In high school. I had friends who were chiropractors, people I met and remain friends with. I also knew a young ballerina being seen by a chiropractor and a podiatrist. This is when I learned that there were different kinds of doctors in health, besides MDs. I also discovered that many young athletes were being treated by chiropractors instead of medical physicians.

Later, I was teaching in Missouri, and I would give guest lectures in the Drugs and Behaviors classes. I primarily taught about over-the-counter medications, but I would also do a special lecture in that course about the basics of the health professions. As part of that, I defined for the students the difference between an allopath, an osteopath, a naturopath and a chiropractor. I described the differences as well as the similarities. I explained that these are all doctors, and that all types of doctors are experts in their particular fields.

My own philosophy says that all of these professions should be included and all of them are important health care resources. In the military, for the most part I only had MDs to deal with, along with some osteopaths, PAs [physician’s assistants] and nurse practitioners.

Can you recall situations while you were a military medic, when it would have been helpful to have a chiropractor available?

Yes, absolutely. There are times when adjustment and manipulation are key. First, they’re quicker. Much of the time, you can see instant results with them. In practical terms, this means I can get someone mobile so we can get out of the line of fire and then fix them someplace safer. Additionally, the trauma of being stuffed in a cockpit or a tank can be quickly countered by some simple manipulations.

Second, what you have available [as a military medic in the field] is often nothing more than yourself. Both of those professions, chiropractic and osteopathy, utilize touch. Having worked in OB for so many years, I’ve seen over and over the difference that touching can make for a patient. Just simply laying your hands on them. I’ve seen this in the emergency room, in OB, and also in my work with domestic violence and sexual assault people, where you have to be very careful how you touch. There can be a great difference between just being next to them, and putting your hand out toward them. There can be a huge change in them, just because you touched them at the same time you were talking with them. I carry my hands with me. They are one of my most important tools. That and listening.

Coming closer to the present, you’ve recently begun chiropractic school. What would you say your goals are at this point?

I want to go out and help people, including people who do not live that close to health care services or who lack the financial resources to get simple basic health care. In some cases, my role might be pointing them in the right direction. I would rather that people come to see me when they have a cold, just starting out, rather than wait until it’s pneumonia and they have to go to the emergency room.

I don’t care if they pay me in peaches when the crop comes in. I want to see them before something becomes a big problem. I would really like to see everybody in a preventive care, wellness setting. America as a whole has no concept of preventive medicine. We really need one and need to find ways to deliver it. It’s about diet, exercise, weight loss. It needs to be individualized, and it takes participation from the individual and their doctors. I want to be part of that. I want to be an example of those attitudes that I have most admired when receiving care.

So you envision a practice in which you would combine your specific chiropractic training with what sounds like a primary care practice, with particular focus on wellness, prevention and serving people in need.