By: Samantha Silva, Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine student

If you had told me a few years ago that I would pursue my master’s degree entirely online, I may not have believed you.

In all honesty, I have always preferred being in a classroom setting. As an undergraduate student, I truly enjoyed walking to class each day and interacting with my professors and fellow classmates (you can call me a nerd, it’s okay). I felt as though this was the only way for me to really learn—by seeing, hearing and doing everything in person. Therefore, I assumed that if higher education would be in my future, it would be completed in the same manner as my undergraduate studies.

But, as we all know too well, life happens. The plan that I had so diligently created for my future went completely awry after graduation and I found myself at a total loss in terms of what I wanted to do. I entered the workforce, desperate to get back on the right track. After several years of working jobs in different fields, I was introduced to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition—a completely online health coaching program. Enrolling in and completing this program gave me the confidence that I needed; I realized that I could fit my studies into the nooks and crannies of my busy life. Guest speakers Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Kristi Hughes gave me my first glimpse of the power of functional medicine and I knew immediately that this was the path I was meant to pursue.

As I dove into researching different graduate programs, I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for—that is, until I found University of Western States. The course names and descriptions are what first captured my attention; however, the flexibility in scheduling was also a major factor in my choosing UWS. I appreciate that this university understands that their students come from all different backgrounds, from all different parts of the world, with different commitments and situations. I, for instance, have been able to spread my classes out over nine quarters as opposed to the traditional seven, which has helped me tremendously in achieving academic success (and maintaining my sanity!) while working full-time.

Yes, I am a distance learner; however, the UWS community has never felt distant to me. The discussion forums connect me with my professors and fellow students and I am provided tremendous amounts of support and feedback almost immediately. My professors, the registrar, the financial aid office and other administrators typically reply to communications within a few hours, and they are always more than willing to help me work through any issue that may arise. The university is incredibly inclusive, opening opportunities like social media contests and student blogging (hello!) to both on-campus and online students alike. Though I am clear across the country in Richmond, Virginia, I truly feel as though I am a part of the phenomenal energy that makes UWS so unique—and that, to me, is invaluable.

By: Samantha Silva, Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine student

I wake up suddenly, my face on my desk and drool dripping down my chin. I sit up, looking around carefully, not knowing for a moment where I am, what day it is, or—honestly—who I am. How long have I been asleep? My clock tells me it is 2 a.m. Ever so slowly, it all comes back to me: Oh, yeah. I’m in grad school.

Nights like these have become a part of my new normal since beginning graduate school almost two years ago. It is ironic, isn’t it? As we pursue the knowledge that will enable us to become the best practitioners and caregivers that we can possibly be, our own self-care tends to take a backseat. This is unacceptable! I have learned throughout this time to make self-care a non-negotiable aspect of my life—it is essential not only to my academic success, but to my overall health and well-being.

I am, of course, still a work in progress, but these are some concepts that have helped me along this journey:

1. Fuel Your Body

Eating well is the ultimate form of self-care, in my opinion, and I cannot emphasize enough the importance of maintaining a healthy diet while in school. The stress and lack of sleep that often ensue are sure to impact the immune system and proper nutrition can help to improve many of these effects. Because I do not have the time to prepare meals every day, meal prep has become a vital part of my weekends. I make sure to pack nutrient-dense meals with ample protein, healthy fats and gluten-free carbohydrates as well as many colorful vegetables to ensure adequate phytonutrient intake. Stocking up on snacks such as fruits, nuts and nut butters, dairy-free yogurt and other fermented foods helps support my gut. Food is fuel, food is information and food is medicine—choose accordingly!

2. Move Every Day

In all honesty, my exercise schedule has suffered the greatest since beginning graduate school. I tend to have an all-or-nothing perspective on exercise: if I am not able to get in a high-intensity workout for at least an hour, then it’s not worth it. What?! This is incredibly self-defeating and simply not true. You do not have to spend half of the day at the gym to reap the benefits of exercise. Take a study break and complete a quick circuit of body weight movements like squats, push-ups and jumping jacks. Put on some music and just dance for 30 minutes. Take a walk around your neighborhood. Any amount of movement is better than sitting all day long, so find something that you enjoy doing and work it into the nooks and crannies of your busy schedule. Taking breaks and getting the blood pumping will improve your focus and clarity as well!

3. Breathe

I had never implemented any kind of meditation or deep breathing into my daily routine until I was essentially forced to find a way to manage my stress. As I am prone to anxiety and panic attacks when I become overwhelmed, deep breathing and mindfulness have been lifesavers when it comes to getting my body out of a constant fight-or-flight response. Deep breathing creates the ability to reduce heart rate and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure by shifting the autonomic system to a parasympathetic response, thus decreasing the effect of stress on the brain and body (Sunil Naik, Gaur, & Pal, 2018). Breathing exercises may take as little as a few minutes per day, but they have profound effects on your health!

4. Make Yourself a Priority

Whenever possible, block out time in your schedule for self-care. I’ve found that if I make a specific appointment, I am much more likely to make that activity a priority. You may wish to spend this time receiving a massage or acupuncture or spending time in an infrared sauna or float tank; however, simply taking a walk, spending time with your pet, chatting with a friend or journaling are all free and can be incredibly therapeutic as well. Ask your body what it needs and listen to its response. Whatever it is, write it down in your planner or put it in your phone and stick to it.

5. Ask for Help

Last, but certainly not least: I urge you to ask for help when you need it. You are one person and while you may put it on yourself to manage every single thing in the universe, you simply cannot do it alone. Asking for help is never a sign of weakness! Surround yourself with people who support you and your goals and who will encourage you when you are struggling. Just in case no one has told you lately: You are doing a FANTASTIC job. Keep going. You can do this. Eat well. Breathe. Move your body every day. Take care of you and the rest will fall into place.

REFERENCE

Sunil Naik, G., Gaur, G.S., & Pal, G.K.  (2018). Effect of modified slow breathing exercise on perceived stress and basal cardiovascular parameters.  International Journal of Yoga, 11(1), 53-58.  Retrieved from: https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.uws.idm.oclc.org/pmc/articles/PMC5769199/

By: Rebekah Wilks

Leadership and Education Program for Students in Integrative Medicine (LEAPS into IM) is sponsored by the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health. This is the conventional integrative medical community that is not officially affiliated with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). So it was phenomenal that three chiropractic students were chosen to represent medicine out of 20 spots available nationally. Knowing this, I approached LEAPS into IM with confidence that there would be a robust understanding of chiropractic, yet my experience revealed that there is much, much more work needed to raise awareness.

Entering the conference, I was excited to learn about integrative medicine from a conventional perspective and ecstatic to represent the chiropractic profession. I expected to learn concepts and meet people, but I was blown away with the hands-on, ‘physician heal thyself’ approach used for teaching wellness concepts and philosophies. LEAPS into IM was not only a professional experience, but a personal journey into my soul as a healer.

The day began at 6:30 a.m. with silence and a mindfulness practice, such as qigong or yoga. Journaling was encouraged, and breakfast was followed with various meditation methods. Lectures explored basic concepts and philosophies such as Ayurvedic medicine, nutrition and functional medicine, osteopathic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, followed by interactive activities for application to patient care in a variety of ways. The afternoon was composed of small group discussion and exercises on various topics related to creating an integrative mentality within yourself as a physician and also the medical field. Team-building was taught through an educational group dinner and small groups. The evenings ended around 9:30 p.m. and consisted of workshops mostly centered on energetic medicine.

My eyes were opened to other forms of medicine that I can apply within my own practice or with referrals. But what I also found was a lack of awareness of what chiropractic physicians can do in an integrated medicine team. We, as chiropractic physicians, have much more work to do within the context of conventional medicine. Even though chiropractic was the only professional field represented aside from medical doctors and osteopathic physicians, none of the integrative-focused students had incorporated chiropractic into their dialogue. The closest lecture about chiropractic was the one on osteopathic manipulative technique and the chiropractic students were recruited to help with the hands-on workshop afterward. Most of the medical students had no idea about what we do and none of them knew our level of education.

Overall, I gained a unique perspective on the integrated health community that I may not have ever seen without the LEAPS into IM experience. By the end of the week, several medical students approached me and mentioned that they wished they would have known about chiropractic medicine, because it seems like we learn so much about the human body. What we do works; we just have to be confident and maintain our dignity ethically and legislatively while we continue to demonstrate a cost-effective, non-invasive alternative focused on true patient-centered care.

Rebekah Wilks’ attendance at LEAPS into IM was generously sponsored by the Nutritional Therapy Association.

UWS students love the opportunities for hands-on learning and field experience. Read some of our student experiences below.

Student: Emily Kreifels
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic/ MS Sports Medicine
Quarter: 7

I had the opportunity to represent UWS as a student intern at the USA Track and Field (USATF)  National Championships in Sacramento. It was an incredible experience for me to be able to combine my favorite sport and my future career. I saw hundreds of phenomenal athletes in peak condition, competing to improve their times or for the coveted few berths to the World Championships. These world-class athletes make running and jumping look easy.

Unfortunately, heat was an adverse factor for most of the competition. The average temperature for the duration of the championships was more than 100 degrees, with one day reaching 111. To accommodate this, the evening sessions were pushed back. Times might not have been as fast as they could have been in cooler conditions, but it didn’t seem to hinder the athletes very much.

For me, the best part of the entire experience was being able to observe all the clinicians and see what techniques they used. There were chiropractic physicians, physical therapists, massage therapists and a podiatrist, in addition to athletic trainers. The end goal was the same for everyone—to help the athlete feel better—but the path to get there was as varied as the number of providers.

While checking athletes in and ensuring that they filled out paperwork correctly, I was able to ask questions of many of the clinicians. Their advice gave me ideas for things to do in my future practice working with athletes.

Student: Jerrod Pucket
UWS Program: Doctor of Chiropractic/ MS of Sports Medicine
Quarter: 10

I want to become the best all-around physician possible, so naturally, the sports medicine master’s program at University of Western States appealed to me. Being an athlete since the age of 12 has brought on many injuries over the years, and I’ve treated the majority conservatively through chiropractic physicians. I knew early on that I wanted to help treat and manage athletic injuries, especially those that occur in my fellow runners. Enrolling in the doctorate of chiropractic program at UWS was one step of the process, but further education in the field of sports medicine is necessary to ensure the overall care of an athlete is at its peak.

The best way to learn is by doing. The practical part of the UWS sports medicine program opened the doors to that. My hands-on educational experience has doubled by being in the sports medicine program.

Attending the USA Track and Field National Championships (USATF) was the highlight of my sports medicine practicum thus far. Shadowing and learning treatment strategies of high-level athletes from a handful of the best sports medicine physicians out there was truly enriching. I observed athletes being treated in a multidisciplinary setting, and watching the different professions interact and handle the same patients opened my eyes to the necessity of cohesive care.

Working in a multidisciplinary setting such as a medical center or a hospital has always appealed to me. Learning to interact with patients will help guide treatment in my future office, but learning how to interact with other practitioners is paramount to the unified care of an individual. Attending the USATF championships allowed me to interact with massage therapists, athletic trainers, acupuncturists, podiatrists, physical therapists and chiropractic physicians working as one. I am truly humbled and grateful to be part of the student team that assisted the amazing sports medicine professionals at the USATF championships. Future students in the sports medicine practicum would be wise to participate in these events to open doors regarding their future practice and patient care.

DC2017 is the premier conference for the chiropractic profession that includes compelling scientific research and inspirational speakers form the profession. This year it was hosted by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) and the Association for Chiropractic Colleges (ACC).

At the conference there are countless networking, scholarship and professional development opportunities for students like me to take advantage of. I was able to attend the event this year with the UWS Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA) club, the student representation of the ACA. Read on for more of the highlights of the conference and what to look forward to next year.

1. Networking opportunities.

I had the privilege of meeting some of the best chiropractic physicians in the world at this conference, including Dr. Heidi Haavik, who is currently the leading neurophysiology researcher in the chiropractic profession. The UWS SACA public relations representative, Darcy Ogloza, met with Dr. Haavik and helped facilitate her gracious gift to all attendees from UWS with signed copies of her book, “The Reality Check”. I highly recommend reading it, if you haven’t already! She even signed a copy for our campus library.

Chiropractic students would not have the opportunity to meet some of these amazing doctors if it weren’t for gatherings like this conference. I also met three doctors who work in different parts of the world that are willing to let me shadow them and I have DC2017 to thank for this amazing career opportunity. My peers who also attended the conference made similar connections with doctors who they are interested in shadowing and learning from too. We also connected with other students from different chiropractic institutions and those are some of the most valuable connections I will ever have. I have made some of my very best friends through these interactions.

2. Scholarship opportunities.

The scholarship opportunities available to students at gatherings like DC2017 are extremely valuable. I am so grateful to announce that I was the recipient of one of these scholarships. I applied for the Standard Process scholarship, which was available to chiropractic students that would be present at DC2017. Out of 26 applicants, I was chosen as one of four recipients to receive a $2,500 scholarship. I was shocked and grateful, to say the very least.

To be awarded such a generous amount of money to help ease the financial burden of graduate school was a tremendous experience. I would not have had the opportunity to be eligible for this scholarship had I not attended this conference. People do not always realize that there are amazing opportunities available for conference attendees such as the Standard Process scholarship.

3. Challenging contests.

Another amazing opportunity this conference provided was a contest challenging SACA members to see who could get the most signatures on the Medicare Equality Petition. I was also lucky enough to win the top prize for this contest and was awarded $500. These are opportunities I wish everyone took advantage of and are just another thing that makes me excited to attend these conferences and be involved with SACA.

4. Public speaking practice.

The fourth opportunity from attending DC2017 is the chance to improve my public speaking skills and confidence when discussing the chiropractic profession with not only legislators, but with anyone. We do not get many chances while in school to work on these skills, and I think they are so valuable. I had the opportunity to run a task force to amend a SACA bylaw this year and presented it to more than 100 of my peers at the business meeting. It was a unique experience to expand my public speaking skills due to my involvement with SACA.

In the UWS SACA chapter, we have members of our executive board that sit on national committees as well. Nikki Daskal and Rachel Frontain were both involved with national SACA committees, which requires a fair amount of public speaking. Additionally, we have executive board elections coming up for SACA, so if anyone is interested in this or the other opportunities I have written about, I urge you to run for a position or become more involved with SACA on campus!

I hope this answers questions about the DC2017 experience or involvement with UWS SACA. I am passionate about this organization because I think the progression of our profession is of the utmost importance.

Special shout out to all the other students that made the investment in their future by attending DC17 with UWS: Nikki Daskal, Rachel Frontain, Urvi Khare, Darcy Ogloza, Kathryn Knox-Baker, Katie Kanda, Cassandra Hoy, Rebekah Wilks, Valerie Kovach, Taylor Kerschner, Krystal La Plante, Eddie Lee, Bryan Lo and Christeen Perkins.

As DC2017 has come and gone, I have gained another year of valuable experiences that I will take with me wherever I go. It is still surreal that I had the privilege to attend one of the biggest events in the chiropractic profession put on by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) and the Association for Chiropractic Colleges (ACC). I also had the opportunity to lobby on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on behalf of the ACA with my fellow Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA) members and some of the most incredible doctors I have ever met. Prior to DC2017, our executive board held meetings with attendees to prepare them for lobbying.

Our legislative representative, Urvi Khare, created agendas for us to lead small group meetings and taught attendees how to lobby and confidently speak about the profession to others. We had attendees practice their elevator speeches about what chiropractic is in front of our small groups, giving them some public speaking experience prior to sending them off to lobby. This was a very important part of preparing us for DC2017, and these are skills the attendees were able to draw on not only during lobbying, but when networking as well.

I would like to mention before anything else, that this experience would have been impossible without the hard work and support from my fellow SACA executive board members. I had the privilege of serving on our school’s SACA executive board as the vice president as well as co-vice chair of National Membership committee for SACA this past year. My classmates, friends and family often have questions regarding this conference, the lobbying experience and my involvement with the SACA, so I will attempt to answer some of the most frequently asked questions.

Lobbying efforts with SACA:

Lobbying is when individuals or an organization try to influence a politician’s opinion about something, such as a change or addition to existing laws. At DC2017, SACA members like me did not decide what we lobbied for at the conference, that was a job for the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), which is the non-student version of our professional organization. The issues we lobbied for were on the association’s behalf. To lobby for or against something, you make an appointment to meet with your congressional representative and then you go talk to them about the issue or legislation you are lobbying for in hopes to gain their support to get it enacted into law. It is important to do your research before you meet with members of the House of Representatives or members of the Senate.

What were you lobbying for this year?

This year at DC2017, we lobbied for four different bills. Three of these bills were for the House of Representatives, while one was for the Senate.

HR 103: This is specifically for the House, but also urged senators to co-sponsor a similar senate bill titled S. 609. This bill concerns veteran access to chiropractic care and the implementation of chiropractic care into more major Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities and hospitals across the country. Currently, only 60 major VA facilities employ chiropractors, while chiropractic presence is absent at more than 100 major facilities. This becomes a problem for veterans in need of chiropractic care in areas where the VA has no chiropractor on staff. During DC2017, we had a productive meeting with Congresswoman Jaime Herrera-Beutler (R-WA). She was completely baffled by the fact that the Portland VA does not have a chiropractor on staff and offered her assistance to help us change that. If this is something that ends up getting changed because of our meeting with her, I will forever be able to say that I was a part of getting chiropractic care implemented into our local VA facility, which is a really cool and impactful experience.

HR 1378: This budget neutral bill would allow chiropractors to be included as eligible applicants for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) post-graduation. The NHSC is made up of many different health care professionals who provide services in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HSPAs). Currently, doctors of chiropractic are not eligible to be applicants and this bill is trying to change that.

HR 302: This bill unanimously passed the House of Representatives in January 2017. It concerns team physicians and their ability to provide care to athletes during sporting events outside of their home state. Essentially, this bill ensures that the sports health provider’s liability insurance covers chiropractors outside of their home state for services within their scope of practice. Since it passed the House, it will next be voted on in the Senate, so at DC2017 we presented this bill to senators and thanked the representatives for their support.

HR 372: House Resolution 372 is about the federal anti-trust laws and how health insurance companies are not subject to those laws and may therefore practice unfair trade practices like price fixing, collusion or market allocations. I am pleased to say that this bill passed the House. It was so cool to witness the direct benefits of our work lobbying right after the trip to D.C.

For anyone interested in reading more in depth about any of these issue briefs, you can visit the ACA website to read each issue brief in its entirety.

| Written By: Stephanie Halloran |

As I approach my graduation and look back at my experience at University of Western States, there are a few things that I can credit my successes to, and I would advise future students to hone in on these for themselves.

1. Find your why. Everyone has a story about why they are interested in pursuing chiropractic as a career. Sit down in a quiet space with no distractions and write down why you are here, what your vision is for your future practice and what you need to do to make that vision come to life. Three years in a rigorous program makes even the most passionate student discouraged at times and coming back to your personal why will keep that flame going when you are 15 finals deep and still have six National Board exams to take during sixth quarter.
2. Find a mentor. Once you have your why and vision for chiropractic school, you need to find the path to get you to that goal because school is hard enough as it is, and it is even harder to try to do it alone. Over my three years at UWS, I have had many mentors including Dr. Ron LeFebvre, Dr. Daniel DeLapp, Dr. Gary Schultz and recently, Dr. Chris Sherman during my preceptorship. Dr. Benjamin Ramos was one of my first mentors without even knowing it. I watched the way he pursued things that aligned with his vision. He had an ability to engage the student population in a R2P club that was virtually non-existent when Dr. Justin Dean started it. I encourage you to utilize the brilliant people around you and take away as much of their clinical knowledge and personal experiences that you can. During my first few months at UWS, I saw the same guy walking around campus and always talking about the R2P group. He was well-known and respected for his knowledge in the rehab realm. At that moment, I knew I wanted to be like him even though internal medicine was my gift and passion.
3. Get involved. At UWS, I sought additional opportunities through the Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA), and I was able to take on the national role of Specialty Council Committee Co-Chair and grow the UWS SACA chapter. I transferred that energy into SACA, my Diagnosis and Internal Disorders diplomate and my goal to preceptor at the VA.
4. Ask questions. If I have a question, I ask it no matter how silly I think it may sound. When I arrived at UWS, I made sure to connect with others and spend as much time as I could learning and asking questions.
5. Have fun. School is hard and no one will remember if you earned an A- or A+ in that one histology class in second quarter. Go explore Portland, hike South Sister, make a weekend trip to Seattle and watch the Fourth of July fireworks from the Hawthorne Bridge. You are not living to work, you are working to live.

If you take time to do what you love, school will be more enjoyable, and by the time you get to practice, you will be overflowing with excitement to implement all the things you have invested your time in. I am 10 weeks into my preceptor at the VA in Indianapolis and every morning when my alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m., I bound out of bed excited to see what the day has in store for me and what patients I can help. The ability to give someone a pain-free life, when they never imagined it possible, is one of the most rewarding experiences and I get to do it every day. I wouldn’t change my time at UWS, the VA or the profession I am becoming a part of for anything in the world.

Why do you think it is important for chiropractic interns to gain experience in at the VA?

My clinician, Dr. Christopher Sherman, told me to prepare myself to see some unexpected things on my first day at the VA. “Everyone is complicated,” he said. “Our job is to figure out who we can help or where we should refer them so they can get the appropriate care.”

I wondered to myself, after I heard that, how crazy complicated could these patient’s needs could be?

Well, three patients later that particular morning, a gentleman sat down for his initial visit. He stated he was there for thoracolumbar pain. I laughed to myself, “so complicated.”

During the interview he disclosed he had undergone a lobectomy due to lung cancer. Soon after that he lifted his shirt, prominently displaying his saphenous vein, which was shunting blood from his subclavian artery to his lower abdomen. This procedure was done following a thoracic aortic aneurysm. My jaw dropped.

Working in the VA setting challenges chiropractic interns to have a more in-depth look at chiropractic care and how it fits into the medical model. Not only have I been exposed to an array of conditions within my chiropractic work, I have also had the opportunity to shadow other specialty doctors at the hospital. During weeks two and three of my clerkship, Dr. Sherman was gone on a pre-planned vacation, which gave me the chance to do rotations in other areas to fulfill my hours. The first week I shadowed in the operating room while surgeons performed a discectomy, medial branch block and spinal cord stimulator implant. Decked out in my scrubs and feeling like I just walked on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, I awkwardly stood in the corner unsure where to stand. In every surgery I observed, the surgeon introduced himself, extensively explained the procedure and oriented me anatomically as the surgery was taking place. Not only that, the surgeons asked about my background, what chiropractic school consists of, what types of conditions we typically treat and, by the end, if we could treat employees because they felt they could benefit from our services.

Additionally, I spent time in physical therapy, the Chronic Pain Clinic, and with the physiatrist as she performed knee and shoulder injections. Each encounter was not only welcoming, but encouraging as well. I had in-depth discussions about current research, conditions that benefit from different forms of conservative care, and gained a better understanding of what each of these individuals and specialties has to offer the patients. Moving forward, I will be doing rotations in other departments to continue to be exposed to as many different aspects of health care available at this VA location, on top of the 40-50 patients I treat weekly in the chiropractic department.

The VA approach to care is evidence-based and has the patient’s best interest in mind. Although I spent a brief amount of time in these different departments, I am able to confidently say I have a significantly better understanding of what happens in many of the procedures I observed. This exposure gives me the ability to better explain treatment options to my future patients and offer guidance for individual situations. Chiropractors are one part of the expansive medical world, and for us to be effective in our positions, we must be willing to understand what else is available to our patients.

Stephanie Halloran is completing her 12th quarter at University of Western States (UWS). Rounding out her studies, she is currently on preceptorship at the Roudebush Veterans Administration Medical Center in Indianapolis, Ind. Originally from Aurora, Ill., she earned her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology at University of Illinois – Champaign-Urbana. After earning her undergraduate degree, she moved back to Chicago to pursue a career in personal training. Frustrated with the medical and nutrition advice clients were receiving, Halloran decided to pursue her Doctor of Chiropractic degree at UWS.

Since then, Halloran has been actively involved with the Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA) serving as a representative on both the local chapter and federal levels. Halloran was awarded with SACA Member of the Year at the 2016 SACA Leadership Conference for her contributions to the organization, and under her leadership, UWS won Chapter of the Year. She is concurrently in the Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine Master’s program at UWS, as well as working toward her Diplomate in Diagnosis and Internal Disorders. When she has free time she can be found outdoors, in the gym, baking specialty cupcakes, or at local wineries. Following graduation, Halloran will apply for highly-competitive VA residency programs in hopes to continue her education and work with veterans.

Find more information on the chiropractic residency opportunities offered at the VA here.

October 13 at 12:40 – 1:30 p.m. in Hampton Hall 1, guest speakers Dr. Edward Bednarz and Dr. Mario O. Roybal will discuss career opportunities the VA has to offer, as well as the status of VA residencies.

UWS student and third year chiropractic intern, Stephanie Halloran describes her Preceptorship experience at the VA Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana.

What drew you to internships with the VA, and what excites you most about the future of chiropractic in working with veterans?

Two years ago I attended my first Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA) Leadership Conference in Roanoke, Virginia. The conference focused on the Veterans Affairs (VA) residency opportunities at five locations around the country. The chiropractic physician at each location gave a short talk on the specifics of what their residents did, the benefits of the VA clerkships and residencies in integrative medicine and how the skills obtained there would transfer over to private practice. At the conclusion of that day, I knew I wanted to do my preceptorship at one of University of Western States VA-affiliate locations.

My goals during the VA clerkship are personal development and professional advancement. I knew I would benefit from the opportunity to practice under some of the best doctors in the country. So far, I have found that shadowing an interdisciplinary team of physicians has been an amazing experience in terms of professional development. As part of my work, I get to listen as they discuss they condition and management they choose based on clinical expertise.

In this VA clerkship, I have the opportunity to observe other practitioners that I would not otherwise encounter before I start practicing. I will rotate to different departments within the pain clinic such as pain psychology, physiatry and physical therapy, and I will be in the operating room as neurosurgeons perform discectomies and spinal blocks. These daily interactions will give me the chance to develop the skills to work with these professionals in my everyday practice, as well as thoroughly explain alternate treatment options to patients who are investigating routes outside of chiropractic care.

My second goal with the clerkship is the opportunity to advance the chiropractic profession as we continue to find our appropriate place in the health care system. Clerkships and residencies within the VA will prove invaluable in establishing ourselves as providers in chronic pain treatment and prevention for not only our troops, but for the U.S. population as a whole. In a country where opioids make up 60 percent of prescribed drugs, patients and primary care physicians alike are seeking alternate ways to manage pain. Chiropractic medicine is often misunderstood in the health care industry, but once other practitioners are aware of the specific skills chiropractic physicians have, it creates a paradigm shift and the opportunity for collaboration amongst MDs, DOs, PTs and DCs.

I am not one for sitting back and letting other people do the work to change the trajectory of this profession. The VA clerkship will afford me the chance to expand my understanding of other medical specialties and actively engage in conversations that change the outside view of chiropractic medicine. Along with this exciting impact, I will have the opportunity to treat a population of people who voluntarily risked their lives to give me the freedom to pursue my dreams. I have no doubt it will be a jammed-packed quarter that will significantly impact my future as a chiropractic physician for the better.

By: Bradley Crowe, 8th quarter DC Student and participant in Hood to Coast

The Hood to Coast relay is an annual event where teams of runners race from the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood all the way to the town of Seaside on the Oregon coast. Every year the route changes slightly, but the race covers approximately 199 miles each year. Teams consist of twelve runners divided into two vans. The race is set up so that the six runners in van one take turns running and then hand over to the runners of van two. It continues to alternate throughout the race, so that the van that is not currently running can try to get food or some sleep before taking over running duties once again. Runners each run three legs of anywhere between four and eight miles distance, for a total of 36 legs.

University of Western States was lucky enough to get a team into the race this year. The team was called the Western States Running Club (WSRC). It consisted of, in order of running legs: Jimmy Westover, Natasha Smith, Matt Botcher, Savannah Shortz, Brad Crowe and Kelsey Woodland in van one; and Rachel Wysocki, Kaitlyn Haese, Sissel Holloway, Cornelius Van de Wall, Ryan Takagi and Parker Pratt in van two. The team wouldn’t be complete without our amazing drivers, who took time out of their weekends to support the team: Raquel Osborn and Dr. Jenny Nordeen in van one, and Hank Hirsh in van two. Thank you so much!

The race started on Friday, August 26 at noon. It was beautiful and clear, with temperatures trending up into the 90s. Gorgeous, but not ideal temperatures for running. The first leg was a fast and steep descent down Timberline Highway, ending at the Government Camp rest area. The transition area was chaotic with vans, spectators and runners everywhere. After the exchange, the race followed Highway 26 down the mountain. It was almost completely exposed, so the heat took a major toll on runners. Thankfully, many supporters left out bottles of water or hoses for people to douse themselves as they ran by.

The race continued along Highway 26 all the way to Sandy High School – the first major exchange between vans. It was amazing to be able to look back up to Mt. Hood and see how far we had actually run. Van two continued mostly along the Springwater Corridor bike trail, all the way to the Hawthorne Bridge. This was the second major van exchange, and it was crazy. The Portland to Coast race also starts here so there were hundreds of people and hundreds of vans everywhere. And it was dark! Fortunately, the teams had flags to help identify so we were able to connect seamlessly. The next section crossed the Hawthorne Bridge and then headed up to Highway 30. In the full darkness, it was an amazing sight. The stars were out, with hundreds of blinking lights bobbing off into the distance. This was the second section for van one, so many runners were slowing and struggling in this section, but the WSRC ran strong and were able continue pushing ahead of many teams that had started earlier in the day.

The next major van exchange was at the Columbia County Fairgrounds in St. Helens at roughly the halfway point of the race. Now it was true chaos, with hundreds of vans converging in the darkness as both van one and van two rejoined each other after more than 100 miles of running. Van two took over to run through the dead of night along country roads out to Highway 47. The temperatures cooled significantly, but the WSRC continued to run strong and pass teams throughout the night.

The fourth major van exchange took place near the town of Mist. Hundreds of vans were parked throughout the fields with tarps and tents laid out everywhere as runners desperately tried to capture even just a few moments of sleep. With the sun just rising, the exchange back to van one took place around 6 a.m. Van one continued to run down teams in front of them as they cruised along Highway 202 toward the coast.

The final major van exchange took place near Olney, where runners were again trying to grab whatever scraps of sleep they could. With that, van one’s job was done and it was up to van two to bring the race home to Seaside. Overcast skies made for perfect running conditions and WSRC runners felt strong right to the finish. The team finished their 199 mile run in 27 hours, 13 minutes and 58 seconds. This earned them a 9th place finish in their category, out of more than 130 teams, and an outstanding 97th place overall.

Thank you to University of Western States for the support in making this happen. Huge thank you specifically to Raquel Osborn and Pete Szucs, who were instrumental in helping to organize the team. And thank you again to Osborn, Dr. Nordeen, and Hirsh for being amazing and volunteering to drive. And a final thank you to our gracious volunteers: Leah Sartison, Kim Nicks and Tricia Clements. Congratulations to everyone who participated!

The University of Western States (UWS) running club will be representing the university August 26-27 for the Hood to Coast Relay. Below are profiles of the runners and what inspired them to commit to this two-day, 198-mile relay race starting at Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood and ending on the beach in Seaside, Oregon. The UWS massage program will also be on-site at the end, giving free massages. Come by, say hi and cheer on the UWS running club.

Name: Kelsey Woodland
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 8th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   When I first came out to Portland to do my school tour, the race was being advertised on TV and I immediately knew that I wanted to run in it. I have always loved sports and have been an athlete my entire life. I thought that the idea of a team relay starting at Mt. Hood and running to the coast would be an amazing experience.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   This is my first time running Hood to Coast but I have competed in many other races including 5Ks, obstacle courses and a half marathon. My preparation for the event is running. I am trying to get in miles and run outside. I am a very active individual and I hike and strength lift as well.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   I want to work with athletes and this event has helped me to further listen to and understand my body and how it works. I now know more about what it can handle, when to take a break, how to prevent injuries and what rehabilitation is best post-race. It makes me a better student because, like all team events, it challenges me to work with others, practice my communication skills and learn how to solve problems.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   I have really enjoyed getting into shape again. I was a collegiate soccer athlete at my undergrad and after the first couple of quarters of school I really let working out and being in shape fall to the wayside due to the workload. This event has helped me to time manage and learn to fit working out into my schedule as a priority.

Name: Matt Boetcher
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 8th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   I heard about the race before I moved to Oregon (from Minnesota) and when I got here it just became one of the things I put on my list to do while I was here. I’ve never been a distance runner so it’s something that I wanted to challenge myself to do.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   Before this I had only done a 5k. I used to run track however, so I know how to train but have had to greatly adapt my training style to prepare for something longer than a sprint race.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   I like to continue to push myself to do challenging things and become better – this carries over into all aspects of my life. School and my future as a physician are no different. I will always push myself to learn as much as I can to be the best at what I do.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   Besides getting a new pair of shoes? Just adapting to a new type of training focused more on endurance than I’m used to. If you want to join next year, registration is really early. Do some research and stay on top of it when the registration starts. It fills up quickly.
5. Please feel free to include any additional information you think readers would want to know about you/ the relay/ your team, etc.
   Bradley Crowe has been unbelievable at getting this whole thing set up. He was the one to get the ball rolling all the way to where we are now. He deserves a lot of credit for how smoothly this whole process is going to play out for our team. A huge thank you for what he’s done!

Name: Parker Pratt
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 8th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   I have run races while I lived in Utah and have heard about Hood to Coast from family who live in Oregon. When I found out the running club was going to run it, I wanted to join. This relay race has a good reputation and I wanted to experience it.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   No, this is not my first race. I have been running more regularly and trying to eat better. Trying to find time to run while going to school and balancing time with family has been tricky, but definitely worth the effort.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   I have had some small injuries while training for the race; I have had to learn what to do to help make the injury better at a pace that was good for my training.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   I have enjoyed the suspense. Not many on the team have run this race, so it has been fun to talk about what will happen and how we will handle each situation. I have really enjoyed training for it and figuring out which way to train is best.
5. Please feel free to include any additional information you think readers would want to know about you/ the relay/ your team, etc.
   As a first quarter not knowing anyone when coming into the program, I got to know a lot of upper quarters through the running club. It was just another way to get to know more students.

Name: Cornelius van de Wall
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 10th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   I’ve been getting more and more involved in amateur running competitions since moving to Portland. Since being at UWS I’ve met a lot of people that have similar interests, Hood to Coast seemed like a fun experience to share with them.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   Prior to Hood to Coast I will have done a 10k, a 5k and a sprint triathlon. My training for Hood to Coast overlaps with most of these fairly well, and recently consists of running 2-3x a week anywhere from 5k-10k.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   I think that maintaining your hobbies and pursuing new goals outside of the program is essential to performing well in the program. For me, running has taken my mind off of school, as well as provided me with a first-hand experience to injuries/issues that patients who are casual runners may present with.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   Spending time with everyone together before we graduate is one of my favorite parts, but the personal fitness and stress relief has also been great.

Name: Sissel Holloway
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 11th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   I have run races my whole life but I have never participated in a team relay race. Hood to Coast is one of the original team relay races in the country. It has been on my bucket list ever since I moved to Oregon.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   This is my first Hood to Coast experience. I run ultra races and try to stay as active as possible to balance my lifestyle in school. The running club has been meeting up for trail runs and track workouts put on by the Nike headquarters to prepare for the race.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   This is a great opportunity to get to know other active health practitioners. This is also a great opportunity to educate the public on what we do as chiropractors. There are still a lot of people in the general population who have no idea of what we do.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   Finding a solid group of people that can push each other and have fun at the same time.

Name: Brad Crowe
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 8th

1. 1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
      The Hood to Coast is a massive event. It’s one of those things that runners know of, even if they’re not from the region. So when I moved here for school, it was one of the first things that I looked into. I found a few people from school who might be interested and put in the application.
   2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
      I’ve been running and racing for about the last eight years, so I’ve lost count of how many events I have run. My focus has slowly been moving to longer distances, so now my main focus is on running ultra-marathons. Ideally, I like to train about 12 hours per week but with school I just get in what I can during the week. That means lots of loops around Glendoveer Golf Course with the rest of the team, or running in the trails around Mt Tabor. The main focus of my training is my weekend run, where I either head out to the Gorge for some good climbing or head to Forest Park for a long and fast run. I’m also doing a 24-hour trail relay at Haag Lake at the end of July, which will be perfect practice for Hood to Coast.
   3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
      For me, there are lots of things that transfer from running to the rest of life. One of the main populations that I would like to focus on working with is endurance athletes, so I think being an endurance athlete myself gives me some credibility and helps me to relate to them. Whole body health is a critical part of health care, and I think it’s also important to practice what we preach, so running helps to make me a good role model for an active and healthy lifestyle.
   4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
      The camaraderie of the team is definitely the highlight. There is a group of us that often manage to get out and run together, which is great. Everyone also came together really well for the popcorn fundraiser that we did. It’s a good thing we get along, because we’ll be spending a whole lot of time together crammed in a sweaty van!
   5. Please feel free to include any additional information you think readers would want to know about you/ the relay/ your team, etc.
      The Hood to Coast Relay has been going on for the last 25 years. It starts at the Timberline Lodge and runs all the way to Seaside for a total distance of 198 miles. Teams are made up of 12 runners, with each runner doing three legs for an average of 16.5 miles per person. Our current predicted time is approximately 30 hours.

Name: Savannah Shortz, DC
Quarter: MSDI Radiology Resident – 2nd year

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   Oddly, being crammed into a van with a bunch of other runners while driving/running to the coast sounds pretty fun. The Hood to Coast relay is definitely a race that most runners have on their wish list, so when I was invited to be on the UWS team, I was stoked to be a part of it. Having to run three legs of the race, likely at odd times of the day, with questionable terrain, I know will be pretty challenging both physically, as well as personally. I always love a good challenge.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   I started running consistently about four years ago training for my first 5k. Since then, I have participated in several other races including 5ks, 10ks, half marathons and I finished my first full marathon in May of this year. Training for the marathon was extremely helpful in preparing me for the Hood to Coast relay in order to build the endurance to last the three legs of the race. Since completing the marathon in May, I’ve started to work more on my speed by adding weight training into my workouts in addition to tempo runs.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   As a current chiropractor, and future radiologist, I’d say that running in general has helped quite a bit in overall life management. Being able to juggle the stressors of both work and life have become much more manageable, and I know that is due greatly to the therapeutic benefits of running. The miles completed play a great part in the doctor I am and will be.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   My favorite part of this process has been setting a personal goal and being able to achieve that. The other runners on this team are very good and very fast. It was my personal goal to get faster to be able to add something to the team. In the past couple of months, I’ve been able to shed a solid minute and a half off of my race pace, which has been quite the feat for me. I think the upcoming challenge of running a race with such great runners has given me the extra push to really meet my goals, and I’m extremely thankful for that.

Name: Kaitlyn Haese
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 11th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   When I moved to Oregon to start school at UWS in August of 2013, I quickly learned of this unique running event. I had interest in participating in this event, but never guessed I would have the opportunity to do so. Easy access to the running community in Portland, as well as the development of our own running community at UWS, has made running an activity that I look forward to squeezing in between class and clinic requirements.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   I did a handful of road half-marathons when I lived in Wisconsin, and turned to trail races when I moved to Oregon. To date I have completed races as short as 15 miles and as long as a 50k. I am training for both this team relay race as well as another 50k race at the end of this summer.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   Running in general has helped me to stay healthy, manage my stress level, and balance my time. These are all skills I will need to have in order to find a balance between work and life when I am a doctor. Because with balance, you can be fully present. As a runner myself, I think that this experience helps me to better relate to and treat other runners that I see in clinic.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   Several of the runners from the UWS Running Club have been participating in weekly speed workouts with Nike Run Club. Since I typically focus on endurance training, it has been a great way to stay motivated to work on increasing my speed, especially since each leg of this relay race is under eight miles.

Name: Ryan Takagi
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 12th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   It’s an opportunity to be with friends. It’s also one of the longest and largest relays in the world — that’s pretty cool.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   This is my first Hood to Coast. I don’t really have any training plans. I enjoy being outside, hiking and running with friends. Hood to Coast is a nice excuse to do more of that.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   It encourages balance between work and play. We get to share our passion and connect with people from around the world.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   Even though we have all raced together before. This is one of the first times where it feels like we are a team. The matching jerseys make a difference.

Name: Rachel Wysocki
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 10th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   I already love running and once you are done competing at school it becomes more of a solo sport. So the chance to run with teammates again is really exciting. Long relays like this are fun and miserable all at the same time. Going through those things with other people by your side is a lot like school. Difficult, but so rewarding when you’re done accomplishing it.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   No, I have run a Ragnar (same kind of race but on the East Coast) with my family and have another one right after Hood to Coast. I run most days anyways so I didn’t really change much of my routine to prepare for the race.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   I’ve always found that taking the time to take care of myself lets me put much more energy into school. Using this race as an excuse for training has definitely helped me mentally get through school. As a physician, it would one day be my dream to work solely with runners. Doing this race is just another way to relate to the patient population and go through what they go through.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   Meeting the other runners at school and creating a little bit of a community with them on campus.

Name: Natasha Smith
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 8th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   I love a good challenge and I have never done this race before!
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   I have done a few races before. Typically, I run throughout the week and I like to incorporate weights for cross training.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   Exercise always helps me feel better and then I have more energy. I strongly believe that a positive mind set can help you retain information. We all have those classes we don’t like and they are always the hardest to learn. So staying positive and focused helps me.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   I have enjoyed training, but race day will be the most exciting part.

Name: Jimmy Westover
Program: Doctor of Chiropractic
Quarter: 4th

1. What inspired you to want to compete in the Hood to Coast Relay?
   I have participated in relay races such as the Ragnar relay in my home state of Colorado. So when I was told that there was a race like that out here in Oregon, I was extremely excited to be a part of it. And after completing an Ironman in October, doing the Hood to Coast was a great new challenge.
2. Is this your first race? How did you prepare leading up to this event?
   I have done a few races that are similar to Hood to Coast. What I have been doing to train is incorporating high-intensity interval workouts with runs incorporated, along with Olympic lifting.
3. How do you feel this process helped you to become a better student and, one day, chiropractic physician?
   I feel that this experience will help me as a student because these types of events really bring the members of the team closer together. I feel that the bond made between individuals in this type of race will extend to lifelong friendships. These new friendships with people of varying quarters helps foster closer bonds and brings the school together. It will also play a role in school and in practice, because doing an event like this allows you to really get into the mindset of these athletes. It helps you understand what goes into doing an event like this so if you have a patient that has injuries but wants to do a race like this you know what it will take to make sure they are ready.
4. What has been your favorite part of this whole process leading up to the relay?
   Knowing that there will be memories made during this event that I will never forget.

How you can help!

While their stories are different there is a common thread, they would love to see their UWS family members out there supporting them in any way possible. Here are some ways you can support the team and keep this tradition continuing:

• Interested in running, join the UWS running club. Many of the members are seniors and will be graduating soon. Faculty and staff, that means you too.
• Come down to the route and cheer the team on!
• If you live near the route, the team is also looking for a place close by to resupply, shower and rest.
• If you want to be more active than just cheering on, you can volunteer as a “side-line” person. This role helps pass out water and ensures the route is followed.

Interested in helping? Reach out to Bradley Crowe at [email protected].

Remember Kurt and Justina Slonaker? As a married couple, they decided to attend UWS together, Kurt in the doctor of chiropractic program and Justina in the massage therapy program. Their intention after graduation was to build an integrated practice together as husband and wife, DC and LMT. We caught up with them after graduation to see what they were up to now.

Kurt and I are currently living in Meridian Idaho. We are both treating patients at Gonstead Spine and Wellness. We work with a great team and have a busy clinic! Kurt sees patients full time and I work part time as an LMT. Kurt and I work closely together to determine the best outcomes for all of our patients. It has been really fun to work together! We have also been busy in our personal life. We now have a one year old son, named Bradley and we are expecting our second son in October!

Written by: Stephanie Halloran
University of Western States SACA Immediate Past President

Two years ago, I decided to go to the National Chiropractic Leadership Conference (NCLC) as a 2nd quarter student. Part of the reason was the opportunity to leave school for three days, but mostly it was an attempt to appease my older sister. She was in her third year studying law at Florida State University and constantly telling me to be more active in the efforts to change health care laws and regulations instead of gripe about them. My thought process: go lobby one time and you’ll forever have a free ride to complain.

NCLC, for those who are not familiar, is a chiropractic conference that centers around three or four important issues identified by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) that are addressed in individual meetings with legislators. The weeks leading up to NCLC are spent learning about the issue briefs, why they are important and how to talk about them with Congress. The first year I attended I was dating a veteran, so it made sense for me to gravitate toward the brief addressing veterans access to chiropractic care. As of right now, chiropractic physicians are only in 50 out of 1,200 Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities around the country. At the same time, the opioid epidemic is skyrocketing in this demographic because a majority of the musculoskeletal complaints are being managed through pharmaceutical treatment and surgery. By the end of lobbying day, presenting that brief became less about proving a point to my sister and more about fighting for the rights of our servicemen and women.

Following my inaugural attendance at NCLC, I was determined to get more students involved. In 2015, we were able to bring 19 students and in 2016 we took 38 students and one alumnus. Our campus support and participation throughout the year has been unparalleled, as was demonstrated when we took home SACA Chapter of the Year at the welcome meeting. Not only that, we were also the chapter to raise the most money for the ACA-PAC, the Political Action Committee of the American Chiropractic Association, and placed third at the SACA’s Got Talent show.

Ignoring all the awards and accolades, why is NCLC so important? Being able to talk about your profession to a layperson is one of the most valuable tools in promoting it. Chiropractic medicine is very misunderstood in the public and can be difficult for even established doctors to communicate about what it is we do exactly. We train our attendees how to describe chiropractic and its benefits in a short and concise way that is not defensive or derogatory toward other health professions. NCLC also offers an avenue for students to connect with other students and doctors at a national level. It is very easy to get trapped in the UWS bubble for three years and this conference prevents that bubble from forming. The people who show up for NCLC are some of the most driven and inspirational people in our profession. They are the ones working tirelessly to make the chiropractic future so bright, and helping to drive it into the future.

Chiropractic medicine is a service profession. We are being trained to treat the public and enhance the quality of life for our patients. This year we fought for veteran’s access to care, our inclusion in TRICARE, consideration for the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and National Public Health Service Corps, as well as started a petition to change the coverage we have under Medicare. A majority of these issues are occurring due to lack of knowledge by the public as well as lawmakers and chiropractic physicians themselves.

I encourage current students to attend NCLC at least once while you are still in school. I promise you, the educational experience you have following your trip will forever be changed and you will have a renewed inspiration for what you have set out to do. If you are alumnae, I challenge you to reconnect with the ACA community as well as your local SACA chapter and offer your services. Your passion breeds our passion and our passion will breed the passion of future chiropractic generations. Our growth will inherently allow us to serve more of the population and help change the discriminatory laws we currently face.

Next year, I will be returning to Washington D.C. as an alumnus of UWS and nothing would give me more joy than to see 80 UWS students surrounded by fellow alums. Don’t be defined by what you did not know or did not do. Be proactive and be the change you wish to see in the world. And always – #SACAup!

Thanks in large part to Dr. Vern Saboe (class of 1979) and the Oregon Chiropractic Association, SACA received $3,500 in donations to help get them to the conference.

View more photos from the conference.

By Freya Moran

Of the 29 students who attended the Leaps into IM training, five of us were considered alternative care practitioners: a herbologist, a naturopath, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, an acupuncturist and myself. Near the end of our stay the faculty asked the five of us to sit as a panel and discuss alternative care, and what took place was irreplaceable.

At the beginning of the week, I found the conversation (regarding medical practice) between professions to be cautious at best. During the osteopathic demonstration, I was asked to demonstrate my own skills from the chiropractic perspective regarding the general physical and postural exam. After sitting through a week of presentations on documented research and evidence regarding the efficacy of various practices (including yoga, acupuncture, tai chi, etc.), people had a more open mind and even more questions regarding chiropractic care. So when we sat down for our panel discussion, it was no surprise the room was abuzz with questions.

During the panel discussion we tried to keep things informal by opening the floor to questions from the medical doctor (MD) and doctor of osteopathy (DO) students and faculty. The questions were cordial and included how exactly to refer, how to read chart notes and what conditions would merit a referral. Then one of the DO students carefully asked the difference between chiropractic and osteopathic practice, and when it would be appropriate for a DO to refer to a DC? Oh, and what the heck is a subluxation?

If, as a student, you’ve never asked yourself these questions then now is a good time to sit down and talk about it. And then talk about it some more. Then meet up with a mentor or shadow a chiropractic physician and talk about it with them too. I cannot say enough about the importance of constantly refining your thoughts on your position in medicine.

And then just to keep your mind busy (with all your vast amounts of free time), keep up with the research, the case studies and the trials. Use those research conclusions and your clinical experiences to continue to shape, change and refine your idea and philosophy of patient care and your place in human health. Don’t allow yourself to stay stagnant – push yourself to have the awkward conversations, change your approach, and surround yourself with people who don’t share the same opinions. How can we continue to grow as individuals and as a profession if we do not meet the needs and answer the questions we aren’t comfortable with answering?

These hard questions led to a robust and informative discussion about respect. After the student alternative care panel, we went to lunch and I suddenly found myself surrounded by curious young doctors, genuinely asking me what a chiropractic treatment approach would be for diabetes, cardio metabolic disease and osteoporosis. How would I co-manage obesity? Could I look at a shoulder sometime that evening? It was amazing how open and interested this group of MDs and DOs were regarding conservative management of the most common lifestyle diseases in America.

As a 7th quarter student, I definitely did not have all the answers. I haven’t read all the research. I’ve never written an essay on the history and philosophy of subluxation. I know that I can’t possibly accurately represent the views of so many in our immense profession, but what I do know is that I’m going to spend the rest of my career learning and continuing to have these amazingly brave conversations with my fellow health care providers and patients.

I have learned that there is no lecture, lab or seminar you can take to develop your individual philosophy – it obviously takes years of clinical experience and constant questioning – but being involved in LEAPS has offered me some insight into my future of answering questions about my profession and has inspired me to keep searching for answers.

This is the third and final installment of Freya Moran’s blog series regarding her experience as the first chiropractic student at the Leaps into IM annual leadership program in Oceanside, Calif.

By Freya Moran

The website is elusive about what happens at LEAPS, and I think for good reason.

Not knowing where the next week would go, I boarded a plane for Oceanside, Calif., the Saturday before finals week. LEAPS was to begin the following day at 4 p.m., and thanks to the Facebook page, I’d made plans to meet up with a student from Texas in Los Angeles and travel together from there. One missed train and a $300 taxi ride later, we arrived in Oceanside at the Old Mission in San Louis Rey at 9 p.m.

The next day, I opened my window to the most beautiful rose gardens and stone archways. The Old Mission is one of the oldest Franciscan monasteries in the country. The grounds have been used to host meditation seminars, rehabilitation programs and weddings, so to say it was one of the calmest, most relaxing places I’ve ever been would be an understatement.

By the time 4 p.m. rolled around, most of the students had already met one another, but our formal introductions took place in the dining hall. There we were sorted into groups of about five or six, introduced to the doctor who would be our mentor and given our first assignment in mindful meal preparation. We were given a book of diet-conscious recipes and each group was responsible for preparing one element of the dinner for our roughly 45-person group. A nutritional specialist coached us on the importance of presence and mindfulness in preparing a meal, as well as eating it. For the first time I had an actual workshop using what I’d learned about clinical nutrition and it gave me real, practical insight in what I would tell my patient with diabetes or hypertension to change their lifestyle.

The mornings at the monastery are spent in total silence until 9 a.m. There’s also no Internet, and cell phone use is restricted to two, one-hour blocks in the afternoon and evening. If the thought of this gives you anxiety, you’re in good company – but by the end of the week, the silence had become welcome and background noise became an insult to the mindfulness of the moment. Every day began with some kind of activity: tai chi, yoga, meditation, journaling and more, which was followed by breakfast provided by the monastery. The bulk of the morning workshops focused on some form of medicine. A speaker or group would come in to lead a short lecture and discussion about their specialty and the rest of the time was spent exploring the technique. Each speaker relayed the evidence and research supporting the use of their technique in practice and how it could be practically applied as an integrative approach. My personal favorite was the acupuncture workshop because, up to that point, I’d never been to an acupuncturist let alone read the literature on it. The speaker graciously used me as her workshop demonstration, and I received a full treatment for stress reduction – in a word, the results were amazing!

Each day at the LEAPS symposium was an exploration into these different disciplines. I experienced lectures in the efficacy of yoga and tai chi in the treatment of various diseases, nutrition counseling, the use of herbology, and the history of osteopathy and a demonstration of their postural assessment and general physical exam. If you thought the psychology of posture was purely a chiropractic topic, then you’d be shocked by what other practitioners are doing with it! There was also a panel discussion led by myself and the four other alternative care practitioners, but more on that later…

The whole program asked nothing of me but to have an open mind and to share my ideas. As someone who has a particular interest in a multidisciplinary approach to patient-centered care, I was exposed to many other styles of health and how to exist among them while maintaining my own philosophy and identity as a chiropractor. The primary care position is a malleable one, with enough freedom (and responsibility) to make it our own.

If you’ve ever had even an itch of interest in the way others practice medicine, then getting involved in the Student Alliance for Integrated Medicine (SAIM) and The Academy of Integrated Medicine (AIHM) are great places to start exploring the vision of integrative medicine. The reason I chose IM was because I discovered early on that even if I didn’t intend to practice in a multidisciplinary environment, my patients would. Knowing how to communicate with understanding and compassion is the key to truly serving your patient.

By: Freya Moran

I heard about LEAPS in an email. I can’t remember who sent it or why, but administration sent out an update on scholarship opportunities near the end of my fifth quarter (just a few weeks before boards) and amongst the messages stuffing my inbox, something caught my eye.

Now, before I get too far into the application process, let me just say how awesome and powerful it is to be a student. Hear me out. Just by showing interest in a particular direction, we can change the course of opportunities for our education and our careers. Yes, the road to change is long and full of paperwork, but as students we rarely see the paperwork – it’s up to us to do the leg-work. In my short time as a student, I’ve seen more progression for chiropractic in the area of integrative medicine than I can even wrap my head around. As the shortage of primary care physicians grows and our treatment skills grow stronger, I see no reason why chiropractic shouldn’t evolve to fill that void. In fact, up to that point, I had been thinking about what the differences actually were between chiropractic care and the typical medical doctor in terms of primary care. The only conclusion I could come up with, besides prescription rights, was residency.

The typical education sequence for an MD/DO student is four years of medical school followed by a residency program. Residency can be anywhere from two years practicing primary care to eight years studying neurosurgery, living only marginally better than the average graduate student with a tiny stipend after years of maintaining a GPA in order to “match” with a program you want. These programs are meant to aid students in achieving clinical experience in specialized fields, so by the time they matriculate they are literally the most educated, qualified individuals they can be.

Currently, there is residency program for chiropractic students in radiology, a similar placement in the VA and a fellowship in sports medicine. Beyond that, not much post-graduate training exists beyond continuing education seminars and preceptorship. What would it mean to integrate chiropractic medicine with traditional allopathic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, physical therapy, naturopathic medicine, functional nutrition, acupuncture, etc.?

And there in my inbox was an email for the Leadership and Education Program for Students in Integrative Medicine (LEAPS into IM) annual leadership program. I knew nothing about it, but after reading the short synopsis I learned the program was hosted by the American Consortium for Integrative Medicine in association with the American Medical Student Association. These two governing bodies have never been typically associated with recognizing chiropractic. After a little snooping around on their website, I found the application to be straightforward. It required participants to plan and execute a proposed idea with support from faculty mentors and a core faculty at LEAPS within a year. If the student and their idea were chosen, the consortium would give small monetary grants to help get the project off the ground. Only 30 medical students around the country were to be picked!

As this was the first time the consortium had embraced complementary alternative medical providers, and given my intense passion for integrating medicine, I proposed the project of my dreams: an integrative medicine residency program that would be open to chiropractic students as well as other CAM and allopathic providers.

Although this kind of project is most likely going to be my life’s work rather than something I can accomplish in the next year, it was this idea that grabbed the interest of the coordinator and director of the leadership program and solidified my spot as the first chiropractic student accepted into LEAPS into IM.

Coming Soon! Read about Freya’s experience at the week-long Leaps into IM project in Oceanside, Calif.!