How to survive chiropractic school

Like it or not, chiropractic school is nearly identical to medical school, the principal differences being in the treatment methods used. Nobody cares if you "just want to adjust", you still have to learn to be a doctor, and with that title comes a high expectation that you have an insane amount of knowledge. And the curriculum is packed to give you just that. (Nevermind that you have to sort it all out for yourself, because it goes in really jumbled and meaningless.) I've compiled some key points that I've learned over the trimesters. I'm eternally grateful for those generous souls who met my standard question, "any advice for someone who's green?" with honest answers--pearls that at times literally turned out to be my saving graces. And thus, in the same spirit, I pass them on to anyone willing to read them...

1. You're going to feel like you're at a Gallagher show, except that instead of flying pieces of fruit and its juice, you're being bombarded with informational tidbits. During all this, keep in mind that no matter how wide open your mind is to guzzle every trivial snippet thrown at you, you're simply not going to retain, digest, or understand everything. You just won't. You can't possibly write down everything and memorize it. Well, I guess you could if you were primarily an auditory learner (meaning that you learn best by hearing the information--more on learning styles later), or if you had a photographic memory, but for most people, it's just not a realistic expectation. Understand that you're going to miss a lot of information, even if you manage to stay awake every minute of every day, with your pen poised to the paper and ready to go. That's just the nature. I'm glad someone told me this, because I was one of the four-point-oh nerds who did write down and memorize everything.

2. On the other hand, keep in mind that you do need to study, and not just to pass your classes. You're not in undergrad anymore, and these are not just the standard general education classes that everyone has to take. These are classes that relate directly to the rest of your life. Yes, even the seemingly-meaningless basic science classes. You may not enjoy Biochemistry and you may wonder what the hell polar amino acids have to do with knocking down a "subluxation" but the fact is that every class you take, including biochemistry, relates to the function of the human body--function that you are altering with your adjustments, whether you realize it or not. So do yourself and your future patients a huge favor: give a shit and get your nose in a book or ten.

3. Studying made easy(er): get to know yourself and your learning style. Different people learn more efficiently in different ways. Auditory learners learn best by hearing the information, or maybe listening to themselves repeat it back or read it out loud. Read-write learners learn by, well, reading the information from a book or writing it down. Visual learners like pictures and diagrams because the information seems to "click", often easily, when they see the big picture put together. If visual learners must take notes in class, they often benefit from decorating them with diagrams, flow charts, pictures, or at least color coding. Kinesthetic people learn by doing, by feeling, and by going through the motions. They're the "hands-on" people for whom information sticks when they can gain experience in the trenches.

My advice is to identify your learning style, and fast. The sooner you do, the more efficient--and less nerve-wracking--your studying will become. You'll learn faster, retain more, understand more, remember more, and bonus points: you'll spend less time doing it. Sometimes it's hard to figure out exactly how you learn best, because most people don't fit in to just one type, but instead are a combination of several types. For others, like me, it gets even trickier, because although I'm primarily a visual and kinesthetic learner, I can also learn by other styles, although very inconsistently. Sometimes I'll hear something in class and remember it very well and other times I won't; same goes for reading and/or writing.

I will say this: the way the information dispensing is set up, it's much friendlier to read-write and auditory types, especially on the academic side (the lecture classes). The lab components are a bit more hands-on, but there's till a ton of reading, writing, and hearing, and lots of trivial info to be responsible for, come test time. Only when you get into your game in the clinics at the tail end of the program do the kinesthetic learners start to feel comfortable.

4. To enhance your studying, you may be able to score yourself some copies of old tests. This is primarily true for the basic science classes in Tri's 1-3, and some of Tri 4. Once you get into the applied or clinical sciences or technique classes, old tests are more scarce. Some profs used to let students keep their exams to study from them but no longer do. Old tests are primarily good for identifying weak spots in your knowledge. Do use them as a guide; the questions serve as examples of the depth of knowledge expected of you and the kinds of questions you're likely to see on the test. Do NOT rely on them as your chief secret weapon, however. Why? Lots of reasons. The answers could be wrong - we identified numerous mis-keys that would've actually lost us points had we given the answer from the old test. Profs are well aware of the fact that old exams are circulating wholesale and they also know what the questions are. If they don't like your class, they may mess with you by taking an old question verbatim and changing a single word that changes the correct answer to the question. When all you've done is cram some old tests at the last minute and you take your exam, you come across a question that reads (almost) exactly like one you recognize from your cram-session and without finishing reading the question you go to select your (wrong) answer, which of course is still there among the multiple choices. You don't realize the question is actually not the same one you remember. Another reason not to rely on old tests alone is, the prof could change up the test questions all together and select a whole new batch of questions. Or perhaps, updated information from a new research study changes the answer to an old question. No matter what, it's not fair to yourself or most importantly, your patients if you simply cram and dump information.

5. Make time for yourself. This means, don't study too much. If you do, you'll lose your sanity. Make time to relax, to meditate.

6. Keep in touch with your family and friends. Let them all know what you're going through. Make sure they understand exactly what it is you're doing and how rigorous it is. Some people honestly think that our program is a 6-month trade school where we just learn to find high spots and knock them down. They don't realize that we also learn anatomy, physiology, neurology, biochemistry, endocrinology, pharmacology, diagnosis, case management, physiotherapy (a bastardization of basic physical therapy and its concepts), biomechanics, nutrition, geriatrics, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, radiology, embryology, cytology, and histology, just to name some.

Just as important, let them tell you what they're going through. Because while we're submerged in school, dog-paddling around in this chiro-bubble, real life is happening in the real world. Real people you know and love are aging another three years without you even realizing it. They're going through changes, too. Your spouse is getting his/her first gray hairs or changing their jobs or growing distant from you, or closer to you as they start looking up to you even more. Your wife is carrying, delivering, and nursing your child. Or your child is getting out of diapers or starting school or entering puberty or graduating high school or entering college or dating a significant other or getting married. Life happens. Don't lose touch with it. Don't let three years go by without going out to dinner with your friends. Don't let a year go by without taking a night and shooting the breeze with your spouse or becoming intimate. They need to know you're still you and that you're still there for them.

7. Take care of yourself. This means first and foremost, abandoning unhealthy habits. You're a doctor now, like it or not, and you serve as an example for your patients. They only end up behaving as well as you do, and you can't expect them to do anymore. Don't just talk the talk; walk the walk, too. Kick the Friday night case of beer. You don't need it. You won't have time to work it all off and it'll just accumulate. Not only that, but you can't afford it. You're not on a doctor's salary yet, so don't start expecting to live the doctor life. Do the same with cigarettes, weed, anything else you're into. Ditch the junk food, too. It's expensive and full of empty calories that pack on pounds but offer very little else. The feel-good rush you get from eating it? That's all addictive neurotoxins designed specifically to manipulate pleasure centers of your nervous system such that you derive pleasure from eating that "food" and can't say no to the prospect of eating more. Instead, replace these things with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and organic meats. Have a coke or some junk food every once in a while--you gotta have some fun occasionally--but don't make a habit out of it. These foods give you quick highs and rushes, but you'll crash quickly. It's not worth it.

8. Manage your money. When you get your student loan dispersal check, you may feel like you've won the lottery, but the truth is, that has to last you the next 4 months. Once you start figuring food, gas, rent/mortgage, utilities, payments, miscellaneous spending, etc, you start to realize it's not so much after all. One of the coolest pieces of advice we ever got is this: when you get that check, the first thing you do is to write out your next 4 rent checks, car payments, credit card payments, etc, and mail them in, with notes in the memo fields like "January mortgage" or "March Visa payment". That way, the recipient companies know what you're doing and can apply the money properly. You also have the piece of mind of knowing that when money runs thin at the end of the trimester, you don't have to worry about making your rent. This way, you'll never get foreclosed on or evicted, your car will never get reposessed, and your credit rating won't plunge nor will your interest rates get jacked up due to a late or missed payment.

All other spending? Curb it as best you can. School comes first, so make sure you've bough all the supplies and clinic clothes you'll need. Put off splurging for a black tie dinner until after you've graduated and have the salary to back up your desired lifestyle. You're still a college student, and it's best to live as thin as you can.

A final word on purchases: please please please do not make large purchases right off the bat in school. Yes, that Microlight laser or $18,000 Biofeedback machine looks pretty dang cool and the sales rep (often a student putting themselves through school via the commissions they make on products they sell borderline MLM-style) promises the moon and stars to you in future additional revenue streams of income once you open your practice, and some will swear you can use their toy now, before you're even out of school. Coaching consultants will instill fear in you as a lowly student that the world is so tough and hostile out there toward chiropractors that you'll go bankrupt without a practice coach. Bullshit. These practice management companies are all about scare tactics, guilt trips, and do-or-die mantras. It's how they want to rope you in as students, and it's how they'll instruct you to rope in your patients. Top secret: it may work for some, but only a very small percentage. Most doctors are too smart to fall for that, and so are most patients. The spouted dogma rings too hollow for most people. Save your money. If you really see something you like, wait a year and see if you still want it. Often, you'll change your mind and end up glad you didn't spend the money.

9. Establish a routine/schedule. First, get a calendar. Some are just day calendars, others have slots for times of the day for writing in specific appointments. Programs like Microsoft Outlook (somebody please tell me there are others) give you multiple views--monthly, weekly, and daily broken down into half-hour increments. Enter everything in on the same calendar to make sure you don't commit yourself to two things at once. Go through your school calendars first. There are more of them than you think. First, there's the master schedule of school events, and some of these like assemblies or certain seminars could be required (as was the case for us). In the second half of your career, there are National Board exams (everyone has these). And everyone has finals, midterms, and tests in between. Don't forget about your lab practical exams; these might not be included on the master schedule, as they often take place during individual lab times. After that, put in your work schedule, if you have a job. Don't forget work study, if you participate. As you enter clinic, put your patient's appointments in, too. This way, you don't go scheduling a whole lot of patients the night before a big exam. You also know which tests you have coming up. And, you don't double-book yourself (schedule two patients at once), or miss an important deadline. Then, make sure to schedule yourself workout times, relaxing times, specific dates and times for getting together with friends or having a family night at home. Yes, write it into your schedule - or you'll never do it.

Also, establish a daily routine. Get your preparation for tomorrow done first thing, as soon as you walk in the door. I pick out tomorrow's clothes and either fix my homemade lunch or gather lunch money for eating out, and I put it right next to my phone, keys, glasses, and wallet, which all sit together on a main counter next to my clinic bag and laptop case. Finish with that before turning on the TV and settling in for the night or it'll hang over your head and you may forget to do it all together. Come tomorrow, you might be scrambling. If I miss my alarm, I'm much happier if everything's right there ready to go as I'm running out the door.

10. Organize your surroundings. Keep everything school-related in one spot, hopefully in a convenient, high-traffic area. This way, you won't forget anything should you have to rush out the door on autopilot after oversleeping. Buy enough folders and notebooks that you don't end up stuffing everything into one notebook or folder; this way, nothing gets jumbled. I learned this the hard way; everything got cluster-messed and I misplaced several important assignments, creating a lot of extra work for myself by having to re-write them, only to find them later, in my folder behind a bunch of notes from another class. Yes, I looked through the folder before--several times--I just didn't see them until much later when I was cleaning everything out once those classes were done.

Also, make a space that is yours for studying and studying alone. Remove all sources of entertainment or distraction from that space. Make sure it's far away from a messy area or a cat's sleeping place, because you'll be surprised at how little it will take to distract you from studying. A cat sleeping in a cute position can easily occupy you for 20 minutes as you subconsciously try to find excuses not to study.

11. Buy books that your profs recommend, as long as they don't have a self-serving vested interest in recommending them. We found that a prof we especially liked recommended a lot of neat books that explored different subjects more deeply. Many of these were out-of-print and rare gem-like finds, yet available at Half Price Books or Amazon for a dollar or less. We picked up a lot of great information. The prof was one we respected deeply, who had already read all of these books. It's nice to have an impartial book reviewer you respect, and to be privvy to his info before going out and buying books, especially on a limited budget.

12. Go to seminars. Since money is limited, do pick and choose carefully. Ask around; there are plenty of reliable sources - professors, students in upper tri's, classmates in your own tri, chiropractic doctors practicing in the field, and extracurricular clubs that meet during lunch. Seminars are geared field doctors rather than students, and thus will teach you how to clinically apply the information in the real world. You may feel a bit lost, because they may throw around terms or concepts you haven't encoutered yet, but do your best. Don't worry too much, though, unless you're Tri 1 or 2; they often avoid getting too technical, because a lot of field doctors don't remember some of the basic science nitty-gritty themselves. The exception to this is neurology programs. Those are tougher, because neurology is such a brainy subject anyway, and requires a lot of advanced knowledge. Adjusting or nutrition seminars, on the other hand, you can feel pretty much comfortable right away.

Seminars rock, and it's important to go to them especially while you're in school because in school, it's easy to forget the big picture and what motivated you to do this, and they keep you in touch with why you're doing what you're doing. They teach you why it is you should care about what you're learning, because while school is teaching you facts and concepts, the seminars teach you what those concepts will look like when they walk into your office. Also, school doesn't do a great job of teaching you how to treat--or "help with"--much of anything, whereas seminars highlight all the possibilities and often give you a framework from which to manifest them.

13. Practice, practice, practice. Palpate. Adjust, as soon as it's safe to do so (once you've had a class or a couple of weekend intensives and have some formal training to go on). Get with other field docs and observe them in their offices (be professional and transparent; dress well, stay in the background, ask lots of questions later). Ask them if you can adjust them and have them critique you. Make friends with upper tri students, but don't take everything they say as gospel; they may have some good ideas, but remember that they know just enough to be dangerous and not enough to realize it. Make friends with staff docs; they've often been in the field. (Some, however, don't have enough field experience. Many came to our school after only 6 years in practice. Look for someone who's been out for at least 10. Also, seek out those who did NOT go to Parker. Overall an OK school, but their focus is on business/practice management and passing National Boards, and not adjusting or diagnostics [you know, doctor stuff]. Some of their student body reflects that. If they did graduate from Parker, make sure they've at least sought some kind of significant post-doctoral training outside of Parker, whether it's neurology or applied kinesiology or clinical nutrition certification.) But anyway, get together with a group of friends you trust, make a pact that you'll never rat each other out, and go to town. Feel. Push. Thrust.

14. Don't believe all the stories you hear at school. As you progress through the program, you'll hear people telling stories about how they got this or that segment to "go", or about some practice opportunity they have or a mentor guru that took them under his/her wing, and you might start to feel like something's wrong, like you missed the boat. Don't worry. Everyone finds their own niche, their own specialty, their own group to hang out with, their own mentors to learn from. I reunited with one of mine at the end of Tri 7 (out of 9) and we met another who took us under his wing at the transition from Tri 8 into Tri 9. Opportunities will come knocking. That's not to say that you'll fall into fortune without having to lift a finger--you will have to lay groundwork for making these opportunities happen--but just when you feel like the world is passing you by, you will have your moment.

Hole Foods

That is, unless you're guilty of something and have a confession to make. There are some holes in the Whole Foods Market facade, after all.

First of all, I'm not going to debate whether or not organic is better or worth a higher price. (It is, for the very simple fact that farming mega-corporations have taken over control of most of the food supply in this country, and what is allowed to go on behind closed doors and off the label is nearly criminal. Anything NOT organic means that it has either been genetically engineered, doused with chemicals, or usually both, and this is never good for the human body; thus, organic IS always better and although it's a shame to have to pay more just to get what should be normal food, that's just a fact of life.)

I'm also not going to take issue with his mid-August healthcare commentary. What he had to say was sound. It is not the government's responsibility to take care of every lazy, chain-smoking, beer-chugging, pill-popping, calorie-packing, carb-loading, vegetable-phobic couch potato American. People would do much better to cut out bad habits, break unhealthy addictions, get up off the couch and out of the house, turn off the TV, put down the iPhone, eat fruits and vegetables, and eat proper portion sizes. Really, is it that tough? But this rant will get a post of its own.

No, what I do take issue with are several mistakes Whole Foods has made.

I take the biggest issue with its ingredients and their labeling. Natural and organic products are available. However, you have to look harder than you think to find some of them. When you read the labels, everything sounds nice and benign, and you might think you're out of the woods because you can, indeed, pronounce everything. But Whole Foods is notorious for utopian-sounding ingredients that are actually synonyms for much more ominous compounds that have been included anyway. For example, many of their soups and potato chips contain autolyzed/hydrolyzed yeast or yeast extract. Those of us who try to avoid MSG might be pretty pissed off if they didn't know that these yeast derivatives have an equal effect on the body. They're neurotoxic, very allergenic, inflammatory, and worst of all, highly addictive.

Sometimes the ingredients ARE right on the label, but they'll try to soften it by claiming that the harmful substance everyone's keeping an eye out for is from "plant sources". It's particularly hard to shop for shampoo, conditioner, or toothpaste because of this. It's great that the irritant known as Sodium-Laurel or Laureth Sulfate in this toothpaste comes from coconut pulp, but that doesn't change the fact that it leaves my skin cracked and itchy.

And other times, the ingredients are stated on the label with no such fluff. You might think Whole Foods is the last place this would happen, but it does. I had to look long and hard for deodrant without any paraben or sulfate compounds in it. I finally found some mineral salt sprays...just before my mom proudly announced that she found the same ones in a Canadian Wal-Mart, and they were cheaper, even before considering the exchange rate.

Sometimes the ingredients aren't even disclosed at all. We've all come to expect this from our neighborhood grocery stores who pull crazy shenanigans all the time, such as spraying meat with viruses to kill bacteria so it'll hold for another day, or exposing color-void meat to carbon monoxide to artificially restore its healthy red color. These have all hit the papers, which is what drove a lot of us to places like Whole Foods in the first place. Thus, it would never happen at Whole Foods, or so we think. But when organic apples are out of season and are temporarily replaced by conventionally grown ones, look (and feel) closely. That grimey oily feeling on your hands after handling a couple? Is the same carcinogenic carnuba wax you find on apples at your local grocery store. The kicker? For that identical product, Whole Foods charges you more.

Which brings me to my next point of contention. Price. Prices stubbornly insist upon remaining just out of our comfort zone. It has gotten to the point where every time we go shopping, something on our list has gone up. Sometimes it's a small hike, but sometimes it's rather substantial. I watched our average prices go up 20% during a single year.

I try not to bitch (too loudly, anyway) without offering some kind of solution. And in fairness, there are ways to shop there without breaking the bank. The biggest bang for your buck is the bulk section--and I don't mean the candy. Stay away from the mountains of party mixes, dried fruits, and natural M&M counterparts. Those get very expensive. However, there is a smorgasbord of varieties of beans, rices, granola mixes, nuts, seeds, and flours that are very affordable. Instead of individual pre-measured packages of herbs, spices or teas, get those in bulk as well. Sure, there's more work involved with soaking the beans and washing the rice, and sure, there's no such things as "instant" (everything has to be slow-cooked), but it's healthier for you, and much cheaper.

Another way to ease the pain is to take advantage of the rare items on sale. This comes with a caveat: if something is on sale at Whole Foods, it's usually for a reason. Often, it's on the verge of going south and occasionally, it has already. However, it is possible to find the occasional honest-to-God sale on something, even when there's nothing wrong with it. Call it a soft economy; call it a case of it-was-overpriced-to-begin-with-and-it's-not-moving. Regardless, it's possible to find a good deal sometimes.

A more recent revelation we've had is to learn your prices (you should anyway) and comparison shop at other stores. If organic strawberries are not in season and conventionally-grown is your only option, chances are that Whole Foods is the most expensive source. So, verify that the strawberries at your local supermarket are indeed cheaper, and get them there instead.

Another thing to do is, when Whole Foods has a sale on cereal, for example, they often give an amount, like $10 and specify that it's for, say, 3 boxes. The cereal is normally $3.49 a box. You're saving 16 cents a box. They act like it's a big deal, with big yellow signs and all, but is it? Sixteen cents is sixteen cents, though, so fair enough. But don't get roped into buying all 3 boxes if you were only going to buy one, thinking that you need to buy all 3 to get the sale price. They of course want you to buy more, but you don't have to; if you buy just 1 or 2, they still give you the per-box sale price.

Another caution: don't automatically assume that buying a bigger quantity of something gets you a better deal. Bring a calculator if you have to. As nerdy as you may think it looks, you could save yourself a lot of money, and at a place that can charge you $40 for a container of Acai berry juice and still sleep at night, it may be worth it to keep one handy for some quick number-crunching. They'll gladly sell you a 1-year supply of something, but be sure that there are some actual savings involved, especially if it's something you're just trying out.

Whole Foods, like any other store, is designed to extract the most money from your wallet, and they've carefully engineered every aspect of the entire store to do just that. Gotta keep the glum shareholders pacified somehow, after all. You can fight back, though, and remain sensible when shopping. They won't take your Whole Paycheck unless you let them. I don't mind paying a little more for a much better product that won't slowly embalm and kill me over the next 20 years. Just know what you're buying and make sure it really is worth the extra cost and that the ultra-hip 100% post-consumer-recycled paper package with quotes of yoga sutras in an uber-mystic modern font isn't just a mask for regular supermarket-grade crap at an organic price.

Damn the man

Today is my five-year anniversary of working for myself. After getting fired (see the previous post), I took a 1-year-and-3-day sabbatical from the wage-earning world to go to massage therapy school and generally re-organize my life. Well, unless you count a seasonal-turned-half-assed part-time position at Williams Sonoma. (Which I don't. A 5-hour shift every three weeks is just enough to frustrate you; you feel like you're perpetually green because every time you come back the powers-that-be have rearranged the store and you have to spend the entire shift re-learning where everything is. Hardly productive.)

But, I digress. I received my massage therapy license in the mail sometime in mid-August, but it's not like there's a ready-made mob of clients standing in line, pounding down your door to get appointments with you. You kinda have to go out into the world and announce that you exist. This can get fairly labor-intensive and/or expensive. Fortunately for me, it was neither, but that came with its own cost: a couple weeks of lag time before I scheduled my first client.

So anyway, I considered my doors officially, legitimately open for business on the day of that first appointment, and I discovered something very quickly: working for yourself rocks. Having grown up in the world of the quirky self-employed, I was sort of genetically hardwired for it anyway, but now it was official, and I had to admit to myself that it really was the best option for me.

Not that it's the best option for everyone. Not everyone has the patience or the motivation to talk business into the wee hours of the night, brainstorming new thoughts and rehashing old ones like self-relighting trick birthday candles. Not everyone can live with the feast-or-famine nature of rollercoaster income. Not everyone has business instinct or good luck with the professionals you just can't skimp on, like business attorneys or tax accountants. A lot of people simply don't have the self-discipline to make it work; the idea of being able to set your own hours comes with a lot of caveats.

For me, though, it fit hand-and-glove. I was well aware of the initial time, energy, and yes a little money, that I was going to have to invest in my practice to get it off the ground. I knew that at first, I would have surplus time on my hands and little cash flow, and this would necessitate my having to work outside normal hours. After all, if I wanted to be done by 5pm but my only client couldn't make it before 7pm, guess who's working late? I had to be available when they were. Only later, when you have a clientele built up and can afford to do so can you cut back on your hours a bit and streamline your schedule. That's an eventual luxury, and it's a common one, but it's not an automatic gimme right out the gate.

I understood all this already, which helped. I had also worked feverishly, coming up with an assumed business name, dutifully filing it with the county, inventing a logo, doing Google image searches to make sure someone else hadn't independently dreamed up the same one, devising basic policies, writing up a website, designing and printing my own forms, and networking with people. In the meantime, I scored myself a very independent-nature contract job at another massage facility that was established enough to feel comfortable without requiring a non-compete clause, which let me make at least some money and keep my skill set warm while also allowing me to build my own business on the side. The pay wasn't much but it was fair and I had complete autonomous freedom in setting my own schedule, clientele, self-promotion, and massage style.

For a while, it was 7 days a week. This is a reality in the beginning. It was about a year before I could finally start taking a day off a week. One turned into two, and I was happy with that. Managing myself was harder than people think; sometimes I was too eager to please and found it hard to stick to my premeditated policies. Luckily for me, I didn't have to manage anyone else. I will eventually, though, and I have to keep in mind that to be friendly is good, but that it is less important to become the employees' friend than it is to retain respect and mild authority.

I had clients who tried to push my boundaries, get their way, and essentially run my practice. I had some who tried to bend multiple policies in one visit. They knew what they were doing, too. It was suavely forceful and had been specifically thought through. At first, it's easy to get steamrolled, but with a little strategy and a tactfully-planned-but-pointed come-to-Jesus meeting, they'll either become trained or they'll tend to fade away.

Not only is it easy to get steamrolled by domineering clients, it's also easy to take things personally when they cancel an appointment without rescheduling and/or drop off the face of the earth for a while. People will come and go. Yes, I miss them. Well, most of them. But I also know that I can't help everybody. Not everyone CAN be helped. Some find a practitioner who does a different technique, has a different personality, or is closer to their house. Others drive comparatively insane distances to see me, and they pay more than they would somewhere else. That's great. I'm glad I can help them and I'm glad they enjoy seeing me as much as I enjoy seeing them. I've had to learn to check my ego at the door, however, and realize that I can never assume exactly why someone chooses to see me over someone else. Maybe it's not my skills or my smile; it might be something I have no control over, such as that I remind them of a friend.

I've worked for myself longer than I ever worked for anyone else. You just can't beat the freedom. If I don't want to take my first appointment before 10am, I don't have to. If I want to take a half-day on Friday without cowtowing to a boss to ask for it, I can do that. If I want to work a weekend, I can, and if I don't, I'm not required to. I can give myself a raise by increasing my fees. I can even nudge people to do what I want, such as offering cash discounts if I'm trying to ease people away from credit cards, or I can give early-bird specials if I want my evenings back. To increase the prospect of steadier business, I can encourage ppl to reschedule immediately by offering a slight discount for doing so. With that, comes a lot of responsibility. You don't want to price yourself out of the market, especially during a sagging economy, and you don't want to scale back your hours just when all your clients are trying to work longer hours, take advantage of a rare overtime opportunity, or pick up a second job. Working for yourself, you won't get written up for breaking those unwritten rules. But your business will suffer.

One of my pet peeves is listening to someone gripe and moan about how crappy their job is, and then never do anything about it. If you're in a crappy situation, look deeper: it's (usually) not the employer's fault. I didn't say there aren't bad employers; there are. I worked for my share of people who made decisions for me, that impacted me, who weren't half as smart as I was. When I was sick enough of it (at the ripe old age of 26), I "retired" from working for idiots, and I started my own business. Working for myself, I've cut everyone else out of the equation, and I have no one else to blame should anything go south. Rather than being the weight that it sounds, it's actually very uplifting and freeing. I was born into self-employment, and that's probably how I'll die. I won't retire. But then again, "retirement" means that you're done working. And if you're doing what you love to do, you're not really "working". So, this means I'm the youngest retiree I know. I just don't get any Social Security benefits. But then, who says that's a bad thing?

Septeenth

Come on, y'all, get your hands in the air. I'm calling on all my brothers and sisters to celebrate with me, to celebrate the greatest gift of all: freedom! It's been six years and still to this day I celebrate it like was a second birthday. You see, I wasn't exactly a slave, but sometimes I sure felt like one. Yes, I know that when I signed my job application I understood that in terms of our state's laws, I was an "at-will employee", meaning that my presence at these wretched places was, embarrassingly, completely voluntary, and that either myself or my employer could call it quits on the fragile arrangement at any time. The thing is, that clause is real, and it reared its ugly head when I least expected it. That's right, y'all: six years ago today I was fired.

Your Honor, I was a cocktail waitress. You know, one of those cute skinny young things with too much energy and who smiles too often and too late into the night to be genuine, who tries to keep your husband out with his buddies way too late. No, jealous housewives of the jury, I was not a homewrecker; I was trying to support my family, and selling your husband and his posse one more round of drinks means I might be able to come up with my college tuition on time or get the brand-name ice cream this week instead of the generic. Or maybe I can finally get my truck brakes fixed so I can at least make it in to work this week.

Sure, it was fun for a while. When you live in a college town where your highest employment prospects are retail jobs at the mall with store discount fringe benefits, waitressing for actual tips is pretty dang cool. Bonus points if the job is at a bar and you are 19.

Problem is, it only lasted about 6 and a half years. The burnout came long before then, but it was so gradual that I can't pinpoint when it started. I think it all eventually got to me. First it was the smell of smoke and stale beer. Or the cracked dry skin from handling ashtrays and citrus garnishes, despite my best efforts to avoid direct contact. Maybe it was the cheesy pickup lines from guys above my age range, below my salary range, below basic cleanliness standards, or above a certain Blood-Alcohol concentration. Perhaps it was "Freebird" or "Wonderful Tonight" for the 3498th time on the jukebox. Or the brain-dead supervisors I had over the years, who, no matter how available I made myself to work, would schedule me on the only days of the week I ever requested off. Don't forget about the sexual advances, either by customers or old disgusting married barowners who got downright pissed off if you politely refused.

Eventually I realized that the perpetual smile I walked around with was making my face ache. Somewhere along the line it stopped being worth it, and I found myself resenting the people and I realized that my body ached so bad when I crawled into bed that it would keep me awake for a half hour. I realized that having to sleep till noon just to get enough sleep to make it through work that night wasn't healthy, and despite sleeping late I found myself getting increasingly tired earlier and earlier. I had to admit to myself I wasn't a night owl anymore. I was also taking steps to overhaul my lifestyle and embrace a much healthier one. I realized I felt better almost immediately. And I realized that the healthier I got, the less I fit in. A curious internal discord had begun and had quickly intensified.

As with all internal discord, something eventually has to give. When it does, the built-up pressure releases and everything resolves. One day, my situation ceased to be an exception. I walked into work like any other Saturday, and checked the schedule in the back room of the bar I was currently employed at. I found that my name had been written on the schedule, in pencil, as always, but then had been erased, along with all the shifts I had been assigned. I questioned my manager, who was finishing up a daytime bartending shift and she pulled me aside to tell me they were firing me.

There is no form of embarrassment that rivals that which ensues when you've just been told you're being fired. I wasn't being simply laid off. I was actually being FIRED. As in, THEY didn't want ME anymore. This was a completely new concept to me, as I had always been a mature, reliable, and trustworthy employee with a good work ethic, and who did not attract or perpetuate drama. I had also always been the one to decide to exercise the "at-will" clause and end the working relationship. I had never had that decision made for me before. I admit, it felt really awkward. I had always been a good girl who refused to get caught up in the usual shit-stirring. And here I was getting fired. By a goll-dang SPORTS BAR, no less.

I spent the next 20 minutes in a small fury of negative emotion. I was told I could finish out that night's shift, which only meant that they would've barred me from doing so had they not wanted to skirt having to find a replacement on such short notice. They couldn't exactly afford to do so, either, with so many new employees and so few experienced ones, gearing up for playoffs to boot. The waitress sections were currently empty and one more employee had arrived, so I went to the back to digest the news and skull my options over. I could stay, make some money, my last income for a while, and be miserable the whole time. I'm the world's worst liar, so how I conned so many people into believing I was happy with my energizer-bunny smile I'll never know, but as seasoned as my grin muscles were, I didn't even think I could smile through this.

So I did the only thing I could think to do: call my husband. He was at work, and his job had a hit-or-miss nature. Whether or not it would be a convenient time for him to talk, flip a coin. I had over 6 hours and nothing to lose. Despite the downplayed fear of losing just under half our income without warning of any kind, he cheered me up! He was nothing but comforting and encouraging. He told me not to worry about the money; it would take care of itself. He made me look at the bright side: now I could put all my energy into getting into, and getting ready for, massage therapy school. I made the decision that day.

Newly empowered, I decided I had better things to do. I told my manager, who tried to conceal her disappointment and the following panic that only the manager of an understaffed rocking-busy joint knows, that I was going home after all. It was odd making that long-but-easy-haul home with the sun to my back; typically it's pitch black out and I'm trying to avoid deer and drunks in the wee hours of the night. Not that night. As the sun set behind me, I felt a sort of nervous elation. I was free at last. It did not come without strings, fine print, hardship, or consequences. We would pay dearly a couple years later. However, we did manage to pull out of the situation stronger and smarter.

Here's the deal about getting fired: I've known several people who have gotten fired (not laid off, in this case, but honest-to-God fired) and the truth is, it's not so bad. In fact, it usually ends up being the best possible outcome of a mediocre-to-bad situation. Sure, it sucks at the time, but it doesn't stay that way. Eventually something new comes along that was even better than the abruptly halted routine. People go on to better jobs, with elevated status and salaries to match in a matter of weeks. Or they use their newfound idle time and culminated frustration to branch out on their own and start a business. Maybe they cut back on their expenses so that they can live on their spouse's income while they use this unexpected opportunity to go back to school, maybe even obtain licensure or certification. Who knows? The sky's the limit.

Six years later and I'm rounding my final lap in chiropractic med school, inches away from holding a doctor title. I also have a massage therapy license and a further certification in an advanced technique. I've had my own business, a private practice, for over 5 years. I've made more than I would have had I stuck with the bar. And what are they doing, all my scummy alcoholic co-workers with gambling problems and those dirty old barowners who cheat on their trophy wives? They're still there, at the same places, doing the same things. And what are they in the grand scheme of the cosmos? They're a bar. One of thousands in Dallas, Texas alone. Dallas is a big metro, and Texas is a big state. They're hardly going to etch themselves a place on a map or anything. Putting it all in perspective like that was a therapeutic thing to do. I had to remind myself that they weren't the end-all-be-all. Bars never are, and neither are retail stores or fast-food joints, for that matter. So the most important thing I realized is, it's not the end of the world. As fun as it once was to "sling beer", getting people drunk for a living, it's not like it's a lifelong mission. Getting fired was more of an ego bodyslam than anything else. But it was time to move on. And I still had the rest of my life. It was time to seize it and live it true to MYself. I do indeed feel emancipated.

25 more CDs one should never be without

Behold... (no particular order)

1. The Cure - Wish (1992)
2. Hole - Live Through This (1994)
3. Berlin - Pleasure Victim (1982)
4. Throwing Muses - The Real Ramona (1991)
5. Kaya Project - Walking Through (2004)
6. Charlatans UK - Some Friendly (1990)
7. Garbage - Version 2.0 (1998)
8. Pink Floyd - Division Bell (1994)
9. David Arkenstone - In the Wake of the Wind (1991)
10. Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982)
11. Makyo - Shringara (1999)
12. Stone Temple Pilots - Core (1992)
13. Shamen - En-Tact (1990)
14. William Orbit - Hello Waveforms (2006)
15. K's Choice - Cocoon Crash (1998)
16. Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience (1992)
17. Tears For Fears - Songs From the Big Chair (1985)
18. KLF - White Room (1991)
19. 1 Giant Leap - (self-titled) (2002)
20. Enigma - MCMXC (1990)
21. Genesis - I Can't Dance (1992)
22. Heart - Bad Animals (1987)
23. REM - Murmur (1983)
24. Ben Folds Five - Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (1999)
25. Roxette - Joyride (1991)

Jagged little pill

Come, my pretties. I must tell you a secret. Several secrets, come to think of it. Yeah, I know what you were told. I know how they wined and dined you; I know how they put on a good face. I know how they puffed up their feathers and said, "look how G--damn hot we look." I know all that because I was force-fed that pill, too, and I dutifully swallowed it just like the other 97 of my brethren that will walk the stage right along with me in three short months, and the 15-odd others who had the sense to cut their losses and leave sooner. We all have smiles and shiny white teeth and dimples in our cheeks like we're supposed to, but inside we know it's a farce. We're well aware of the unspoken reality we share.

Allow me to clarify--our diplomas are real. Our degrees are genuine. We are (or will be) real doctors. That's not the issue; it has never been a question, nor will it ever be. The issue comes down to what it all means and what we went through to get it. But that's a separate entry (or ten).

Let me tell you the other half of the story, the half that completes it and makes it real. What's important isn't so much what they're telling you as it is what they're not telling you. And of the 60,000 licensed chiropractors out there, none of them really seem to want to talk about it. Of all the informational websites out there (OK, there are just a few), none provide the whole picture. So, if you'll allow me...

First, I don't care what you've been led to believe - they don't give a flying blue fuck about you, your family, your commute, your body clock, your previous life, your sanity, your health, your time, your abilities, or even you as a person. You are, and will always be, seen as nothing but a cross between a potential revenue source and a pain in the ass, just for being there.

Second, never rest on your laurels and get used to things as they currently are at any given time. Count on change and come to expect it, because if there has ever been any single common theme at Parker from year to year, it's that each and every class is a litter of guinea pigs. As big a deal as they made of their 25th anniversary in existence, you'd think they'd have a few of the basics straightened out. Well, they do. They know how to 1) make a profit and 2) cover their ass in the process. But as far as making things better or more efficient, perish the thought. Yahoo cares more about enhancing your consumer experience than Parker does, and you don't have to pay Yahoo $150k over the next three years. You almost start to think that you're stuck in some kind of wretched Groundhog Day nightmare, where Parker is simply reliving their first couple green, wet-behind-the-ears years over and over again. Maybe it is their first rodeo after all.

Third, these changes that I speak of? Are never for the better. Typically it's an alteration to some process that students never complained about because it actually made sense. Or a kneejerk reaction that remedies something they couldn't help but to realize is bad, only to be replaced by a new, worse, more complicated solution. Oh, they'll sell it to the gullible as a win-win-win-win situation for everyone and all admin will be all smiles, but truth is that out of the deal, everything is done for the benefit of the profit machine that is the institution and the students--those footing the nearly-criminal bill, mind you--are completely left out of the conversation, a completely dismissed afterthought at very best. Do the students ever benefit? Sure, but only if the school does. Absolutely nothing is purely student-centered, especially like it once was. It's not even professor-centered. They claim that the public clinic is doctor-based, but that is only so that the kahunas on top can hold the staff doctors' feet to the fire to produce more, more, more. And they'll have to, because long after each batch of students has left, the staff docs will still be there, trying to crank out numbers for the prez. Who, incidentally, just bought a new Bentley. Wonder if that was in addition to, or from trading in, that hot little 2-seater Mercedes. I've given up keeping tabs.

So where do you fit in? You are a captive audience. Sure, before you sign on the dotted line, they roll out the red carpet and give you three-forks treatment (are they still ordering Jason's Deli for the prospectives? Or are they having our wretched cafe cater that, too, like they do all the other student events? Oh, they didn't tell you that either? Shocking.) Life is all roses and unicorns until--Bam! Day One of the first trimester. The cold, hard reality comes as a steel-like shock as the fluffy clouds and cotton candy fade and disintegrate. You are theirs for the wrangling, the abusing, the stressing out. Don't believe me, ask a 6th trimester student who has to cram for both the Clinic Entrance exam and Part 1 of the National Board exam. Ask me how many pots of coffee they'll brew in the next few days. You are theirs for the sales pitches and advertisements - some subtle, some insultingly blatant. Entire classes (Extra Spinal Adjusting Technique, Physio Therapy 2, and the elective Bio-Energetic Synchronization Technique class, just to name a few) are based solely on the products, services, protocols, and/or philosophy of one or more private companies who just so happen to have donated large sums of money to the school. Does it benefit you? I fail to see how; I honestly don't know where the money goes, because despite every square inch going to the highest bidder, tuition keeps inching up. Which just adds to the stress, of which there is never a shortage at Parker. The institution seems to push people to the brink of both exhaustion and insanity. No wonder we had a suicide last trimester. Bet that never came up at the last prospective student open house now, did it? You don't have to answer; I already know.

Just as importantly, understand that everything is a secret at Parker. If there's an insane procedure you've never received decent training in, you'll be expected to dust off your psychic powers. If there is a rumor circulating, take heed. Admin claims these rumors are "untrue" but in reality, the rumor was simply an unproven fact, and they're simply trying to do damage control, covering their own asses while they attempt to identify, tar, and feather the soul who leaked the info too early or to the wrong people before admin was ready to spring it on the unsuspecting student body. They know that if you find out early enough, you can plan and prepare, and thus they lose their edge. See, they keep an upper hand on things by keeping a lid on things, which means keeping you in the dark.

As you progress along the nonstop to nowhere, you will most likely fall into one of three groups. Maybe you'll become the rah-rah yes-man lap-dog cheerleading puppet who parrots everything you are told and supports the institution and all of its endeavors until your dying day. Or maybe you'll not necessarily approve but yet not necessarily disapprove of the school's shenanigans, but hey it's only three years of your life after which you'll be out and you won't care anyway. Or perhaps you'll become one of the "bitter ones", a once-hopeful new puppy embittered from too many kicks in the face through the trimesters because despite your original optimism and your stubborn attempts to preserve it despite the abuse, it slowly dawns on you that you can no longer deny that it's all about them and all about money and that in the process, you've been robbed of a (very expensive) lifetime opportunity and irretrievable years, forced to accumulate tallied numbers and cram useless facts via rote memorization about conditions you'll never see in real life, meanwhile graduating with the heavy feeling that you're grossly ill-prepared to actually help anyone.

We stood in the registration lines for the last time today. As we were leaving, the innocent, unsuspecting, cheerful, optimistic, downright giddy hopefuls were dutifully lined up, completely unaware of the buttkicking they're about to receive and the callousness with which it will be delivered. Do you know how badly I wanted to shout out to them? There's a reason they keep the earlier trimesters carefully segregated from the upper echelon. Christ, we can't have the near-graduates intermingling with the new incoming students now, can we? Admin would lose their advantageous handle.

Like I said, I know what they told you. They should be hanged. I've been there, done that, lived it, and I know better. I also do not have a vested interest in any particular agenda either way, like, oh, you know, fattening up the school's roster and thus boosting revenue. I have nothing to lose or gain except my own conscience, which is only put to rest if I have spilled the (whole) truth to anyone who might stumble across this diatribe and take it to heart. My pretties, do research your schools. And yes, you do want to venture beyond the parroting rah-rah yes-man lap-dog cheerleading puppet that invariably is carefully hand-selected to conduct the tours putting on the Sunday-best face. You know, the show(off)-and-tell strut-our-stuff peacock runway show meant to razzle and dazzle you all the way to the end of the green mile, at which lies the dotted line of the Master Promissary Note. Because in the end, gang, that's all it boils down to, and that's all you'll ever be good for.

You can call me bitter if you want. Hell, it's the truth. You could even say I have an axe to grind. Correction: I have several. However, I started out much like yourselves, an innocent hopeful in the other registration line, incidentally separated from the very upper trimester students who would've been happy to save my ass given half the chance. I got the whole peacock runway show and I was dazzled, too. In reality, I'm more of a silver-lining person who would much rather given someone the benefit of the doubt, even if I have to squint and hallucinate to make it out. However, when I'm spent, I'm spent. If a solidly-established pattern of raw factual data repeatedly presents itself, then I have no choice but to alter my hypothesis to match the new empirical data. If you've taken this seriously and chosen to look elsewhere for your education, great - I hope that I've helped you save some valuable time, energy, and lest we forget, money. If you are locked into staunch opposition, that's fine, too. It's your right to refuse to believe me; you're entitled and I don't hold any hard feelings. I do have one request, though--to meet up again in three years. Call yourself a guinea pig once again and call it yet one more experiment.

goodbye blue sky

"...When the promise of a brave new world / Unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?" Although Pink Floyd isn't exactly known for its sunshiny demeanor, and leaving room S220 for the last time after this morning's final lecture was anything but depressing, that was the song that popped into my head anyway.

Considering the slightly-more-than-a-hint of bittersweetness that this morning's class was shadowed by, it's a slightly appropriate song, although it begs to be followed up with something like Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow". We sat together--Burke, Karen, Jeremy, Kylie, Jay, and myself--in our usual longitudinal tight-knit 6-pack in what was probably the quirkiest room on campus, we did what we always did--the comments, the laughter, the half falling asleep, and our newfound pasttime of someone always having to get the last clap in.

This was a day I'd been looking forward to for a long time. I had been growing to resent having to scan a chapter in a book for vocab words or numerical factoids or labor over a simplistic Power Point presentation containing bulleted list that lacked meaning and cohesion, just because these things might make good test questions. Now I can crack the books for real, books that I have chosen, versus the less-than-ideal textbooks too often chosen for us. I can read in-depth, at my pace, the subjects I deem necessary, applying the main concepts to real live patients. I now have the spare time to devote to my own learning based on my judgment of what's important rather than having to base my reading on someone else's. And when I feel tired, I no longer have to press on so I can say I made it through all the material, all the while remembering next to nothing the next day because I was too tired to actually absorb any of it.

That's not to say that there wasn't some wistfulness, though. I have to admit, I'm going to miss parts of this. Like making innocent side comments, some of them mildly cynical, but all of them in relatively good fun. Or ripping on the slackers in the back - again, better natured than that sounds. I'll miss the people who thought to put bottled water at every single seat in preparation for the hard-assed prof who broke school policy by saying we couldn't have so much as water during class. I'll miss the innocent Southern belle with the soft voice and a hilarious not-so-innocent inner layer. Or the wouldn't-hurt-a-fly straight-up Mormon guy who also studies witchcraft because he has so many Wiccan friends. Or the other big good-natured guy who belted out the Happy Birthday song louder than the other 96 people put together. Or the people who always said, "isn't it (so-and-so's) birthday?" when it really wasn't, inciting the profs to initiate the Happy Birthday song to the same person about 50 times during Tri 7 alone, all the while without realizing it was the same kid every time. I'll miss the differing opinions and honest discussions, the philosophy debates, the mood swings, the jokes, and the laughs.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'll actually miss our room. The first thing our prof on the first day of Tri 1 said is, flat-out, point-blank, "you guys got screwed. Your room sucks." He was being funny, but serious. At first we couldn't really stand our room. It was oddly shaped, oddly lit, and lacking in a way I never figured out. One thing I did notice was that we lacked a center aisle. If you wanted to sit in the middle of a row and not out to the side, you had to make your way past a lot of people, a task that got much trickier if you weren't in the first couple rows in front and couldn't just hop over the table. Over time, though, our room grew on us, became part of us, shaped the general personality of the class as a whole, and pretty soon it amused us, as our profs often hated our room more than we did. They'd bitch and moan about not having a center aisle, as it was harder to keep tabs on our in-class activities, and they'd burn off their frustrations by walking laps around the perimeter or pacing back and forth across the front like caged lions. The more intense the professor's baseline personality, the more comical it got to watch.

But the fact is, that chapter is done. We're no longer students in class, but rather full-fledged residents, living practically full-time in the clinic, exclusively treating real patients, and functioning as doctors in a matter of months. We keep thinking that it's only some time in early summer and that graduation is something like 9 months away, but it's not. We have to stop and remind ourselves how fast time has flown and how fast it will continue to fly. I can only imagine what this surreal vibe is going to feel 4 months from now, when we walk across the stage for real, with, as mentioned before, "...the promise of a brave new world / Unfurled beneath a clear blue sky".

For Massage Therapists: Just Getting Started?

I remember graduating from massage therapy school. It was a little surreal that, for all practical purposes, I held the title of massage therapist. I stepped out into the residual heat from the Texas July day, and the gathering humidity of the impending nightfall. It was already dark, and the parking lot was only illuminated by the single streetlamp. Since our class of about 20 or so graduated all at different times (it was all about how fast we got through internship), I didn't have anyone to share the moment with, so I basked in it by myself on the way to the truck. What I felt hung somewhere between elation and bittersweet wistfulness. I realized that as much as I had looked forward to getting done, I was going to miss this place.

So what about you, newlygrads? No longer are you your maternal instructor's massage puppies; you're out in the real world now, and it's sink or swim. Since the average career lifespan of a massage therapist is a meager 2 years, I decided to post, in no particular order, some of what I learned, both in school and during the past several years in practice, to stack some more cards in your favor.

First, do what you love. If you really hate giving relaxation rubdowns in a yuppie spa-like setting, and you'd really rather do sports massage for acute and chronic injuries for athletes, then by all means, head for the playing field instead of the spa. If you don't feel like digging your elbow into the paraspinal muscles for an hour, you don't have to do deep tissue. If you want to do energy work, cleansing, or infant massage, do it. If your calling is end-of-life palliative massage for the terminally ill, go for it! Don't chase the money, even if you perceive one avenue to be more prosperous than others. Do what you love, because life is too short not to. The financial security will follow. If you're doing the right thing from the right spot in your heart and head, the Universe will make sure you have what you need.

Next, decide whether or not you want to work for yourself or someone else. Sure, this was covered in business class, and some schools teach this subject much better than others, but give it some thought from another angle, if you haven't already. Deciding whether to start your own practice or contract with someone else seems simple, but it's not. Unless you have a strong business background (i.e. you've owned a business before or you grew up in a self-employement climate), you're going to have to shift your way of thinking to a mode you've never been in before. Working for yourself is all kinds of awesome, and I'll probably expound upon its joys and rewards in a separate future post. But suffice it to say that although it seems like a slacker's paradise (you get to set your own hours and write your own policies and whatnot), it's exactly the opposite. Since you don't have a supervisor micromanaging your every move, you have to do that yourself, which takes serious discipline. In the beginning, the business will consume your every waking moment. You'll have a lot to plan, and it's always more work than you ever imagined. The benefits pay off big, though, if you're the right personality type to drive the business to succeed long enough to reap the rewards.

Next, if you decide to open your practice, start off cheap. You really only need a table, which usually runs under a grand, some office supplies (stapler, file folders, perforated business cards, etc) which will most likely run you a couple hundred, massage oil, which can be bought in bulk cheaply, and a schedule book, which can be found for under $10. You'll probably find that you need a computer, but you can do a lot on this and the money you'll save in the long run is well worth the initial investment. While you're at it, get a printer, too - color laser, if you can swing it. Our computer was a screaming-fast top-of-the-line machine, and we custom-picked the parts and then had it assembled. Going this route cost us $1100 for the computer and $700 for the color laser printer, but you can most likely find a better deal. We do everything on that computer, including keep records, schedule appointments, communicate via email, do research, create and print newsletters, and we created our own intake forms and policy sheets as well, and we print what we need, only when we need it. We even built, wrote, and still continue to update, our website with web software we purchased at a local hole-in-the-wall shop that sells software at educationally-discounted prices to students with a simple show of a student ID. Our URL costs us around $10 per year, and thanks to a friend with a reliable, always-on networked computer, our web hosting (i.e. space to store our website such that it's always online) is free. We added a cell phone to our existing plan so that we could keep all business separate from our personal life. Sheets at Ross ended up to be $10-12 per twin set, even for trendy designer brands, and if you don't mind doing laundry fairly often, you can start with 4-8 sets. We make our own newsletter for the cost of only our time, and we design and print our own business cards. It's nothing fancy, but they are professional-looking and down-to-earth, avoiding the glitzy vibe.

If you work for yourself, I strongly encourage you to write a policy manual, even if the only person that ever sees it is yourself. This gives you a chance to dream up all the "what ifs" you can muster. Don't worry about thinking up every possible scenario now; you can always add as you go along. This will be a work in progress, changing drastically over time as clients present challenges and dilemmas to you and you learn from the mistakes you'll definitely make. Having a policy manual also gives you a bit more ground to stand on in a difficult situation. Trust me, there will be clients who will try to take advantage of you, by trying to strong-arm you into giving them a deal, working outside of your usual hours, taking an appointment on what is normally a day off, or trying to get around some other policy you've set. Certain situations will invariably come up early on in your practice, and you'll want to be armed with effective ways to handle them that are fair for everyone. Situations such as late cancellations, no-shows, strange requests from people with dubious and slimy intentions, late arrivals, etc, are unfortunately facts of life for practically every MT out there, and the more prepared you are to face these headon and stand your ground, the healthier you and your practice will be.

If you decide to work for someone else, you get to do your job, log your hours, and then go home, bypassing the all-consuming brainstorming sessions that invariably await the self-employed at the "end" of the day. Life is simpler for you in some ways, and more difficult in others. For one, you don't have as much of a say in a lot of matters. Everything is negotiable, but you're not just negotiating with yourself and your prospective clientele; you're also negotiating with owners of businesses who possess a legitimate desire to make a profit off of your efforts. Notice that I did say "legitimate". Yes, these people will charge the clientele more than they're going to pay you, and yes, they're going to keep the difference. Yes, that is OK. They're providing you with a place to work, staff to support you, utilities, equipment, some supplies, and most important of all, clientele. Heck, they may even do some marketing for you. It's give and take; the more they provide and the less you have to do yourself, the more of the fee for services they get to keep. On the other hand, the more you're responsible for doing or furnishing, the more generous the terms should be in your favor. There are a lot of bad deals out there, and contracts are generally binding. Be prepared to walk away if you can't live with the terms you're being asked to sign your name to, because it's a lot tougher to come back and claim foul play months or years later. If a term in the contract bothers you or rubs you the wrong way, ask about it, and/or try to negotiate your way out of it--before you sign. The truth is, the "employer" may already have the contract printed up, and they may insist that it's their standard contract that everyone signs, and they may even state that no one else has had a problem or question regarding it, but that doesn't mean you're relegated to following suit; every term is ultimately negotiable. This doesn't mean that the other side has to budge, but it does mean you're not prohibited from asking. And like I said, if the contract contains too many dealbreakers for you, it's OK to walk away. The right thing will come along at the right time.

This next point piggybacks on the last one, regarding business relationships--specifically independent contractor (IC) versus a W-2 style (W-2) employee. These two statuses are NOT interchangeable; in fact, they're almost opposites. It's common for an established business to want it both ways; they seek out workers and attempt to call them ICs, and then turn around and try to treat them like W-2s. The advantage to an IC is that you, the worker, retain control. You do your job (i.e. give a massage) as you see fit, you pick your own days and hours, you schedule yourself time off giving advance notice but not having to seek approval from anyone, you use your own supplies, and you pay your own income taxes. The last part is what the host business is really after; by keeping you on IC status, they save a bundle in the withholding taxes that they don't have to pay out every quarter. Who does? You. There are few advantages to W-2 status as I see it. Like any other such employer, they pretty much own you. They can set your schedule and dictate how you do massage. The advantage is that you have a few protections, such as the right to a safe environment (and retribution against the establishment if they fail to provide it), and they pay half your income taxes. Being an employee also typically does not call for a contract, some of the terms of which can be rather unfavorable to therapists. As an IC, watch out for things like non-compete clauses - if there is one and a radius and/or time frame are specified, do the math and realize the full ramifications of those specifics. A measly-sounding 5-mile radius can easily bar you from practicing anywhere else in your hometown and put you into the next suburb or town over, creating a daily drive for you.

Be professional. Don't wear skimpy or unclean clothes. Don't wear high heels. Dress for comfort and professionalism. I personally like business casual attire from places like Ross or Kohl's. I choose my clothing carefully, but I can look really good without spending much money. Business casual is a great way to set yourself apart from other therapists, showing that you're more serious and mature. Scrubs, although more typical for therapists, are good, too. They're loose (thus allowing you to move freely and comfortably) without being skanky, they're clinical without being mistaken for sexy, and they dry fast should you spill water on yourself or forget to throw them in the dryer until 10 minutes before your appointment. You could even wear a scrub shirt and jeans. My favorite outfit for the longest time was clean jeans, a white turtleneck, and a long-sleeved scrub jacket that I wore open (I dressed in layers because I got cold easily).

Go the extra mile. Warm up your hands before starting a masage. People love warm hands. Offering water afterward is an absolute must (and a glass of tap water doesn't cut it at all); people really appreciate being able to choose between chilled and room temperature water. Not everyone likes cold water; some have very cold-sensitive teeth, or they just plain may not like the taste of cold water. Make a newsletter. It doesn't have to be weekly, or even monthly. I came out with a new issue every 4 months. Make appropriate referrals. (Plan well ahead by seeking out, meeting with, and building a select network of, practitioners from various other healthcare fields. A variety is best, because you never know what a client will present to you with.) If you think someone may benefit from the services of a chiropractor or an acupuncturist, give them the names of several from your trusted network. Show them how to stretch properly, if you know this information, or perhaps give them simple, relatively risk-free exercises they can do themselves at home in between visits. They'll do better in between visits and they'll thank you for it.

Always practice good boundary management. There will be clients who test your boundaries, but engaging in conversation about iffy topics, or by dictating how various aspects of your practice apply to them. There will be other therapists who have poor boundary issues and judgment, and you'll hear stories about them from your clients who have had such therapists in the past. Boundaries indeed can mean anything from conversation matter to cancellation policies to a therapist sharing too much personal information to puncturality. So, again it's the little things. Be on time. Check your voicemail often, but I wouldn't make it a habit of answering your phone whenever, because doing so tells clients your boundaries are loose and they can just call you whenever they want. Decide on a work schedule and stick to it. Have certain days and hours that you are available for massage, and that's it. You might also designate some abbreviated evening or weekend hours for which you don't do massage but you do return phone calls or emails.

Last but not least (at least for now), never give your work away! Do not do free chair or table masage at public events just for publicity. The hosts of these events will solicit your services with the intention of getting them for free, because enough therapists in the past have done it for free, and the general public has come to expect this and takes full advantage of it. They act like they're doing you a favor by "allowing" you to "get your name out there". This largely doesn't work. Free massage at a public event does not translate to paid massage in your office. Do not think that just because these clients got on your chair or table at an event and signed up for your newsletter and promised to come see you and acted all excited about it that you will actually see these people and that they will pay you your price for your services. It just doesn't happen. Instead, when people solicit your services, thank them for choosing you and offer them a price quote. The only deal I've given for these events is a slightly discounted rate per hour when I know I'll be there all day - kind of like cheaper bulk pricing. Also, do not give your first massage away, or offer a deal to first-time clients. All this does is encourage the headachy phenomena of window-shopping and bargain-hunting, both of which can be annoying and even possibly insulting. Come up with a price that resonates with you, that you can ask for with a straight face, and stick to it. Don't apologize, don't waver, and don't backpedal. Those who appreciate your services and talents and your time will gladly pay you for it; the rest, you simply don't need--they're usually more headache than they're worth anyway.

I hope this helps. Go forth and effleurage!

so you want a free lunch...read the fine print!

CONGRESSMAN____________________________________
If you aren’t going to read the entire HealthCare bill, here is a summary:
PG 22 MANDATES the Government will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!
PG 24 Line 116 Government effectively sets prices for ALL private health plans.
PG 30 Line 123 THERE WILL BE A Government COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
PG 37 Line 132 The Government will be reviewing grievances about themselves and will decide on appeals for rejected claims.
PG 29 Line 4-16 YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!! Additionally you can reference PG 15 Line 19-25.
PG 42 The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HealthCare Benefits for you. You have no choice!
PG 50 Line 152 HealthCare will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise.
PG 58 Government will have real-time access to individuals’ finances & a National ID HealthCare Card will be
issued!
PG 59 Line 21-24 Government will have direct access to your banks accounts for electronic funds transfer!
PG 61 Line 22-24 Congress has no clue what Electronic Medical Records will cost. Asks for estimate.
PG 62 Protection of Data, Government shows they will have database of your personal & financial info.
PG64 L 21-25, pg65 L 1-5 which refers to processing payment transactions by financial institutions
PG 65 Line 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community organizations (ACORN).
PG 72 Line 8-14 Government is creating an HealthCare Exchange to bring private HealthCare plans under Government
control.
PG 84 Line 203 Government mandates ALL benefit packages for private. HealthCare plans in the Exchange.
PG 85 Line 7 Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Government will ration your HealthCare! #AARP members –
your Health care Will be rationed.
PG 89 Line 6-10 The FAR is not applicable. Government can write contracts any way they want.
PG 95 Line 8-18 The Gov. will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Government HealthCare plan.
PG 98 Line 8 Americans - You will be paying for others HealthCare while paying for your own.
PG 100 Line 15-19 The Government Will be using ACORN and other community groups to promote & enroll.
PG 102 Line 12-18 Medicaid Eligible Individual will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.
PG 109 Line 207 Health Trust Fund. The Government will raise taxes on EVERYONE to fund HealthCare as they see fit.
PG 110 Line 7-12 Employment taxes on ALL employers NOT offering Government HealthCare. No choice.
PG 110 Line 13-18 An excise tax on ALL goods from companies not offering Government HealthCare. ALL Americans pay.
PG 110 Line 19-24 the Treasury can take $$ from Soc Line to pay HealthCare.
PG 111 Line 208 The Federal Government will usurp all State powers in State Based HealthCare Exchange. Violation of 10th
Amendment.
PG 119 Line 1-3 establish geographically-adjusted premium rates for public option Can you say ACORN census?
PG 121 Line 223 PAYMENT RATES FOR ITEMS AND SERVICES. Can you say Government price fixing & monopoly?
PG 124 Line 24-25 No company can sue Government on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Government Monopoly.
PG 126 Line 10-15 The Government can make up prices for anything at anytime for any reason.
PG 126 Line 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HealthCare for part time employees AND their families.
PG 127 Line 1-16 Doctors: The Government will tell YOU what you can make.
PG 129 The public option will be subsidized. Credits = your tax dollars. Redistribution of wealth.
PG 130 Line 10-23 Federal Government will subsidize State Medicaid = Even Higher State & Federal taxes for ALL.
PG 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public option plan. NO CHOICE.
PG 149 Line 16-24 ANY Employer with payroll 400k & above who does not provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll.
PG 150 Line 9-13 Biz with payroll btw 251k & 400k who doesn’t provide public option pays 2-6% tax on all payroll.
PG 151 Line 1-3 Aggregate Rules-tax on employers payroll not on public option include payroll of other biz.
PG 167 Line 18-23 ANY individual who doesn’t have acceptable HealthCare according to Government will be taxed 2.5% of inc.
PG 170 Line 1-3 Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay)
PG 195 officers & employees of HealthCare Administration (Government) will have access to ALL Americans
financial/personal records.
PG 198 Line 1-3 1.5% ADDITIONAL TAX on peeps who have income of 500k to 1mil. Redistribution of Wealth.
PG 198 Line 4-6 5.4% ADDITIONAL TAX on peeps who have income of 1mil+. Redistribution of Wealth
PG 199 Line 1-4 Surtax rates on raised AGAIN on Americans in 2012.
PG 201 Line 12-19 Government will ignore whatever costs they see fit to show savings. (Cooking the books)
PG 203 Line 14-15 “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax” Yes, it says that.
PG 202-215 is a Government rewrite of the tax code ensuring more taxes for EVERYONE, Everywhere.
PG 239 Line 14-24 Government will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected.
PG 241 Line 6-8 Doctors, doesn’t matter what specialty you have, you’ll all be paid the same.
PG236 L22-25, 237 L1-3 National rate of uninsured defined by Census. Can you say ACORN corruption?
PG 239 Line 10-12 Medicare DSH payments will be increased. Can you say even higher taxes for all?
PG 238-249 Line 1121 Doctors-Government mandates your growth, costs, value, services, & income. Welcome to rationing
PG 253 Line 10-18 Government sets value of Dr’s time, prof judg, etc. Literally value of humans. We’re next.
PG 260 Line 1125 Fed Government will adjust Medicare Payment Localities for California based on Census. ACORN?
PG 265 Line 1131 Government mandates & controls productivity for private HealthCare industries.
PG 268 Line 1141 Fed Government regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
PG 270 Line 1144 Government Mandates that all private ambulatory surgical centers submit cost data & other data
PG 272 Line 1145 TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS – Cancer patients – welcome to rationing!
PG 276 Line 3-20 Oxygen Equipment & Supply Companies - Government MANDATES you will provide supplies NO
MATTER where individual is.
PG 287 Line 14-25 PROOF that Government will ration HealthCare by mandating waiting periods for readmission.
PG 298 Line 9-11 Drs, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a readmission - Government will penalize you.
PG 303 Line 12-25 Post Acute Care Services Data – Government will collect data including personal information as they see fit.
PG 304 Line 17-19 BIG ONE HERE: Expedited Data Collection – Chapter 35 o… Read More: http://www.twitlonger.com/
show/c5bcfdae ... 6be70918ac
PG 304 Line 17-19 Government does NOT have to protect your private information, share with anyone, & is not resp
Expedited Data Collection - Chapter 35 of Title 44 of USC SHALL NOT APPLY. Folks this gives the govt
the right to access ur data any way the see fit.
Here is link to the chapter: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode44/usc_sec_44_00003501----
000-.html
Look at number 8 THE GOVT IS SAYING THAT THEY DONT HAVE TO DO THIS!!!
(8) ensure that the creation, collection, maintenance, use, dissemination, and disposition of information by or
for the Federal Government is consistent with applicable laws, including laws relating to—
(A) privacy and confidentiality, including section 552a of title 5;
(B) security of information, including section 11332 of title 40 [1] ; and
(C) access to information, including section 552 of title 5;
PG 306 Line 3-6 The Government can expand the scope & size of Post Acute Program Services anytime & as they see fit.
PG 313 Line 9-14 Government MANDATES Health Services providers will state ownership, invest, & compensation
arrangements.
PG 317 Line 13-20 PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Government tells Drs. what/how much they can own.
PG 317-318 L 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Government is mandating hospitals cannot expand.
PG 318-319 Government is mandating how hospitals & physicians conduct business & investments. We’re next!
PG 321 2-13 Hospitals have opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!
PG 328 Line 1157 Government study disguised. Its a HealthCare workforce study mandated by law for unionization.
Pg335 L16-25,PG 336-339 Government mandates estab. of outcome based measures. HealthCare the way they want. Rationing.
PG 341 Line 3-9 Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing into Government plan.
PG 354 Line 1177 Government will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people!
PG 355-369 Line 1181 Government disguises tax on Drug Companies as rebate to Government to subsidize Drugs. We pay in the end.
PG 379 Line 1191 Government creates more bureaucracy – Telehealth Advisory Committee. Can you say HealthCare by phone?
PG 399 If your a subsidy eligible individual under Medicare part D and you don’t enroll, the Government will auto
enroll you.
PG 401 Section 1221 Americans will fund Medicare Language & Translation Services Program. Can you say MORE taxes?
PG 404 Lines 12-16 Government exempts itself again from - Chap 35 of title 44, USC including privacy of Americans.
PG 404 Lines 17-19 Government doesn’t know the cost of Language services but states that money is there.
PG 425 Lines 4-12 Government mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life.
PG 425 Lines 17-19 Government will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!
PG425 L22-25, 426 L1-3 Government provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death.
PG 427 Lines 15-24 Government mandates program for orders for end of life. The Government has a say in how your life ends.
PG 429 Lines 1-9 An “advance care planning consultant” will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates.
PG 429 Lines 10-12 “advance care consultation” may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from Government.
PG 429 Lines 13-25 The Government will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order. Logan’s Run anyone?
PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Government will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life.
PG 432 Lines 18-21 The Government will publish “quality measures” for individual’s end of life in Federal Register.
PG 434 Section 1234 Military Active, Reservists, Families - If you’re not enrolled in Tricare it is mandated.
PG 434 Section 1234 Military Active, Reservists, Families - Once HealthCare bill is passed your premiums will go up.
PG 438 Section 1236 The Government will develop a patient decision making aid program that you & Dr. WILL use.
PG 443 Lines 7-24 Government at taxpayers expense test out an “Accountable Care Org” program (Government doesn’t have plan.)
PG 444 Lines 1-6 Government’s Accountable Care Program will mandate services & infrastructure thru reward/penalty system.
PG 448 Lines 4-17 Government will set performance targets for ALL Accountable Care Organizations including private.
PG 455 Lines 3-4 Government exempts itself from Chapter 35, Title 44 Paperwork Reduction & Citizens Privacy Protection Act
PG 460 Section 1302 Knock Knock - It’s the Government and I’m here with the Medical Home Program - YOUR home.
PG 460 Section 1302 The Government WILL provide medical services in your home. Paging Nurse Pelosi!!
PG 464 Lines 17-22 Independent Patient Center Home Medical Services - Drs. don’t have to be at your home just some directed by D
PG 469 Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit organizations. Hello, ACORN Medical Services here!!?
Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED Organization - 1 monthly payment to a community-based
organization Like ACORN?
PG 476 19-20 Chapter 35/ title 44, (Privacy of personal records) shall not apply Home Medical Services. ACORN ACCESS
PG 489 Section 1308 Government will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt into your marriage.
PG 494-498 Government will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, rationing those services.
PG 502 Section 1181 Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research Established. - Hello Big Brother - Literally.
PG 502 Line 5-18 Government builds the “Center” to conduct, support, & synthesize research to define our HealthCare Services.
PG 503 Line 13-19 Government will build registries and data networks from YOUR electronic medical records.
PG 503 Line 21-25 Government may secure data directly from any department or agency of the US including your data.
PG 504 Line 6-10 The “Center” will collect data both published & unpublished (that means public & your private info)
PG 506 Line 19-21 The Center will recommend policies that would allow for public access of data
PG 518 Line 21-25 The Commission will have input from HealthCare consumer reps - Can you say unions & ACORN?
PG 524 18-22 Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund set up. More taxes for ALL.
PG 525-620 deals with the Government basically taking over nursing homes, PGs 525-620 deals with the Govt
basically taking over nursing homes,long-term care facilities (think assisted living) through regulations of
the facilities, the owners of sd facilities, the employees of sd facilities and even the land owners of that sd
facilities reside on.
Additionally as you read these 90+ pages you can come to the conclusion that any Health related svcs will be
determined and rationed by the Govt for our senior citizens and others in nursing homes.
This one post should do enough to raise awareness of the control the Govt is exerting over the older
population of American citizens.
PG 620 Line 1-9 The Government will define, prioritize, and nationalize your Health Care Services.
PG 621 Lines 20-25 Government will define what Quality means in HealthCare. Since when does Government know about quality?
PG 622 Lines 2-9 To pay for the quality Standards Government will transfer $$ from to other Government Trust Funds. More Taxes.
PG 624 “Quality” measures shall be designed to assess outcomes & functional status of patients.
PG 628 Section 1443 Government will give “Multi-Stake Holders” Pre-Rule Making input into Selection of “Quality” Measures.
PG 630 9-24/631 1-9 Those Multi-stake holder groups including Unions & groups like ACORN deciding HealthCare quality.
PG 632 Lines 14-25 The Government may implement any “Quality measure” of HealthCare Services as they see fit.
PG 633 14-25/ 634 1-9 The Secretary may issue non-endorsed “Quality Measures” for Physician Services & Dialysis Services.
PG 635 - 653 Physicians Payments Sunshine Provision - Government wants to shine sunlight on Docs but not Government.
PG 654-659 Public Reporting on Health Care-Associated Infections - Looks okay.
PG 660-671 Doctors in Residency - Government will tell you where your residency will be, thus where you’ll live.
PG 676-686 Government will regulate hospitals in EVERY aspect of residency programs, including teaching hospitals.
PG 686-700 Increased Funding to Fight Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. You mean the Government with an $18 mil website?
PGs 701-704 Section 1619 If your part of HealthCare plan that isn’t in Government HealthCare Exchange but you qualify
for Federal aid, no payment.
PG 705-709 SEC. 1128 If Secretary gets complaints (ACORN) on HealthCare provider or supplier, Government can do background check.
PG 711 Lines 8-14 The Secretary has broad powers to deny HealthCare providers/suppliers admittance into HealthCare Exchange.
Pg 719-720 Section 1637 ANY Doctor who orders durable medical equipment or home medical services MUST be enrolled in Medicare.
PG 722 Section 1639 Government Mandates Doctors must have face-to-face with patient to certify patient for Home Health Services.
PG 724 Lines 16-22 Government reserves right to apply face-to-face certification for patient to ANY other HealthCare service.
PG 724 23-25 PG 725 1-5 The same Government certifications will apply to medicaid & CHIP (your kids)
Pg 735 lines 16-25 For law enforcement purposes, the Secretary of Health & Human Services will give Attorney General access to
ALL data.
PG 740-757 Government sets guidelines for subsidizing the uninsured (That’s your tax dollars peeps)
Pg 757-762 Fed Government will shift burden of payments to Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) to States. (Taxes)
Page 763 1-8 No DS/EA hospitals will be paid unless they provide services without regard to national origin
Pg 765 Section 1711 Government will require Preventative Services including vaccines. (Choice?)
Pg 768 Section 1713 Government - Nurse Home Visitation Services (Hello union paybacks)
Pg 769 3-5 Nurse Home Visit Services - “increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.” Government Abortions anyone?
Pg 769 11-14 Nurse Home Visit Services include-economic self-sufficiency, employment advancement, school-readiness.
Pg 769 3-5 Nurse Home Visit Services - “increasing birth intervals between pregnancies.” Government ABORTIONS anyone?
Pg 770 SEC 1714 Federal Government mandates eligibility for State Family Planning Services. Say abortion & State Sovereign.
Pg 789-797 Government will set & mandate drug prices, controlling which drugs will brought to market. Bye innovation
Pgs 797-800 SEC. 1744 PAYMENTS for grad medical education. The government will now control Drs education.
PG 801 Sec 1751 The Government will decide which Health care conditions will be paid. Say RATION!
Pg 810 SEC. 1759. Billing Agents, clearinghouses, etc. required to register. Government takes over private payment system.
Page 820-824 Sec 1801 Government will identify individuals ineligible for subsidies. Will access all personal finances.
Pg 824-829 SEC. 1802. Government Sets up Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund. Another tax black hole.
PG 829-833 Government will impose a fee on ALL private health insurance plans including self insured to pay for Trust Fund!
PG 835 11-13 fees imposed by Government for Trust Fund shall be treated as if they were taxes.
Pg 838-840 Government will design & implement Home Visitation Program for families with young kids & families
expecting kids.
PG 844-845 This Home Visitation Program includes Government coming into your house & telling you how to parent!!!
Pg 859 Government will establish a Public Health Fund at a cost of $88,800,000,000. Yes thats Billion.
Pg 865 The Government will MANDATE the establishment of a National Health Service Corps.
PG 865 to 876 The NHS Corps is a program where Drs. perform mandatory HealthCare for 2 years for part loan repayment.
PG 876-892 The Government takes over the education of our Medical students and Drs.
PG 898 The Government will establish a Public Health Workforce Corps. to ensure supply of public health
professionals.
PG 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of officers of Regular & Reserve Corps of Service.
PG 898 The Public health workforce corps shall consist of civilian employees of the U.S. as Secretary deems.
PG 900 The Public Health Workforce Corps includes veterinarians.
PG 901 The Public Health Workforce Corps WILL include commissioned Regular & Reserve Officers. HealthCare Draft?
PG 910 The Government will develop, build & run Public Health Training Centers.
PG 913-914 Government starts a HealthCare affirmative action program thru guise of diversity scholarships.
PG 915 SEC. 2251. Government MANDATES Cultural & linguistic competency training for HealthCare professionals.
Pg 932 The Government will establish Preventative & Wellness Trust fund - intial cost of $30,800,000,000-Billion.
PG 935 21-22 Government will identify specific goals & objectives for prevention & wellness activities. Control You!!
PG 936 Government will develop “Healthy People & National Public Health Performance Standards” Tell me what to eat?
PG 942 Lines 22-25 More Government? Offices of Surgeon General -Public Health Services, Minority Health, Women’s Health
PG 950- 980 BIG Government core public health infrastructure includes workforce capacity, lab systems; health information
systems, etc
PG 993 Government will establish school based health clinics. Your kids wont have a chance.
PG 994 School Based Health Clinic will be integrated into the school environment. Say Government Brainwash!
PG 1001 The Government will establish a National Medical Device Registry. Will you be tracked?
PG 1003 9-11 National Medical Dev Reg ‘‘(iii) other postmarket device surveillance activities” you WILL be tracked.
PG 1018 States give up some of their State Sovereignty.
(From Peter Fleckenstein’s Twitter Account: http://twitter.com/fleckman)