(L-R) Marissa Lane, DC; Kayla Mayberry, DC; Celeste Langdon, ND (candidate); Coralee Wilson-Mitton, DC; Maria Boyle, DC our field,” Dr. Kempt-Sutherland says. “Sometimes I know a female DC is just as awesome at treating sports injuries but the male physio or gym owner will continue to refer to the male chiro.” She goes on to suggest that in fairness, perhaps the opposite is also true with women. “I have found that I per-sonally have had better success networking with and treating female athletic teams and found a niche working with female-owned gyms. When fe-males support females, it can be a very powerful thing.” She suggests putting forth your strongest efforts where you continue to see the biggest return on your investment – like building relationships with professionals, male or female, who show an interest in your strengths. Size isn’t everything Chiropractic is a very physically demanding pro-fession. The physical skills require years of practice to obtain. These skills require speed and accuracy to deliver the most effective treatments. As many of us know, technique class in chiropractic school is a large part of the curriculum. Students are www.Cndoctor.ca introduced very early to the hands-on side of the profession and to some, these skills come a lot faster than to others. In general, female students tend to have smaller hands and require increased development of skills related to speed, whereas male students may more easily rely on their strength. This creates a challenge for female stu-dents, especially if a technique class is taught by a male practitioner. As a female student, it may be more beneficial to look for a female tutor around the same size and to pair up with fellow students of similar size to learn how they have adapted. It is imperative that even if they may be learning from a similar demographic, that they practice treating a much wider demographic of people, especially while in school, where they can be offered guidance on different body types and sizes as it may pertain to their treatment. On many occasions, the female practitioner may find themselves in a situation where a patient, male or female, is underestimating their size in relation to their ability to treat the patient. Dr. Kayla Mayberry found her size has been judged. “I’ve found in the past that I’m given a passing glance and automati-cally my skills are questioned, or a patient may spe-cifically choose not to see me out of fear that I may not be ‘strong enough.’” It is important to not let this be discouraging and to have confidence in the skills developed over years in school and practice. On one occasion, a female chiropractor was donating blood, upon telling the nurse she was a chiropractor, the nurse had the audacity to say: “you don’t look like a chiropractor.” The irony in this case was that the nurse was male and had multiple tattoos on both arms. The chiropractor chirped back, saying he did not look like a nurse (which they both laughed at), September 2020 Chiropractic and Naturopathic Doctor 13
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor September 2020: Page 13
