I remove interference from the spine that is resultant from physical, emotional and chemical stress. This, along with integrating nutrition and active exercise protocols, allows the body to self-govern and self-regulate.

EDUCATION | Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from University of California, Santa Cruz Doctor of Chiropractic from the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic

HOW TO GET STARTED | Seeking out good mentors is crucial as well as keeping an openness to learning new things. Ultimately, you should be under the care of a chiropractor and be experiencing it. When we're in school learning about something, we sometimes forget the first person account of experiencing it. This gives you empathy as to what people go through when they come to see you for their own services.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | Discretion: You need to have discretion in terms of what you feel is appropriate to pass on to patients. You get a lot of sales solicitations and so much of it looks attractive but you can't possibly pass it all on to your patients without losing some of your credibility. When you make a referral these days you're putting your own name on the line. You need to be able to do that with good confidence. You also need to enjoy getting to know people and their lives, rather than just providing a service. You must enjoy trying new things in terms of attracting new patients.

how I got started | Initially, while working as an adolescent therapist, I found that I was predominantly working with the mind and I wanted to add a body component. I wanted to add an element to my professional services beyond just working with the mind, and incorporate a body enhancement and body work component. I tried many alternative therapies, styles of body work, medicine and modalities and ultimately decided on chiropractic as a service that I could provide to the community. This was also after going to a chiropractor where I had a chiropractic adjustment that really shifted my level of energy and increased my level of clarity.

why this job?| I wanted to be able to draw upon natural resources and one element that was attractive was the chiropractic philosophy which is that long term health comes from within and is express outward. We are born expressing health and simply have to maintain this birthright through the changing phases of life.

why I love this job!| I love that people come into the office feeling bad or in pain and leave the office always doing better. I love that the content and interaction I have with my patients is almost always optimistic and vitalist due to my large stewardship. I'm always learning new modalities, new products and new styles of delivery. I also love that I get to practice what I preach. I get to receive a lot of chiropractic and acupuncture, go to a lot of yoga and pilates classes and hear about a lot of nutritional products. I get to take good care of my own health and the health of family and friends.

my typical day| 3 hours of adjusting hours on established patients; 1 hour dedicated to new patient exams; 1.5 hours of paperwork;

what they are | Losing patients as a result of them believing that chiropractic care is more about pain and discomfort rather than wellness and optimization of lifestyle. People often come in for injury treatment and then stop treatments once the injury healed. We're always in the spectrum of wellness and illness and we can always achieve higher states of health and more vitalistic states. Another challenge comes from being in a marginalized profession in the eyes of the American Medical Association. There is the constant threat of losing insurance, third party administrators, and being offered lower reimbursement rates. The AMA and insurance providers sometimes don't see the service value of chiropractors.

all about growth | A recent statistic shows that 3% of the U.S. population has been under the care of a chiropractor during the last 6 months. There are a lot of individuals who would benefit from having more chiropractors in the population. There is definitely a niche and place for this profession. There is always more room for compassionate individuals to find a good and lucrative income in the chiropractic profession.

my website| www.docdonovan.com