responsibility

A thought that a new graduate should keep in mind is to take much of what he or she hears from many established practitioners with a “grain of salt.” If you seek someone to make a decision for you that you should make for yourself, you can always find someone to do it. Each individual is unique, with different goals, experience, personality, and genes. Others can only tell you what they would do under like circumstances.

A few established practitioners may discourage you if they feel you might open an office next door, but they will always know an “excellent” location many miles away. Others may tell you that the only way to be successful is to use a certain technique, system, structured procedure, and so forth. Although their stories of “seeing the light” may be fascinating, what may have been true for them may not be true for you.

Some practitioners complain of rising taxes, equipment and repair costs, accounts receivable, and third-party hindrances. They will often fail to relate that they love every day of practice, and their problems are self-made because they are doing things just the way they want to. Some grumble all the way to the bank, on their yacht or plane, or during their vacations abroad.

Your only safeguard against being led down a false path is to learn to think for yourself. This means to hold all beliefs as theories until you can prove the truth by your own experience. Granted, it is difficult and sometimes emotionally traumatic when reality forces us to give up some of our cherished beliefs and faith in the opinions of others.

    Planning Ahead