UPFRONT | News PRACTICE mANAgEmENT Chiro vets offer newbies proven tips for practice success Aspiring chiropractors got a dose of reality from experienced practitioners at the recent Practice Opportunities event hosted by the Canadian Memo-rial Chiropractic College (CMCC). At a panel session, sponsored by the Ontario Chiropractic Association, a group of veteran chiropractors offered some first-hand insight to chiropractic students about the realities of practice and the keys to achieving success. “If you don’t know where to start, get experience from as many practitioners as you can. Seek out mentors,” said one of the panelists Dr. Arif Alarakhia, founder of Physical Therapy One, a group of 12 clinics in Ontario providing multidisciplinary health care. Alarakhia, who graduated from Na-tional University of Health Sciences in 1999, knew early on he wanted ultimately to own his own practice and work along-side other health-care practitioners. Although he started out as an asso-ciate at a chiropractic clinic, he learned what he can while he was there and, when it was financially feasible for him, he left the clinic to start his own prac-tice. Alarakhia added that new chiroprac-tors today may have an easier time getting into multidisciplinary practice as it has become more of the norm in recent years, whereas it was a new concept when he started out more than a decade ago. Another panelist, Dr. Anthony Lom-bardi, who owns the Hamilton Back Clinic, based in Hamilton, Ont., ech-oed Alarakhia on the importance of having good mentors. “Find someone or some people who fit your belief systems. No one does it alone,” Lombardi said. He also offered his own advice: “If you provide outstanding clinical results within the first three patient visits, people will refer you.” Lombardi explained this strategy has worked for his own practice and helped him build up his patient base. “Ask yourself, ‘Am I giving the pa-tients what they want or am I giving them what I want them to have?’” Making the process easy and 10 Canadian Chiropractor April 2014 Chiropractor and Olympic athlete Dr. Josh Binstock addresses a crowd of CMCC students at the Practice Opportunities panel. Looking on is Dr. Joel Weisberg, panel moderator. convenient for the patient is also key, from booking appointments to actual treatments, Lombardi added. The panelists agree the best way to achieve success in practice is to take a patient-centred approach. “Focus on the patient and what it is they are looking for,” said Dr. Kather-ine Tibor, who was also part of the panel. Tibor graduated from CMCC in 2006 and is now the owner and clinic director of a multidisciplinary wellness practice in the Don Mills community in Toronto. She said figuring out what the pa-tient’s goals are and being aware of their limitations are important in pro-viding patient-centred care. “Referring out is also part of that patient-centred care,” she added. Tibor also pointed out the impor-tance of being part of a community and constantly finding opportunities for learning. “There is a lot out there to learn,” she said, adding that being part of a peer group offers some good opportu-nities to get some professional advice. “There are some things that you just cannot get out of a textbook. You need that advice.” Another advice from another chiro-practor: “If you want to be an effective practitioner and leader, listen and ac-cept with humility feedback that other people have for you.” These words of wisdom came from Dr. Josh Binstock, a 2009 CMCC graduate. Aside from being a chiropractor, Binstock is also an Olympic athlete. He played for the Canadian beach volley-ball team in the London 2012 Olym-pics. His challenge has been finding a balance between his chiropractic and athletic careers. But that has not stopped him from pursuing to build his practice. He urges would-be chiropractors to be resilient. “You’re going to have neg-ative things happen; you can’t be emo-tionally attached. Look at things with objective perspective.” Chiropractors also need to look at opportunities for growth outside their clinical practice, said Alarakhia, such as giving back to their community. “Be conscious about social responsi-bility as well,” he said. “Give back. The rewards and impact you will have is unbelievable.” -Mari-Len De Guzman www.canadianchiropractor.ca
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor April 2014: Page 10
