Jon Schwartzbauer, D.C. Philosophy Department Instructor

When we look at the core values laid out in The Sherman Chiropractor released by our Board of Trustees in May 2002, we find that one of the values is dedicated to showing knowledge, skills and attitudes strongly committed to straight chiropractic. One of the ways we accomplish this is by effectively communicating the philosophy of straight chiropractic.

We need to challenge each other to work harder at this in the upcoming year. No, I’m not talking about making it a New Year’s resolution. I believe it needs to be made our New Year’s responsibility. If we are going to bring straight chiropractic to the world we have to communicate more effectively. Does this mean you have to give weekly health enhancement talks? Not necessarily, although it is highly recommended. The goal of this article is not to tell you how to educate your patients. My goal is to get everyone to pitch in and start doing his or her part.

Imagine if every office visit with your patients were consistent with our chiropractic philosophy. Imagine if there were no mixed messages given to your patients. What would that alone do for our profession? Yes, one-on-one mini-health talks are great. But imagine also if your actions matched your beliefs and were consistent with straight chiropractic principles. WOW!

We still have a long way to go in bringing straight chiropractic to the world. But if we keep taking steps (even small ones) in the right direction, we’ll get further faster. The Japanese term for this is called Kaizen. Kaizen pronounced (Ky’zen), means gradual, unending improvement, doing “little things” better; setting – and achieving – ever higher standards. The philosophy of Kaizen is often credited with Japan’s economic strengths.

Imagine if Sherman College was even more committed to Kaizen in regard to patient education. What about our alumni? Then our profession. WOW! If we were all consistently trying to improve our patient education efforts and if we do all the “little things” better, imagine the difference it would make.

Please commit to Kaizen in the year 2004 when it comes to patient education. Then bringing straight chiropractic to the world will become a much easier task for us all.