Brian Hutcheson, DC
A chiropractic physician
helped his brother with the pain of scoliosis after many other
medical specialties failed. That's why Brian Hutcheson (DC '13)
ultimately chose a career in chiropractic medicine.
As Hutcheson was completing his economics degree at the
University of Arizona, he began taking pre-requisite science
courses at NUHS before enrolling in the DC program. "I even
had Dr. Stiefel
as my physics instructor!" he recalls.
"What I liked best about NUHS was it's integrative approach.
Having ND, DC, AOM and MT programs all at the same university,
supports the concept of integrative medicine. This environment
encourages various disciplines to work together, aiming for the
best possible patient care," he says.
His training in integrative medicine from NUHS has served him
well. Dr. Hutcheson recently joined the staff of Hope
Health, a medical provider with nine community health centers
in South Carolina. He will help develop their integrative medicine
section.
Dr. Hutcheson will be Hope Health's first chiropractic
physician. He is already on their board for the integrative
management of diabetics, and also on their integrative pain
management board. "Being the only DC with a base of 32,000
patients, I will be very busy."
Attaining his new position wasn't just a matter of luck. "I had
been trying to land a position with a hospital since I arrived in
South Carolina. It was my goal," says Dr. Hutcheson. "I joined the
local country club, and made myself known in the community, so that
I could purposely meet movers and shakers in the medical profession
here." That approach allowed him to meet the CEO of Hope Health,
one of the more progressive and fastest growing health networks in
the region.
"I know the way health care is going: if we don't get in with
the large players, we'll be left behind," believes Dr. Hutcheson.
"Integrative medicine is not only the best thing for our patients,
but also the best thing for our profession."
Always working toward a vision, Dr. Hutcheson's next goal is to
change Medicaid policy in South Carolina. "Medicaid in our state
currently does not cover chiropractic services. We want to change
that. We are planning on performing a pilot study in 2015 to show
that by using an integrative model, we are able to reduce our
patients' pain and enhance clinical outcomes for chronic pain
management. Currently, Medicaid pain patients are very limited in
treatment options."
His advice to current and future students is, "Never lose sight
of your vision and goals and do something every day to help set
them into action. I tried every day for 18 months to get this job
and was told no 8 months ago by a different hospital. Being
consistent and never losing faith will get you a long way."
And how did his education help him? "National is the only school
that could have prepared me for this opportunity," he says.
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