The Learning Agenda Training and retaining the chiropractic activist From left to right are Ashley Demsky, Brandi MacDonald and Lesley Camisa. Ashley and Lesley are two of MacDonald’s four chiropractic assistants. Brandi MacDonald manages a multi-doctor, high-volume clinic in Edmonton and is owner of True Concepts, a service that coaches chiropractors in hiring, retaining, and inspiring staff. Along with Dr. Tom Preston, she also offers a one-year CHA coaching program. She may be reached at bj.mac@ shaw.ca. roles, both within the clinic and the community at large. As the unemployment rate hit an all-time low in November in Canada, the need for a training plan has never been more paramount than it is now. This article is designed to describe how to sim- plify the steps to training by setting up a system wherein they can be duplicated, and moving staff members along a continuum of growth in your clinic. A staff training system needs to take into ac- count the levels of mastery a chiropractic health assistant needs to accomplish prior to moving to another performance level. One can apply the philosophy of Maslow’s hierarchy, as a con- cept of human development and growth, to the training process. Maslow contended that humans require basic needs – food, clothing and shelter – prior to moving on to more complex sets of behaviour patterns. At the top, where the most desirable level of Maslow’s hierar- chy is found, is self-actualization. This level represents people feeling fulfilled, purposeful, and enlightened. Without the base levels of the pyramid – basic needs – humans have a harder time evolv- ing their behaviour to reach this sought-after level. This hierarchy is a concept that a staff training A SELF- ACTUALIZATION: CHA is a self- directed networker, active in the chiropractic profession. HIGHER PURPOSE ACTIVITIES: marketing, patient care and education, finances, etc. BASIC NEEDS: job duties necessary to keep the clinic doors open 20 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR |FEBRUARY 2008 www.canadianchiropractor.ca t any given time in Canada, many chiropractic offi ces are being challenged by a training dilemma in clinics. The dilemma is how to move chiropractic health assistants from being “front-end receptionists” to chiropractic activists in their Brandi MacDonald
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