Why Self-Development is Crucial for the Entrepreneurial Chiropractor

Chiropractors arc often considered to be tnie entre­preneurs. This is because they often graduate from their educational program and immediately open and build their own businesses from the ground up. without a formalized support system. Furthermore, they do not have a business model that provides them immediate patient How and income, unlike other healthcare professionals. More than ever, chiropractors need to spend time and money continu­ing their entrepreneurial education because they arc working as entrepreneurs. Continuing one's education offers many great benefits. The benefits of sclf-dcvclopmcnt include: * Better care for patients. For chiropractors, patient care is the top priority. By continuing your learning through profes­sional development opportunities, you arc able to offer better care to your patients. Continuing education ensures that you are knowledgeable about the most recent research and tech­niques, which can be helpful to your patients and ensure they arc receiving the best care available. * Opportunity to promote your business. By obtaining a certification in a new technique or even having knowledge in a new procedure, you are able to promote your business and yourself as an expert in this area. This will help you attract new customers and expand your business. * Growth as a professional. As a professional, continuous learning is important to ensure that you arc constantly grow ing. This is what keeps you challenged and interested in the profes­sion. For chiropractors, pursuing sclf-dcvclopmcnt opportuni­ties is important to make sure you arc learning new tilings and challenging yourself professionally. While many chiropractors are turned away from professional development opportunities because of the cost, it is a cost that is well worth the price. It is important that continuing educa­tion opportunities arc considered an investment, rather than an expense. This is because it is an investment in the chiropractor's future, in helping them develop the skills to further their ability as a professional. Furthermore, the IRS allows professionals to deduct learning opportunities on their taxes each > car. which also includes professional development. Because of this, it's important that a chiropractor keeps a running tally of the courses that they take and the associated expenses to ensure they are reimbursed the proper amount from the IRS. This makes it even more affordable and appealing to chiropractors, especially those who practice on their own. In addition, engaging in professional development opportuni­ties helps chiropractors build reputation within the field. This is important for several reasons. For one. it gives chiropractors an opportunity to build a network, which will in turn help build their client base and provide support if he or she chooses to move to a different practice in the future. Engaging in conver­sations with other chiropractors is a good way to help develop as a professional, as it's easy to share best practices and other information casually. Furthermore, it opens doors to present at national conferences, which raises a chiropractor's profile among key vendors and companies that provide sen ices. This is helpful because it allows them to build relationships with these vendors for product discounts. It may even provide an op­portunity to chiropractors to try out new equipment or sen ices because of their clout within the industry. Overall, engaging in self-development opportunities as a chiropractor provides mam personal and external benefits. It can help improve the chiropractor's overall ability to serve his or her patients, while building the business through network­ing and a higher profile within the industry. From the patient's point of view, engaging in continuing education is important because it will augment the sen ices that can be provided and will ensure the chiropractor is focused on the newest techniques and understands the latest research that has been released. Tom Owen III. President of.-IMC. lectures extensively from coast-to-coasl to thousands of chiropractors and students annually. He is the author of Cliiropraclic from a Business Man's Perspective, and has spent the last 25 years in the day-to-day trenches of the chiropractic profession. He lives hvhis quote that "In the end. all that is left are the lives we 've touched and to what extent they were changed. "|