By Daniel A. Shaye, DC, CCSP, FIAMA

Getting referrals from medical doctors is key to growing your practice. But most medical physicians are under-educated about what we do, when to refer to us and how to refer to us. Even those physicians who regularly make referrals have misconceptions about what we do.

Educating them directly is a key to overcoming myths, stereotypes and misinformation that affect practice growth.

Even though it’s important for you to “meet, greet and educate” MDs in your local area, the best time to educate an MD is before he or she enters medical school or while they are in training. You plant the seeds of chiropractic benefit early. And although you won’t be able to harvest the fruit of your efforts immediately, the long-term results will be worth the wait — for you and for the sake of chiropractic.

How can you plant those seeds? Here are some suggestions:

1. Get in the front door. Obviously, if you can’t get in the door you’ll never get the chance to develop rapport with an audience.

The key is remembering the “P’s”: Be Polite, Patient, Persistent and Professional. Here are some ways that can open the door for you to make presentations to physicians or medical students:

• High school or college colleagues who became MDs. Ask them about speaking opportunities.

• Social acquaintances. Tap into the doctors you know socially.

• Your local medical society. Contact the local medical society to find out how guest lecturers are scheduled.

2. Do your homework. Once in the door, you’ve got to perform! Dress professionally, but stay loose. Though it might be your “big day,” remember that the doctors or students listening to you are just going to the same office or class they go to every day or may be attending a departmental meeting only because they’ll be fined if they don’t.

Make sure you know about any new study on chiropractic reported in the mainstream media or printed in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, or any other journals they read.

Prepare yourself for questions that are likely to come up, such as “What’s the difference between you and a physical therapist?” or “I think chiropractic’s great, but I’m concerned about cervical manipulation.”

Remind yourself that you are the expert in your area. You’d be surprised how little some medical doctors know about musculoskeletal medicine. Be prepared to talk on your audience’s level, avoiding too many terms that might be unique to chiropractic. Without being condescending, be prepared to explain anything they might not understand.

3. Establish a connection with your audience. Creating referral patterns is about creating relation-ships. If MDs know, like and trust you, then they are likely to refer to you.

Doctors in training are highly impressionable and you have an edge: When the dean or professor introduces you, you are perceived as an expert. If you present yourself as trustworthy and capable, these doctors will assume that all chiropractors are as professional and highly trained as you are.

When you stand before a room of medical students, your first challenge is to connect. For example: Tell a tasteful joke, share an anecdote or find out what you have in common such as an alma mater or an interest in athletics.

Another good way to connect is to ask them what they want to hear about and modify your lecture to answer their questions and concerns. Find out their prejudices, what they know and what they think they know — then address their specific questions and concerns.

4. Talk the talk—theirs, not yours. When you’re talking to a group of medical physicians or physicians-to-be, ease your audience into the chiropractic world by starting off with a frame of reference from their world.

Don’t squander your time trying to teach them your subluxation listing system or by pushing them too fast and far beyond their comfort zone. Instead, use case studies or bring a few x-rays and talk about some recent patients who are doing great.

If you feel comfortable doing so, you might even discuss how “objective” studies are not always so objective, and that two identical MRI’s can represent two very different patients. Stress that many patients without a plethora of objective findings still have real problems, as MDs who diagnose 724.2 (lumbago) and 784.0 (headache) know.

Most medical physicians aren’t interested in fixing subluxations. For them, a subluxation probably represents a red-flag contraindication for osseous manipulation. However, MDs are interested in safe, effective options for their patients. And they are interested in feeling intelligent and informed when their patients ask about chiropractic, acupuncture, exercise, herbs and other nonsurgical and nonpharmaceutical approaches to healthcare.

5. Be no more (and no less) than you are. Don’t try to be a miracle man (or woman). Don’t claim to know everything. Instead, discuss areas in your comfort and knowledge zone; present some peer-reviewed medical literature to support outcomes and/or mechanisms; demonstrate your knowledge of anatomy, neurology, physiology and your field of expertise; and share some tools that are useful options for them and their patients.

Chiropractic thrives because of what we do for our patients. Independent Practice Associations (IPAs) and most chiropractic associations have a responsibility to connect doctors of chiropractic and patients; and that often requires a relationship with third-party payers and medical providers. It is my hope and expectation that competent, talented speakers will reach out not only to patients, but to other patient-channeling sources that can bring the benefits of chiropractic care to people who might not otherwise come to know the power of two well-trained hands.

Dr. Daniel Shaye is president of Guardian Care Alliance of Virginia (www.guardiancarealliance.com), a chiropractic IPA and co-founder of Trusted Voice (www.trustedvoice.com), a practice-building and patient education company. He can be reached at pchiro@performancechiropractic.com.