A guest article by Annie Ochoa, LMP.
Can we talk about what it means to demonstrate Professional courtesy between Chiropractors and Massage Therapists?
Before I begin, I feel it is important to provide some background information on myself so that the ideas and suggestions that I am presenting in this discussion has a deeper and fuller meaning. I am a body worker that has created 2 clinics and worked either solo, or with other LMP’s or Acupuncturists and have also worked as an employee for several Chiropractors. I have seen firsthand the differences between being self-employed and working as someone else’s employee. I am currently in my 17th year of body work and feel quite accomplished in my abilities.
Like many others, I have had lots of business experience prior to my “left turn” into body work. I have done everything from selling diamonds to working with Quality Assurance documentation for Nuclear Power Plant Components, and worked for a local Savings and Loan for 11 years, nearly won their National Speech Contest and was preparing for management when I jumped ship and transformed into a dedicated massage therapist!
When we as therapists communicate with a potential employer – it is as a professional Massage Therapist. Even if we just graduated from Massage School, we have spent long hours studying Anatomy and Physiology, Massage Theory and Practice, Kinesiology, etc. We were required to know specific techniques and were tested thoroughly by our schools, and then by either the state or national boards. We have spent thousands of dollars, and polished our skills – and most of us have done this as a career change. We are serious about our work and are very dedicated.
At Find Touch, we have an amazing opportunity to search for and to actually be alerted by email to a potential employer through this wonderful service. We can find opportunities to improve our current circumstances by finding a “better fit” with an employer, negotiate better pay, or just start out! But to do this successfully, there are some things we need to consider.
I was recently contacted by a Chiropractic firm and tried to respond to them in as positive a way as possible. My feelings were: before I make a major investment with someone, and in order to be fair to us both, I simply had some questions about how they function, BEFORE I tell them I’d love to come in for an interview.
I was very polite, told them I really appreciated their time. They got irritated when I tried to find out more about them and told me if I wasn’t serious about applying then they didn’t want to answer any more questions!
If I wasn’t serious, I wouldn’t waste my time asking important questions! After a couple of attempts to get my questions answered politely, I told them nicely that I was very serious, but since my asking questions bothered them, I wished them simply a successful year and I stopped speaking with them.
Find Touch has been incredibly supportive of my views on this subject and I’d like to share some of my ideas about what my years of experience have taught me:
1. First of all, to show professional courtesy, we need to respond immediately. We want our future employer to know that we are serious about finding a job and really appreciate their taking the time to review our information, and finding our information attractive enough to ask for an interview. So let us be prompt. It looks good on us as professional massage therapists, and on Find Touch as a helpful and innovative business providing an excellent online service for both Chiropractors and Employers.
2. Chiropractors need to realize that we therapists have just as much right to interview THEM as they do in interviewing US. We are talking about a two-way relationship, and it has to be a mutual relationship of kindness and respect. Take some time to create questions to ask your potential employer before actually going in to be interviewed by them.
After going to a few interviews and finding there were some issues with those employers that were deal breakers for me, I began to ask them a few questions online before going all the way over for an interview which felt like a waste of both of our time!
Some sample questions that I have for a potential employer would be:
a) Do you pay all massage therapists the same no matter how many years of experience they have? Seems to me that if someone has invested 5, 10, 15 years of expensive continuing education and many hours of their lives in learning new materials, they should be paid more than someone who just got out of school as they will have more experience and greater “tools” to work with in assisting patients. And this is not to “dis” newer therapists – they are great! But we all started out at the beginning and there needs to be rewards for hanging in there!
b) Do you expect your massage therapists to do any other duties other than body work and SOAP charting?
c) If so, do you pay them a fair hourly wage for the additional duties ($10 to $15/hour) for example: booking appointments, answering phones, pulling charts, washing sheets, folding sheets, housekeeping in the kitchen, taking out the trash, vacuuming, etc.
d) Most Chiropractic offices expect Massage Therapists to be preferred providers for Insurances so that their patients can have their appointments billed. Will the Chiropractor offer any assistance for Continuing Education and/or the cost of keeping their credentialing up in order to be the kind of employee that they require?
e) How do they feel about time off for emergencies or a family vacation, trades, etc. How much notice do they require for important days off – and will someone else be able to cover you if you get sick? Will they be supportive of what you need to be happy and able to function at home as well as at work?
f) Do they have staff meetings where there is a common ground for questions and/or problems to be discussed and cleared regarding procedures, policies and personnel? It is important that you have a forum and a voice to feel good about working with any group of people.
g) Are you allowed to talk to the patients about stretches, pain reducing methods like dead sea salt baths, or their comments about your employer – knowing that you are loyal to your employer and would support them in the conversation? The freedom to be yourself is important!
h) Before you sign a non-compete agreement, make sure you READ it, and change ANYTHING in there you do not agree with! A contract is a binding agreement and you can really get into trouble with this. If it sounds unreasonable – it probably is, and will NOT be worth it if they do not want to negotiate with you. Just let it go and move on.
i) Is there a specific uniform that will be required and who pays for it?
j) Will I get to have Chiropractic benefits included as part of my employment? Is my family included? Are there any other benefits available to me? To my family?
k) What is their view on body work? Do they supply it to their patients because they want you to do as many massages as possible to earn them as much money as possible? Or do they believe it is a wonderful adjunct to their treatment and they have real respect for the art and application of body work?
l) If you have something in the healthcare industry that you would like to offer to their clients – clear it with them, and make the proper arrangements prior to seeing their patients “on the side” for it. An example might be creating flower remedies for the patients’ symptoms in support of their condition. Will the Chiropractor get a cut, or are you allowed to suggest these things at all, etc.?
m) Finally, do they seem kind to everyone, and are they respectful to everyone? I once met a potential employer at lunch to discuss terms for working with them, and he actually yelled at the waitress and belittled her so loudly that the entire restaurant heard him! Obviously, I declined to work with the man. If he was so callous and disrespectful to this poor waitress whom he just met, imagine what he would do to me as an employee? Check THEIR references for the kind of employer they are by talking with other therapists in their employ or staff/clients who know them and their work! You have the right to know who you are working for! Your reputation will now become connected to theirs and vice versa.
Is there a question that you like to ask when interviewing for a job? Share it in the comments!
I’d like to say that I’ve met some wonderful Chiropractors and worked for some of them – and miss them because they were so awesome. But I’ve also seen some behavior that was not good by others. Be discerning in your search; don’t sell yourself cheap. Know who you are, and know that you may have some work to do in order to be more marketable!
The only way Chiropractors are going to treat body workers as the professionals that they are is when WE as body workers demand that they do! We work hard, we are well trained and deserve to be compensated adequately and be treated with respect!
The other side holds true also. If you find a wonderful Chiropractor to work with, be loyal, be honest, be clean, on time and helpful! Treat them the way you would like to be treated! Go the extra mile – show them what a real professional can do! Imagine for a moment that it is “your” business – how would you like to be represented by a Massage Therapist? Be the IDEAL and you will not only be serving your employer well, but you will be an ambassador to their industry!
In my dialogue with Chiropractors on Find Touch, I’ve only encountered a couple of “bad apples”. Most folks are great, and we need to learn how to work together – and that takes effort from both sides.
Thank you! After moving to CA from AZ where I practiced massage therapy for 10yrs, I accepted a position w/ a chiropractor. After showing my client some stretches she could do at home, the chiropractor told me not to do that with her clients. I’ve since been hesitant to work with other chiropractors, but after reading your article, I have new found hope and confidence. I never in a million years would have known to ask if it would be okay for me to suggest home/self care with our clients during an interview! Thank you for your article. This will help me with future interviews with not only chiropractors, but in general.
Hi, I am a Licensed Chiropractor in CA and a Licensed massage practitioner in WA. I live in WA. All recommendations have to be cleared with the DC prior to telling the client and all those have to be documented on the SOAP notes. Many DC are not able to deliver the same level of healing that comes from an experience therapist. I have been doing body work for 26 years and a DC for 23 years. I totally agree skill should be rewarded. There should be more communication between the DC and the therapist on goals for the patients and not between the therapist and office workers even management. I have also experienced that each state also have a level of professionalism between Chiropractors and Massage Therapists. We all have skills and the respect needs to be there on both sides. I always interview possible employers before I go out of my way for the interview! I have 26 years of experience in body work and all the skills of a Chiropractor without doing adjustments, physical therapy experience and home care exercises and stretching! Of course you have to get prior approval of any thing you tell someone else’s patients to make sure there isn’t an underlying problem and that you are on track at to the goal of the DC. Respect both ways is so important! Being on both sides and knowing what I know is comparable to the 100 0r 500 hours for therapist to get licensed vs the 4,400 hrs for DC. if everyone re[sects each other then we can all work and get along. Therapist you may have to demonstrate what you would like to show the patients so the DC feels confident in your knowledge and skills! Always document everything you do and make copies of your treatment plan and any handouts approved by the DC in the patients file. I am very protective as a DC and a therapist to my patients and clients as to not have anyone undo what it is i am trying to accomplish in the healing goals of anyone. It’s team work!
I hear your frustration. I have to say I have never, in 15 years of practice, worked for a d.c., largely because I found they would rather have an unskilled massage person working for them for minimal pay. It’s ironic that one of the main outreaches of massage through insurance virtually assures that people will not have massage from an educated/experienced person. It is time all licensing laws for m.t. require d.c. to hire professiona-level therapists.
Thank you for sharing !
I love chiropractic, and have been treated by some really lovely, skilled people. On the other hand, I’ve worked with chiropracters who it seemed to me wanted an LMP in order to “get a cut” of the massage insurance market. These guys liked me as person, I just don’t think they thought massage was really doing anything truly important for the clients or needed to be treated as important (e.g. please be quiet outside my room, I’m actually working in here). That attitude really got to me. I’ve helped a lot of people with healing, and to be at my best, I need to be in an environment where massage is taken seriously. And this is one thing I always look out for now when it comes to chiropractors.
Anna, thank you for empowering MTs in your post regarding the great subject of “professional courtesy” between medical pros and MTs. I believe in chiropractic medicine but know there are some DCs (and pros in all fields) who do not value MTs for their healing capabilities but rather for merely adding revenue to their practice. I recently worked for a DC who fit into that last category and who ironically found my profile on Find Touch that I neglected to thoroughly interview when I had the chance. I later found out he didn’t value my work or therapists in general based upon the negative manner in which he spoke about the MT I was replacing. I should have pursued that red flag further but elected to ignore it and accepted his offer to come to work. During the six months I worked with him, he was not forthcoming with information on individual patient histories (unless I cornered him) and, since his SOAP notes were computerized, I didn’t have free access to them. The fact is, he never appeared to be empathetic toward healing his wonderful patients I cared about helping so the experience taught me I need to protect my own professional reputation by being more selective with whom I associate and to make sure it’s a good fit.