“Drinking out of a fire hose.” That is the easiest way to explain the experience of beginning a doctorate program for chiropractic medicine. Not only are you re-adapting to sitting in class six to eight hours a day, but you are also hearing a constant stream of buzzwords: clubs, extracurriculars, student chiropractic associations, tutoring and mentoring.
Take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay!
You are here to master chiropractic care, prepare for board examinations and gain clinical experience. Naturally, you might ask yourself, “Why on earth do I need to add clubs to my plate?” The answer is simple: chiropractic school is going to be as good as you make it. Using your lunchtime to join a club is one of the smartest investments you can make in your future career. Here’s why.
Building Your Network
The first and possibly most important reason to participate in campus clubs is the opportunity to meet students in upper trimesters and build a rapport with professors. Walking into a new school knowing absolutely no one is nerve-wracking, even for the most extroverted individuals.
By participating in clubs, you meet upper-semester students who have already survived the exact classes you are stressed about. They can offer advice on study tactics to use, show different palpation techniques, and truthfully, tips on how to stay sane. Clubs also have faculty advisors and occasional guest doctors that allow you to build professional relationships outside the formal lecture.
Developing Your “Chiropractic Hands”
Another great reason to get involved is hands-on experience. Practice makes perfect, right? Being a chiropractor is a manual job. You cannot learn the feel of a joint restriction, or the feel of muscle hypertrophy solely from a textbook.
Joining a club gives you a safe space to train your hands and provides the opportunity to palpate a range of different body types and compositions. Practicing on a classmate who is 5 ‘2 ” requires a completely different setup and leverage than practicing on someone who is 6’ 4″. Clubs allow you to make mistakes, ask questions and refine your psychomotor skills long before you ever step into the clinic.
Avoiding Burnout
Last, but not least, clubs offer a much-needed mental break. Surviving a 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. class schedule every single day for over two years is exhausting. Stepping into a club for an hour during lunch forces you to change your environment and move your body. It provides a community-driven break to actively learn, connect and re-energize. Chiropractic school is a marathon, not a sprint. If you do not take intentional breaks to enjoy the process, you risk burning out before you even cross the finish line.
Make the Most of Lunch Hour
Your time is your most valuable asset, so try not to look at it as “losing” an hour of study time. You will build a community to lean on, develop the muscle memory your future patients will rely on, and give your mind the break it desperately deserves. So, look at the club schedule this week, grab your lunch and step inside. Your future self and your future patients will thank you!
