Associates, treated unfairly?

[Guest guest]

Hello listmates, i thought that I might bring up a topic that comes

up at the clinic quite a bit, and get your takes on it as well. The

pay scale and benefits provided to associate docs. it has slowly

been improving, but it is still absolutely pathetic when compared to

the other heath cae professions with a similar amount of training.

The best offer I have seen was in Twin Falls, Idaho and was 75k +

full paid benefits to start. this is at the low end of dentists

starting salaries (75 - 110k)and even lower that the optometrists

(95 - 125k). Physical Therapists report greater starting saleries,

(55 - 85k), but at least we are starting to get a little closer. As

for some offers that a few docs should be ashamed of themselves for

offering, the worst was an offer that one of my interns received

recently, at 22,500, no benefits, 50 - 60 hrs a week. That is about

7.50 an hour, just over the minimum wage! Another was offered 13.50

an hr, no benefits. The average graduate is carrying 135 to 160

thousand in debt, just from Chiropractic College, with many carrying

similar debts from undergrad. The minimum payments nowdays are 600 -

1000 a month, how could anyone even start to pay the loans with such

a ridiculous offer?

In the defense of some folks, I realize that when some older docs

graduated, those were probably very good offers, and that we tend to

get " locked into " what we think things should cost (cars, houses,

etc..)and what we should have to pay. Some like to compare our first

few years to a medical doctor's residency period, however the

breakdown in that argument is that to do so, we would have to never

have adjusted a patient until we were out school, only learning the

principles involved, not the practice. Perhaps similar to a surgical

resident, who might not perform a procedure until their 2nd year.

I realize that comparison is a stretch, but I use it to better

illustrate my point. Often docs offer such ridiculous low salaries

in conjunction with an offer to " teach " the young doctor, of which

the subject of that " teaching " can vary. I can honestly say that no

one that I have ever met, has said that their " education " that they

learned during their associateship made up in anyway for their

working situation. I myself learned how not to practice, how not to

treat my patients, how not to treat my staff, and how not document

improperly. I do suppose that learning all of the things that you

don't want to do is valuable, but not at the price many are asked to

pay. Some at this point may also use the argument that we are " giving

back to the profession " by laboring for such a ridiculous wage, but

what many that might use that argument fail to realize is that, The

majority of students whom enter Chiropractic College today have

no " Chiropractic story " , they simply have chosen to go to school,

with many never even treated by a Chiropractor before. As they owe

nothing to our profession, how can they be asked to give back to it?

If any of us should be asked to give back, it should be the senior

docs whom have benefited greatly during their careers, by taking

care of those who work them.

Things need to change, and we as profession need to start taking

care of our newer docs, instead of consistently taking advantage of

the position they are often in. By improving the working situation,

we may begin to retain our best and brightest students, many of whom

are currently leaving the schools in droves, mostly due to the

inferior position our profession is in currently, and what our

profession has to offer these current and prospective students when

compared to the other health care professions. What does it say

about us when the average dental hygienist makes more than the

average associate? two years of school versus seven or eight?

The quality of the average student has increased dramatically with

the higher admissions requirements, and instead of dealing with

students that might not be right for other opportunities, now we

need to be able to compete successfully for these students, instead

of losing them to medicine, dentistry, optometry, and such.

I greatly appreciate your input and experiences, Jaysun Frisch, D.C.

Western States Chiropractic College Outpatient Clinic.