Taking On the first five years An interview with Dr. Rosalie Ritacco I t is widely acknowledged that a chiroprac- tor’s early years in practice can be a chal- lenge, both personally and professionally. In particular, those first five years out of school can be as daunting as they are exciting. Whether the graduate tries to start up a new practice, or joins an already established clinic, there are many fac- tors to consider, such as establishing a patient roster, honing practices, leveraging management strategies, staffing, technologies and equipment to utilize, and generally finding one’s niche with- in the profession and/or community. All of this unfolds while an awareness that bills and loans require payment squats tenaciously in the new DC’s consciousness. To the new graduate, the plethora of available configurations for practice can, in itself, Dr. Rosalie Ritacco currently practises in a multidisciplinary clinic in downtown Toronto. become overwhelming. Given its sheer expansiveness, the scope of choices can, rather than prove liberating, end up cluttering a fledgling practice, setting up barriers, rather than venues, to success, both clinical and personal. Although, of course, all professionals will grow into their fields and, over time, alter certain routines, it is never wise to embark on any major career move – like starting in practice – without some sort of vision/plan/ direction. Arguably, chiropractors – even those fresh out of their training programs – who have their goals and vision well defined are the most effective, meeting with positive (and, therefore, gratifying) results, both as practitioners and as business owners/partners. Canadian Chiropractor caught up with one new DC, Dr. Rosalie Ritacco. Despite having been in practice less than five years, Dr. Ritacco is seeing positive patient outcomes in her clinic, experiences job satisfaction and has achieved a respectable measure of business success. We asked her some questions to try and isolate those elements of her practice model that may be contributing to her current level of accomplishment. A BrIEf HISTOry Ritacco graduated from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) in Toronto in 2005, and is presently stationed in a multi-disciplinary clinic located in downtown Toronto. Over the course of her career, Ritacco has worked in various capacities in the health- care industry. Before graduating from CMCC, she studied as a clinical intern and re- searcher at Johns Hopkins Neurogenetics and Behaviour Center in Baltimore, Maryland – she remains a consultant to this group on gait and biomechanical issues – as well as the Sunnybrook Cancer Centre in Toronto. Furthermore, she has practised chiropractic medicine in various rehabilitation and multidisciplinary health facilities, working along- side medical and naturopathic practitioners, registered massage therapists, dieticians, kinesiologists and fellow DCs. CUrrENT PrACTICE AND PATIENT BASE Though her patient base naturally varies, the majority of the patients Ritacco works with are athletes. Ritacco, herself, trained for many years as a professional dancer and now finds that dancers make up the majority of athletes in her practice – and that this is due, in no small part, to that fact that they refer each other to her office. “I possess a solid appreciation for the needs of this unique cohort,” Ritacco points out. “It has been my experience that in addition to traditional chiropractic manipulation/ mobilizations and modalities, specialized soft tissue and myofascial release techniques are a critical component of care in dancers.” “As a unique cohort,” she continues, “these patients demonstrate such high self-motivation, 38 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | APRIL 2009 Continued on page 42 www.canadianchiropractor.ca feature
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