Shared by Dennis Perman, DC 4-23-00. To receive his weekly e-mail newsletter contact him at: Masters9@aol.com Dear Doctor: At holiday dinner this weekend, my lovely niece Michelle approached me and told me that she was considering enrolling in chiropractic college, and asked what I thought. She and her terrific boyfriend Nick are two of the brightest young people I know, and I am overjoyed at the thought of the best of our youth being attracted into our profession. What would you tell a student who was thinking about chiropractic school? Your answer would most likely tell the tale of your experience in practice and life -- are you enjoying practice, making a significant contribution to your community, earning a substantial living and having fun doing it? If so, you would recommend a career in chiropractic without reservation. What if you're not having such a great experience in practice, though? What would you say to an impressionable young woman, standing at the brink of joining you as a colleague? Would you warn her away? Help her to avoid the mistakes you made? Tell her not to buck the tide? The way you would address this issue is probably a direct product of your perspective on modern-day practice. Literally, there has never been a better time to practice chiropractic -- public awareness is at an all time high, and people apparently prefer a more natural approach to a more invasive one, as is clearly demonstrated by every current method of evaluation. The logic of our work is unmistakable, since any effort to remove interference to the expression of the body's potential must, by definition, be beneficial -- so why the confusion in some doctors' minds? The reason I could be so enthusiastic in my discussion with Michelle is because I can clearly see the trend of the future of health care. People are tired of crisis intervention in an emergency, which fit beautifully with the style of the seventies and eighties, but falls far short of the tone of the new millennium. The Twenty First Century Citizen is developing an understanding of the synergy of our world, and is beginning to recognize how we humans fit into the grand scheme of things. We are not outside of Nature, battling for survival -- we are part of Nature, learning to peacefully coexist in a friendly universe, seeing the basic laws of health and healing as an inside-out phenomenon, not outside in. The more we appreciate this concept, the easier it is to acknowledge both our own greatness and our interdependence with everything around us. Chiropractic helps us study and integrate natural law. It is a way for us to witness the magnificence of humanity, unfolding one cell, one nerve impulse, one idea at a time. It is a glorious spectacle to behold, the beauty of life. Don't look past the gifts you are given every day in your office -- and tell the brightest young minds you know about the mystery of our unlimited potential, and what chiropractors do to help people get the most out of it. And if for whatever reason you feel you could not passionately recommend a chiropractic career to a young, curious student, let me humbly suggest that you may be missing out on the joy and fulfillment available to you through a successful practice, and that there may be more to it than you presently know. Please call 800-451-4514 or e-mail me personally, and I will help in every way possible. Dennis Perman DC, for The Masters