Chiropractor

It was June 1, 1998, and Elaine Bolte's office was open for business. What she didn't have was a patient. "I opened the doors and thought, 'Now what do I do?' All I had were boxes filled with empty files," she says with a laugh. Six months earlier, Bolte had received her chiropractic degree from New York State Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls. After graduation, she faced the same decisions as her fellow classmates: buy a practice from a retiring doctor, or join the office of an established chiropractor? Neither of these choices appealed to Bolte. Instead of subordinating herself to another colleague, she staked out Mechanicsville, Va., moved into her own office, and became the first female chiropractor on the east side of Richmond. Chiropractic care wasn't always in Bolte's plans. From seventh grade until her sophomore year at Ohio University, Bolte's career choice leaned toward the more creative outlet of interior design. "I got through a year and a half of the program and realized I wasn't really happy," she says. "I wanted to work with people, to help people. The only thing I thought of was chiropractic."

Turning from her previously tailored track, Bolte declared herself a biological science major instead. "I was so stuck in the interior design thing since seventh grade," she said. "I didn't know anything about it, but it sounded cool." When she started working on the interior design program, however, her attitude changed. And instead of spending her days learning how to reframe pictures, Bolte began to lay the foundation of a career of adjusting spinal cords. After receiving her bachelor's degree from Ohio University, Bolte got accepted to New York State Chiropractic College, where she began a three-and-a-half-year professional program. There, she studied basic sciences for the first year, then immediately turned to more hands-on chiropractic experience. By her third year, Bolte says she was working with patients. After finishing school in December of 1997 Bolte tackled her options with characteristic focus.

The "associate" route, in which a young chiropractor enters into practice with a seasoned doctor, did not tempt Bolte. "It can be very, very low pay," she says, explaining that the income potential for an independent practitioner is much greater. Starting her own practice, Health Link Family Chiropractic, certainly presented its own challenges. Her first concern was about her finances. A new graduate can owe thousands in loans. In addition, starting salaries are generally low, until doctors build their patient lists. With a lot of hard work and dedication, though, Bolte turned a risky venture into a success. She developed expertise in three areas one might not normally associate with chiropractic medicine: business, public relations and education. "I wish I had taken more business courses in school," she says.

At the beginning, when Bolte had no staff, she managed her patient's bills and insurance. In those days of sorting through files, her business also required her to get involved with her community. She joined local clubs, fitness facilities, performed community work and presented workshops. While these activities familiarized her with the community, they also increased her marketability, helping her bring in clients to fill those empty files. Once the patients entered her office, the new problem was in educating them. In conservative Mechanicsville, the idea of holistic healing was not readily understood. "When patients come in, they have two questions: why should I even be here, and how can you help me?" Bolte says. As result, Bolte must teach her patients the basics of what she describes as "a natural approach to health care. It's drugless, non-surgical and non-invasive." Bolte believes that the relationship that patients build with their chiropractor differs from one with a traditional physician. "There is a closeness with any type of touch, human touch," she says. "A totally different level of communication. You've touched them and haven't hurt them." During treatments, Bolte does not merely adjust the back. As a "mixer," she adds ultrasound and hot/cold therapy, trigger-point technique, therapeutic exercises, muscle stimulation and spinal adjustments.

Besides the monetary rewards, Dr. Bolte has earned a great work schedule and the satisfaction of doing what she loves. In a five-day workweek, Bolte works three full-time days and two half-days. In a few years, even that time might be reduced. Best of all, Bolte finds little to complain about in her job. "It's really fun," she says. "I can't imagine not being a chiropractor." With an established office, Bolte can turn her attention away from the nuts-and-bolts of the practice's daily operation. Her staff cares for medical records and paperwork, letting Bolte spend her days treating her patients. And with more than 300 patients, her still-growing practice gives her ample opportunity. But Bolte hasn't completely abandoned her early designer inklings. "I designed the office furniture, and my dad made chairs and a children's adjusting table in the shape of a deer," she says. Now, though, this former interior design major crafts a different kind of creativity: the art of healing.

Write Elaine Bolte at 8157 Old Cavalry Drive, Suite 101; Mechanicsville, Va.; 23111.

THINKING ABOUT BECOMING A CHIROPRACTOR?
Your timing is perfect. Within the next eight years, the profession is expected to boom. The increasing demand for holistic-health care providers has turned chiropractic into one of the top 10 fastest growing occupations, reports the U.S. Department of Labor's 2000-2001 Occu-pational Outlook Handbook. In fact, by 2008 (right about the time when you may have finished your bachelor's and doctorate degrees), chiropractic employment will have increased between 21% to 35%. Don't expect to reap the benefits right away. Whether you decide to join an existing practice, buy up a retiring doctor's clientele or take the plunge and open your own private office, chances are that you won't see the big bucks for a few years. If you choose to join an existing practice as a salaried employee, expect a low but palatable starting income of about $35,000. If you begin your own private office, you will surpass the wages of your salaried colleagues within a few years. Either way, the American Chiropractic Association reports that the average income is more than $85,000.

CLICKABLE RESOURCES
To find out more about the 16 accredited chiropractic college programs, check out these resources:

American Chiropractic Association: http://www.americhiro.org
Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE): http://www.cce-usa.org

For more general information, visit:
Chiropractic Health and Education Web Site: http://www.backs.net http://www.chiroweb.com

Article provided by