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What inspired you to become a chiropractor?

How a Mentor Shaped My Journey to Becoming a Chiropractor

Alright, so my next question is what inspired me to become a chiropractor? My answer is actually two parts. There's a who and then there's a what. The who is a mentor of mine. I met him while I was doing a physical therapy assistant program because I was planning to go to PT school and this gentleman, his name is Frank, he was instantly relatable because he was so down-to-earth and willing to help but he also had such a diverse background within the PT community meaning he worked with pediatrics and geriatrics. He was a world-strong man, competitor and coach and even an athletic trainer for an NFL team, the 49ers at one time. But what I learned from him is that even though he had all that experience he was always still wanting to learn and when he discovered chiropractic and how that could further help his patients, he saw a huge benefit of it. So what he taught me is that we all have this myopic approach to what we like to do and sometimes we get caught up in that and it's helpful to explore things outside of our wheelhouse. He did that with chiropractic and actually encouraged me to look into chiropractic school while I was planning to go to PT school. The short version goes I ended up switching. Since then I went back and I've learned things with physiotherapy and so forth like that but he was my main inspiration and he taught me a valuable piece of information is that we should always be learning. So even as a chiropractor now that's why I've gone back to school and I've learned about neuroscience, visual therapy, vestibular therapy, all how these can interrelate. So I don't have this story of how chiropractic was awesome and it helped me get through a health ailment. I just have a story of someone inspiring me to look outside what I thought I knew was best and encouraged me to learn a little bit more. So if you're thinking of being a chiropractor I encourage you to look at both sides of that equation chiropractic and PT school and or if you're even thinking on visiting a chiropractor it never hurts to talk with someone it might be the answer for you or it might not.

My mentor, Frank, inspired me to become a chiropractor when he showed me the benefits of learning more than just one field. He encouraged me to look outside my wheelhouse and learn different therapies. He taught me that it never hurts to explore other options and that we should always be learning.

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What inspired me to become a chiropractor? There are two parts to my answer - the who and the what. The who is my mentor, Frank. I met him while pursuing a physical therapy assistant program, as I had initially planned to go to PT school. Frank stood out because of his down-to-earth nature, willingness to help, and his diverse background in the PT community. He had experience working with different populations, from pediatrics to geriatrics, and even served as an athletic trainer for the NFL's 49ers. Despite his extensive experience, he always remained open to learning. When he discovered chiropractic and its potential benefits for patients, he saw its value and encouraged me to explore chiropractic school while I was planning for PT school.

His lesson was that we should be willing to explore things outside our comfort zones and expand our knowledge beyond our preferred areas of expertise. Inspired by him, I made the switch to chiropractic and have since continued my education in areas like neuroscience, visual therapy, and vestibular therapy. My inspiration comes from the belief that we should always be learning.

I don't have a personal story of how chiropractic helped me overcome a health ailment; rather, my motivation stems from someone who inspired me to look beyond what I thought I knew was best and encouraged me to keep learning. If you're considering becoming a chiropractor, I suggest exploring both chiropractic and PT school options. And if you're thinking of visiting a chiropractor, it's worth talking with someone to see if it might be the right choice for you.

What inspired you to pursue a career in helping others through chiropractic care?

Meeting a Mentor: Inspiring Pursuit of Chiropractic Care

All right, so the question is what inspired me to pursue a career in helping others through chiropractic care? This is kind of similar to a previous question I got. So I discussed meeting a mentor while I was pursuing education in physical therapy school and this particular mentor helped me to look outside of PT school and explore other modalities, other disciplines that would be potentially helpful. And he told me his story about how he could help people to a specific point and then when he integrated chiropractic care that they became so much better. And I'm sure if you speak with chiropractors there's going to be those people that say, hey chiropractic helped so much, but when we integrated physical therapy or allopathic medicine it helped them so much more. So the inspiration that helped me go to chiropractic school was a particular individual who is very, very, very intelligent that was willing to look outside of what he practiced in order to find answers to help other people. That lesson alone inspired me to start to research what chiropractic is, visit certain schools, and then I ended up going that route and actually learning chiropractic. So what really inspired me was a person, but the lesson that he taught me was that we always don't have all the answers within one discipline. It sometimes takes a team and if you don't have a team you can continue to learn outside what you like to practice or what you are practicing which could help others. So that's my answer.

I was inspired to pursue a career in chiropractic care by a mentor who taught me the importance of looking outside of my discipline for answers. He showed me that sometimes it takes a team to help people and that I should continue to learn outside of what I practice to help others.

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What inspired me to pursue a career in helping others through chiropractic care was meeting a mentor while I was studying physical therapy. This mentor encouraged me to explore different modalities and disciplines beyond PT. He shared his story about how integrating chiropractic care made a significant difference in helping people. It inspired me to research chiropractic, visit schools, and ultimately choose that path of learning. The lesson I took away from this experience was that we don't always have all the answers within one discipline. Sometimes it takes a team approach or learning outside of our primary practice to truly help others. So, it was the inspiration from that individual and the valuable lesson learned that led me to pursue chiropractic as a career in helping others.

What was the best decision you have ever made in order to improve your career?

Dr. Sean Burkhart: How Opening My Own Practice Transformed My Career

Hey everyone, Dr. Sean Burkhart here. I have an awesome question from Petros. I hope I'm pronouncing your name correctly. I apologize if I butchered it, but the question is, what was the best decision you have ever made in order to improve your career? For me personally, hands down, it was deciding to open up my own practice. That being said, working in a bigger practice or as an associate doctor, there's nothing wrong with that. You get a lot of great experience. You're surrounded by a team and you actually get kind of put into standard operating procedures, so it helps you to develop a rhythm. But what I've learned is as I got my own rhythm and my beliefs or my integrity maybe even evolved and continued to grow, that I wanted my own place so I can dedicate my time how I see fit to patients and give them what I felt they deserved, not what I was limited to give them. Plus, I really like accountability. It helps me to be more responsible. So I would say hands down, my best decision was not fearing failure, taking that jump and learning to be accountable. So when I needed to grow and evolve, I did so and I didn't have to have any excuses to hide under a bigger umbrella. So I hope this answer is helpful for you and I actually can't wait to hear other people's answers on this.

The best decision I ever made to improve my career was to open up my own practice. This allowed me to be more accountable and gave me the freedom to give my patients what they deserved without any limitations.

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The best decision I made to improve my career was opening my own practice. While there is nothing wrong with working in a bigger practice or as an associate doctor, having my own practice allowed me to dedicate my time to patients in the way I saw fit, without limitations. It also gave me a sense of accountability and responsibility. By not fearing failure and taking that leap, I was able to grow and evolve without any excuses hiding under a larger umbrella. This decision has been instrumental in shaping my career and allowing me to provide the level of care I believe my patients deserve. I hope this answer is helpful, and I look forward to hearing others' perspectives on this question.

What challenges have you faced in your practice as a chiropractor?

Chiropractor reveals challenges: educating patients and adjusting expectations

What's up everyone, Dr. Sean back. My question reads, what challenges have you faced in your practice as a chiropractor? Well, there's two of them I can think of off the top of my head. The first one would be to help patients to help themselves once they leave the office. Most patients will initially come in because they have some form of injury or pain that is ailing them. The good thing about chiropractic care, whether that's through adjustments or different physiotherapy or modalities we use, is we can help manage pain usually pretty quickly and bring function back pretty quickly. Well, when pain's there it's a signal responsibility to do something. If we take that signal away, it's not always there to remind people to help themselves. Well, the other thing is physiology takes time. So if you have an injury, it takes a certain amount of time to heal. Pain's not always present through that whole thing. So if we can do some strategies to help alleviate the pain, we need to make sure to face our challenge to educate people properly to make them or help them stay proactive when they leave here. I would say the other challenge that I faced is helping people to understand that adjustments themselves are not the cure-all. It's very easy to perform an adjustment once we've learned to do it and it's very easy to make noise in your own back or your own neck simply by just doing stretching sometimes. So a lot of people think that chiropractic can be a good panacea for all sorts of issues and what we have to do is make sure to explain when and where a chiropractic adjustment may be appropriate and when it's not appropriate. Chiropractic adjustments do not fix everything if they are not intended to be done for, you know, a joint. If it's a tissue issue, if it's a nerve issue or something else. So the two challenges I have are making sure to help people understand when an adjustment is appropriate and when to help themselves when they leave.

The two main challenges I face as a chiropractor are helping people understand when an adjustment is appropriate and teaching them how to help themselves once they leave the office.

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As a chiropractor, I have faced two main challenges in my practice. The first challenge is helping patients take responsibility for their own well-being once they leave the office. When patients initially come in, they often have pain or injuries that brought them in. Chiropractic care can effectively manage pain and restore function quickly. However, once the pain subsides, patients may forget to continue taking care of themselves. Additionally, the healing process takes time, and pain isn't always present throughout it. Therefore, it's essential to educate patients properly and encourage them to stay proactive in their self-care routines.

The second challenge is helping people understand that chiropractic adjustments are not a cure-all solution. While adjustments can be effective for certain issues, it's important to explain when and where they may be appropriate and when they are not. Chiropractic adjustments are not suitable for every condition, such as tissue or nerve-related issues. It is crucial to provide clear explanations about when an adjustment is appropriate and when alternative treatments may be needed.

Overall, my challenges as a chiropractor involve guiding patients to take charge of their well-being outside of the office and ensuring they have a proper understanding of the role of adjustments in their overall treatment plan.

What was your first experience as an intern?

Intern shares humbling lesson: Don't fit patients into your model

What's up everyone? Alright, my next question is what was my first experience as an intern? Well for me I went to chiropractic school first so I'm going to use chiropractic internship as my experience. We have to go through two different types of clinics before we can graduate. One is a student clinic where we work on other students and then the second is an outpatient clinic where we're working on the general public. So my first experience at the outpatient clinic as an intern was trying to help someone that was actually not a chiropractic candidate. And what do I mean by that? Well the pain that she was having was not, chiropractic would not have been the best answer for it and the condition that she was in at that time, chiropractic also wouldn't have been the best first answer, the first choice. So my first experience as an intern was being humbled by not trying to take what I was studying diligently and trying to apply for the past three years of my life to a person, but actually listening to the person and discovering what their symptoms were and objectively what was wrong with them and not trying to fit them into my discipline but actually trying to give them help. So my first experience I didn't get to actually work on that patient but I actually got to take off my tunnel vision lenses, look at this person as an individual and try to help as a member of a team to get her to where she needed to go. So I hope you appreciate that answer and I hope you learned the same lesson that I did is don't always try to fit someone into your model, try to understand what's going on with them and help them.

My first experience as an intern was being humbled by not trying to apply my chiropractic studies to a person, but instead listening to the person and trying to help them as part of a team.

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My first experience as an intern was during my chiropractic school days. We had to complete two types of clinics before graduating. The first one was a student clinic where we practiced on other students, and the second was an outpatient clinic where we treated the general public. During my time at the outpatient clinic, I encountered a patient who wasn't an ideal candidate for chiropractic care. Her pain and condition required a different approach. This experience humbled me and taught me the importance of listening to patients, understanding their symptoms, and objectively assessing what would be best for them, rather than trying to fit them into my discipline. While I didn't get to work directly with that patient, it allowed me to shift my perspective and see each person as an individual in need of help, not just someone to fit into my model of treatment. I hope you appreciate this answer and take away the same lesson I did – don't always try to fit someone into your model; instead, seek to understand their needs and provide genuine help.

Which continuing education courses, certifications, books etc have most influenced your practice?

Neuroscience and Breathing: Key Influences on Chiropractic Practice

Hey Colin, Dr. Sean here. I really appreciate your question because I was actually going to ask this myself and I still am going to ask it. So which continuing education courses, certifications, books, etc. have most influenced my practice? Well I'm definitely a lifelong learner and I imagine anyone that's an expert on this app or even on the app is probably yearning to learn as well. So even though I started in chiropractic I did a lot of stuff with the NSCA, NASM, different institutions, but the thing that most influenced my practice currently is more how neuroscience plays into movement and plays into performance. So instead of always looking at things through a biomechanical lens, understanding that the brain is influencing movement because as we get receptors activated, so proprioception when we're working with athletes, vestibular vision, whatever the case may be, the brain has to reconcile that and give us information on how to respond. So if we only look at things through a biomechanical lens we're just going to be limiting it, but when we can do that neuro biomechanics lens and just see how like the neurology actually influences movement, that helped to take me in a different direction and be able to be a little bit more thorough with my practice. Another one that's a book is I think it's called Breathe by James Nestor because breathing is absolutely crucial in athletics and helping to regulate your nervous system, how the core activates. So that one was also a pretty interesting one. It just helped me to really reinforce to look at the basics with people, hydration, sleep, and breathing. So yeah I hope this answers your question. I can't wait to hear other people's answers because that's going to help gear me to take some more classes.

Dr. Sean has most been influenced by learning about neuro biomechanics and how the brain influences movement. He also recommends the book Breathe by James Nestor which looks at the basics of hydration, sleep, and breathing.

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Continuing education courses, certifications, and books have greatly influenced my practice. As a lifelong learner, I've explored various avenues to enhance my expertise. While I initially focused on chiropractic and pursued courses with organizations like the NSCA and NASM, my practice has been most influenced by understanding how neuroscience intersects with movement and performance. Instead of solely approaching things from a biomechanical perspective, recognizing the brain's influence on movement has been transformative. By considering the activation of receptors like proprioception, vestibular vision, and how the brain processes this information to guide our responses, I've been able to offer more comprehensive care.

One book that had a significant impact is Breathe by James Nestor. It highlighted the crucial role of breathing in athletics and regulating the nervous system. It reinforced the importance of focusing on foundational aspects like hydration, sleep, and proper breathing techniques when working with clients.

I'm excited to hear from others about their influences as well since it will inspire me to pursue further learning opportunities.

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Physician disclaimer

Dr. Sean Burkhardt,DC,FIBFN-FN,CCSP,CFMP,CSCS,CSPS,TSAC-F,PES,CES answers your Chiropractic questions. See all the advice Dr. Sean Burkhardt,DC,FIBFN-FN,CCSP,CFMP,CSCS,CSPS,TSAC-F,PES,CES has and get answers to your own Chiropractic questions.

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Dr. Sean Burkhardt is a Certified Chiropractic Sports Practitioner, a Board-Certified Functional Neurologist, a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner, and a triple-certified Strength and Conditioning Coach with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He serves as a mentor and coach for an NGO helping prepare active and future military for special operations.  He has dedicated his postgraduate education to increasing his breadth and depth of knowledge in clinical neuroscience, concussion management, neurochemistry & nutrition, strength & conditioning, functional medicine, and neurological rehabilitation to help you achieve optimal health of optimal human performance. 