January 2005

Chiropractic in Portugal... Continuing the 'sacred trust'

by Dr. Andrew P. Hatch

Where's Portugal? Isn't that part of Spain? Why did you move there? Do you speak the language? How is chiropractic accepted in Portugal? What are the laws like? Do you get insurance reimbursement? How long have you lived there? What are the people like? How many DCs are working in Portugal? How are they doing? How many patients do you see a day, per month? How do your kids like living in Portugal?

The questions go on and on whenever someone sees my nametag at seminars or other chiropractic functions around the world.

Perhaps I can answer a few of the above questions and give you an idea as to what it is I've been up to here in Portugal for the last 10 years.

Located in Europe, the independent Republic of Portugal is the western portion of the Iberian Peninsula and borders Spain. It was only part of that country for a short time a few hundred years ago, until the King of Spain gave control back to the Portuguese royal family.

Why did I move to Portugal? This was literally an answer to my prayer. One day after work in a PI practice in Connecticut, which I did for the first year out of school, I walked in my house and prayed, “Lord, where do you want me to be and what do you want me to do? I will be obedient.” No sooner were those words out of my mouth and the phone rang.

It was Dr. Lyle Grenz in Portugal. He was the first chiropractor in the Lisbon area and the second DC in the country by just a few weeks. I had sent some letters to DCs in Europe to get a feel as to how things were there. Dr. Grenz was the first to respond.

We clicked immediately and spoke for several minutes. When I hung up, my hand was still on the phone when it rang again. This time it was Beatriz, a Portuguese patient of mine who I hadn't seen for several months. She said, “Dr. Hatch, did you ever consider working in Portugal? I have a house there that you can use and I don't think there are any chiropractors working in Portugal.” My mouth dropped and I felt like I'd been struck by lightening.

We spoke for a while longer and then I had to pick up my wife from work. We drove to the lake near our home and I asked her, “How would you like to move to Portugal?” She was about five or six months pregnant with our second child. She said, “Ok, if that's what you want to do, let's give it a try.” So, we agreed to give it a year. If things didn't work out, we could always return to Connecticut to practice. Six weeks later, on June 5th 1994, we all moved to Portugal.

I started working in Dr. Grenz's office on a percentage basis. I was the fourth full‑time DC to practice in Portugal. Our numbers have increased to a staggering 21 DCs for a population of 10.5 million people. Things started off slowly but began to increase with hard work, time and persistence.

We do no external marketing or advertising. We have referral only practices. And, after one year, I opened my own clinic while continuing to work part time with Dr. Grenz. Both practices grew quickly after that. In February 1998, I opened my second office closer to home.

During this time, we formed the Portuguese Chiropractors Association (APQ) where I served as vice president for four years. We created the statutes, spoke to politicians, promoted chiropractic in Portugal, became involved with the European Chiropractors Association, did lots of public speaking in Portuguese, and continue to educate the public every week. While I was almost put in jail once by the order of medicine, I won that one by staying true to chiropractic and NOT pretending to be a medical doctor!

In 2002, I started my own consulting company ‑‑ by default. I had learned some great practice management skills from several well‑known and successful DCs I had met through Parker Seminars and Dynamic Essentials. With the help of my extraordinary CA, Maria, we created our own program for DCs and CAs in Europe.

I had a respectable volume of patients, with an average of 180 per day. I was done adjusting by 1:30 p.m. Not the highest number out there but not the least either. For Europe though, this was a rarity.

We had DCs visiting the office every month from all over the world. It was truly amazing. We were letting them hang around, take pictures and ask questions afterwards. This was happening so often we decided to start Global Practice Solutions (GPS), for the purpose of keeping doctors and staff on course and giving them a sense of direction.

We've taken our knowledge on the road and helped get several practices off the ground, evaluated and changed others to improve systems and efficiency, and given seminars to large audiences around Europe. We hold a very intensive three‑day learning experience in my office nearly once a month.

My office is divided into four levels. We have a two‑story open room adjusting area with a viewing room above behind mirrored glass, for visiting DCs and their staff to observe during our “prime time.”

Our weekend experience begins with observation “From Above Down” during prime time on Thursday. That evening we get to know the doctors and staff personally and what their challenges and objectives are for the weekend.

On Friday, we have intensive training for the CAs and the DCs from morning to night.

Starting with some exercise on the beach near the office just before sunrise, that's the time we relax, reflect and come together as a group before class begins. We want to get the DCs and their staff on the same page with the same mission, vision and goals for their offices and communities.

It truly is amazing how disconnected some chiropractors and staff really are. Some DCs have no clue what's going on and some CAs seem to be running the show on their own with no guidance or direction from their doctors. This is a fatal mistake and leads to severe stress and burnout, lack of communication and a poorly run office. We help create a team environment with the doctor as the leader and the staff to support his or her mission and vision.

Even more amazing is the work needed to teach the word “subluxation” to some of the European graduates. Thanks to the indisputable examples, videos and illustrations put out by Drs. Christopher Kent and Patrick Gentempo demonstrating the devastating effects of subluxation, misaligned vertebrae or joint dysfunction, our clients can see, touch and feel the truth.

We're aware of and very sensitive to the cultural and political differences between Europe and the United States. What we teach can be applied safely and confidently in any country.

After getting into the head space of each office and gaining a feeling for where they are and where they would like to be, the real fun begins.

On Saturday, it's the doctor's turn to run his or her own high volume practice. We role play at first, do some trial runs with each team and then the spotlight is on the DC while we video the person fulfilling his or her dream and mission to serve with certainty, proficiency, skill and efficiency. It's truly the “Above‑Down, Inside‑Out” experience.

This is a weekend of huge paradigm shifts for many who come through. Doctors and staff alike leave with a new understanding of what it is we do as chiropractors and what our purpose is for our communities. It has very little to do with low back pain and everything to do with wellness and saving lives.

We still have doctors visiting every month from the States, Canada, Mexico, most European countries including Eastern Europe and South Africa. I have an open door policy in my office. If people truly want to learn how I do what I do and how our team functions, I strongly suggest DCs (and staff) spend three days of their lives with us and change those lives forever.

Unlike many chiropractic seminars today where DCs and CAs sit and listen to somebody else speak, we put a premium on participation and action.

“When you hear something, you forget it. When you see something, you remember it. But not until you do something will you understand it.” This is our mission. We want to get DCs and their staff members to DO it in order to understand it.

We want chiropractic to grow and be the leader in the “Wellness Revolution.” We want wellness and chiropractic to be synonymous. To that end, we're dedicated to expanding the profession globally and touching as many lives as we can.

(Dr. Andrew Hatch, president of the Global Wellness Group invites doctors and their staff to “spend some time with us so we can help you catch the global vision for chiropractic.” Visit online at www.globalpracticesolutions.com for more information.)