With dramatized TV shows all over the place now, we have a pretty good idea of what a Medical School student goes through during their schooling and residencies. We hear about the different ups and downs of law students constantly reading tons of books and preparing for their Bar exams. However, does anybody really know what a student goes through to become an Upper Cervical Chiropractor? This was a question that was thought up by my mentor and really good friend Dr. Chad McIntyre of Triad Upper Cervical Clinic in Kernersville, NC. He wanted me to document my experiences as a student going through the 3.5 years of post-graduate work in order to become an Upper Cervical doctor. The program consists of 14 quarters (instead of 7 semesters), so I wrote a blog or diary entry before the start of every quarter reflecting on the past, present, and future. Looking back now, it cracks me up regarding what I decided to write about back then, but that’s where my mind and heart was at the time during the journey. The program consisted of many ups and downs, mountains and valleys, and a lot of sacrifice and time away from my loved ones. But, it was all worth it because now I have the blessing of bringing the power of Upper Cervical Care to anyone wanting to take control of their health in a natural, safe, and scientifically proven way of doing so.
Another
quarter in the books here at Sherman College of Chiropractic, and what a busy
quarter it was! I remember moving to Spartanburg, SC the first weekend before
school started like it was yesterday. I was rooming with a guy I met through
the Admissions department. He was in his last 9 months of school and he was
telling me how burnt out he was, how tired he was, how unmotivated he was to
study for exams and finish projects. I told myself, there is NO WAY I will ever
have that approach. I’m going to go full blast, 100% all the way through and
leave this program in the dust. The funny thing is, I’m just finishing my 9th
quarter and school really did take a toll on me. It was very exhausting on some
days having class from 8:00 in the morning, not finishing until 4:00 pm with
only a 1 hour lunch break; AND THEN staying in the clinic doing paperwork and
seeing ONE patient from 4:00 to 7:00 in the health center. I would go to the
gym, eat dinner, shower, sleep, and do it all over again. Those 10 or 11 hour
days got tiring REAL fast. When we hit finals, I had to really talk myself into
properly preparing for them. It was very challenging to balance the little of a
social life we have here at school with the demanding NINE classes and then all
the clinic requirements. Needless to say, my seven other classmates and I
passed everything and are now on to the beginning of 10th quarter!
And every day, we get a little closer to graduation and being able to make a
difference in our own communities. We go from nine classes to six this quarter,
however, the clinic requirements step up exponentially, as they will every
quarter until next summer. Here is a quick list of the nine classes my
classmates and I completed this past quarter.
1)
Emergency Procedures and Blood-Borne Pathogens
2)
Student Clinic
3)
Dermatology
4)
Clinical Case Management I
5)
Diagnosis Review I
6)
OBGyn
7)
Subluxation Theories
8)
X-ray Lab
9)
Extremity Adjusting- A 36-hour hour
lecture/demonstration (12/24) course focuses on the assessment and adjustment
protocols for upper and lower extremities with emphasis on knowledge and skills
required for chiropractic proficiency examinations. This was by far my least
favorite class. Not only was it my lowest grade for the quarter, I couldn’t get
passionate about it. We had to practice on each other, so my hands heavy
classmates were constantly just randomly thrusting into all of our elbow and
knee joints several times per week. Short of a dislocation, most all joints, if
not all of them, are SELF-CORRECTING. One of the worst classes in college by
far. It can be helpful and pain relieving in some cases, but for an upper
cervical doctor learning how to SPECIFICALLY and EFFICIENTLY get people well;
adjusting somebody’s 4th toe, is just a slap in the face and a waste
of time. I don’t know, maybe it might serve me well one day, only time will tell.
I highly doubt it though.
Ok,
with all that said, let me tell you about the fun stuff, the NON class stuff.
So, this was the beginning of student clinic! Next quarter, I will be taking
care of the Spartanburg community! I was very encouraged by the quick results
that I got while taking care of my student patients with Upper Cervical Care.
Without giving names of course, one patient has suffered from neck pain,
mid-back pain, and low back pain since she could remember. Reason being is that
she has a rather large scoliosis from her mid-back to her low-back and was born
with an extra vertebra in her lower spine. So, my first documented adjustment
in the Sherman College Health Center was a huge success! As mentioned
previously, none of my other classmates are upper-cervical focused whatsoever.
They are constantly asking me questions about what I would do with this patient
or that patient, and my response is always the same. Scan them, take x-rays, and
remove brainstem interference due to an Upper Cervical subluxation. They always
laugh, but maybe one day it will finally sink in. With that said, my classmates
were very interested in seeing it in action when I performed my first correction.
I had the instructor and about 4-5 of my classmates standing right over me as I
performed it for the first time. It was really quick, and got lots of praises
from the instructor and my classmates. When I got the patient up from her 30-45
minute rest, I asked her how she was feeling and told her about my experience
after my first Upper cervical correction. She told me that her nose was
tingling and felt different than it ever had before. She never complained of
nose problems, but if something has not been working, irritated, or compressed
for years and years, and is removed with a specific correction; the body is
pretty amazing on how it wants to fix itself. For the post-check, the scan was
all whacked out. But, after listening to the kind advice of my mentor, I let it
be over the weekend and checked her again Monday. By Monday afternoon, her scan
was completely different and her legs were balanced. For the first time performing
an adjustment, it was really encouraging to see those results so quickly. I
thought it would take several attempts to get it right to clear that scan. Months
later, she still has the pain, but every time I ask her about it, it is always
less compared to what it was. It’s basically impossible to take post x-rays or
maintenance x-rays here at school so there’s no telling how the upper cervical
corrections are dealing with her scoliosis. Hopefully, her holding the Upper Cervical
corrections is changing her entire spinal structure.
I had another
student patient who suffers from constant headaches all the time, EVERY DAY. She
would take around 800 mg of Aleve just to get through the day and to be able to
study. After getting x-rays on her, we got the listing and delivered her first correction
ever! This took place during finals week, right before our long fall break, so
it was perfect timing. After the first correction, I have learned from two
great Upper Cervical docs and mentors to leave them alone for a week to two
weeks. Needless to say, when we came back after the break, that scan was real
pretty and leg checks looked great! She texted me over the break while I was on
vacation and told me that her headaches were occurring a lot less common!! How
exciting for a student waiting 2.5 years worth of studying and late nights to
get to this point! Also, get this…….. when we took the x-rays on her, she had a
reversed cervical curve. It was literally bending the wrong way. So,
when she texted me about her headaches, she also told me that her neck was
really hurting her and real sensitive when she was dropping her chin to her
chest (reading, looking down). My explanation was that there could be a number
of things that are happening: 1) could just be sore muscles, 2) could have
slept in an awkward position, 3) OR… YOUR BODY IS CHANGING, and those
neck/throat muscles are actually PULLING your curve into the proper position.
So yeah, I would think you might be a little sore if your cervical spine is
completely changing direction. Only time will tell with post x-rays (where she
will have to get somewhere else, because heaven forbid if we actually track
progress of a patient at school). Anyways, just thought I would share those two
stories with you.
Here is a picture of an Upper Cervical Pre and Post Scan.... The red line in the middle was before an Upper Cervical Correction. The yellow line is afterwards when the brainstem interference has been removed and the body restored to normal function.
So, bottom line
is… UPPER CERVICAL CARE WORKS! If you have a loved one who is sick, hurting,
and doesn’t have answers… we are here to offer HOPE… no drugs, no surgery, just
natural, non-invasive healing with no twisting, cracking, or popping of your
neck! And get this, if you’re not sick or hurting, go get checked anyway!
Nearly all diseases and problems occur over a gradual amount of time, the
symptoms just appear later in the process. A lot of our society never seeks
help until we actually feel the symptoms, but in reality, our body was dealing
with that problem for a while. Get your brainstem checked! It’s your life
force; it connects your brain (most important organ) to the rest of your entire
body… all 206 bones, all 800+ muscles, and ALL 100,000,000,000,000 cells (trillion)! Take
care of it, it’s a finely tuned, amazing machine, but we only get one of them!
More to come….
Next quarter.. I will tell you about a different technique in upper cervical
that I am currently getting certified in, updates on student patients, and all
of my new patients from the Spartanburg community! It won’t be until around
Christmas time, so Merry Christmas!!! Love this time of year! Until next
time… Through God’s grace alone can we
make a change in this world and get every sick person well!
To His glory,
Josh
No comments:
Post a Comment