Chiropractic Professionalism, Part 1 Professionalism defined feature Lloyd Manning is a semi-retired business, commercial real estate appraiser and financial analyst. His newest book – Winning With Commercial Real Estate – The Ins and Outs of Making Money In Commercial Properties is available online from Indigo-Chapters. He can be reached at [email protected]. Professional success is as much about attitudes, and character, as it is about drawing and retaining a patient base. I n recent years, from many quarters, concerns have been expressed about the decline in professionalism among medical doctors, lawyers, accountants, those in other professions, and unfortunately, chiropractors. Although chiropractic has been in existence for well over 100 years, it has not been successful in gaining from society the respect to which it is entitled. Chiropractic is considered, by many, as an honourable profession, yet at the same time, it is stigmatized. And it is rated as lacking with regards to ethics and honesty. For instance, one area in particular that is misunderstood and, therefore, seems to attract negative attention is the selling of a lifetime of chiropractic visits: unfortunately for the profession, this is perceived as a method to ensure a chiropractor’s income rather than as a health-care strategy with real benefits. However, chiropractors are not alone: other professions, including health-related fields, are looked upon as suffering from an erosion of professional ethics and values. It is suggested that many have forsaken their professional roots and regard their practices solely as a business with professionalism being of a lesser priority. It is worthy of note that, as of late, there has been a renewed call for professional -ism among all professions. Among the advocates for this renewal, many chiroprac -tors are crying out that there is a need to live up to the tenets of professionalism, and the codes of ethics that are part parcel of their practices, and to inform the www.canadianchiropractor.ca Lloyd Manning 30 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | MAY 2013
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