September 2003

Are you a diamond in the rough?

by Dr. Kevin Pallis and Dr. Ed Plentz

Diamonds aren't created. They're found.

Remember the mentor you had when you were younger who took a special interest in you? He or she didn't create the unique gifts you have to share with the world but inspired and stirred your spirit to life to actualize them, just like polishing a diamond in the rough.

Mentors recognize special talents and stop to take the time to develop them. Maybe it's a sports coach or a teacher, maybe a special person in the neighborhood. Whoever it is, you remember that individual the rest of your life, as he or she remembers you. Together, you have a lifetime bond of honor.

As practicing D.C.s, we sometimes forget that we are diamonds and start to treat ourselves as common sand. We feel the need to succumb to the pressure of what society demands of us ‑‑ back pain relief in a couple of cracks. Instead of standing tall and proud, we do what is expected of us, what we are told, for commercial gain.

As we have always maintained at Renaissance, it takes courage to stand up for who you really are. That's not to say Renaissance doctors don't see patients in crisis for how else will they regain their wellness? Yet, where we begin ‑‑ by attracting acute and wellness patients ‑‑ is where most other D.C.s end.

If patients only want crisis care, that's their decision to make, not yours. You must have a complete system of office procedures and patient education that creates an environment of wellness. Patients will then be in a position to make a choice.

Being a diamond in the rough is knowing you're strong, that you have honor and integrity. It's also knowing you may be currently surrounded by patients who only want short‑term, symptomatic care. You want to educate people about the wonder of wellness care, however you don't have the tools or the mindset and besides, you have to make a living.

In the movie "Antwone Fisher," star Denzel Washington recognizes that Fisher is a diamond in the rough when everyone else thinks he's a troublemaker and a hopeless case. Although he doesn't create Antwone Fisher, Washington mentors him by polishing what's already there. In the end, it's Washington who receives as much as he gave to this "troubled and wayward" young man.

How many ertswhile D.C.s have failed as they attempted to educate patients about children and chiropractic? Maybe you had "An Evening of Children's Health" or a community event that was poorly attended. Just because an event you planned didn't come off the way you expected it to doesn't mean the principle isn't sound or that it can't be done. Thousands of chiropractors are seeing hundreds of children per week. So can you!

Children and wellness are not add‑ons. They're part of your core philosophy of life and health. The diamond in the rough realizes children are a natural extension of chiropractic and his or her office procedures, office environment, New Patient Orientation, and patient education material reflect this.

Any idea or concept needs a strategy to be realized to its fullest potential and wellness is no exception. Think of all the ideas and concepts we take for granted today ‑‑ working out, brushing teeth, not smoking, etc. ‑‑ and, without exception, each had to be created by diamonds in the rough.

If you're a baby boomer (born between 1946 and 1964), it wasn't at all uncommon to visit your medical doctor while he smoked a cigarette. If you worked out before it was the rage, you were considered a loose cannon. If you took food supplements in capsular form, it only made for expensive urine.

Whether you realize it or not, you have always been a diamond in the rough just waiting for a vision big enough to get involved in. The wait is over. It's time for diamonds in the rough to once again rise to the top with another concept that's just slightly ahead of our time: healthier people creating a healthier planet!

Welcome aboard!