F4CP's Collaborative Opportunities

Last year, the F4CP submitted a statement to the National Academy of Medicine to enroll as an organization in support of their Opioid Collaborative. The Foundation then sent statements to other organizations who also enrolled in the Action Collaborative to see how we could work to move the needle forward for nonpharmacological care.
 
In response, the Foundation began establishing relationships with organizations in many different professions, including but not limited to yoga therapists, nurse practitioners and more. 
 
The Foundation worked with the International Association of Yoga Therapists to create and place an ad in Yoga Therapy Today, featuring the F4CP’s National Find-A-Doctor Directory, which includes your contact information as a Group Member.
 
In addition, the F4CP’s Executive Vice President Dr. Sherry McAllister was invited to record a chiropractic presentation at Johns Hopkins University – School of Nursing, which is now being presented in the curriculum to Nurse Practitioners. In addition, the F4CP is placing a series of ads in the Journal for Nurse Practitioners, with the call-to-action showcasing Dr. McAllister’s presentation on the ad. Johns Hopkins also built her presentation into their core curriculum.
 

---

F4CP LinkedIn Articulator 
4 Reasons Why Women Are Making a Big Impact in Chiropractic
By Dr. Sherry McAllister

In its 125-year history, chiropractic has been a male-dominated profession, like most others in the healthcare industry. Times, however, are changing. The number of women doctors of chiropractic (DCs) has more than doubled since 1991 to nearly 32% of the profession, according to the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners’ (NBCE) Practice Analysis of Chiropractic 2020.

This report, released in February, is published every five years and based on an in-depth survey of DCs from around the country. In every report since 1991, women have made steady gains in the profession. In the last report, based on a 2015 survey, women comprised 27% of the profession, which is a five-point increase. If this pace continues, women will make up the majority of DCs in less than 20 years.

As a woman who is also a DC and deeply involved in the industry, I feel I have a unique understanding of the reasons for this diversity trend, which, by the way, is both great for patients and great for the industry. Here are some of the reasons:

1.    Women prefer same-gender doctors. According to the NBCE study, women make up the majority of chiropractic patients at 57%, a figure which has remained largely the same since 1991. In years past, there was little choice over the gender of the doctor. Now that the profession and all of healthcare is more diverse than in decades past, women, who feel strongly about this choice, are discovering they have greater opportunity to seek care from a woman doctor. A consumer survey with more than 7,600 respondents showed that 46% of women prefer a female doctor, while only 23% of men said they preferred a male doctor. Meanwhile, only 6% of women said they preferred a male doctor.

2.    Gender-specific problems. One of the main reasons for this preference, in my experience and those of colleagues, is a perception among women that someone of the same gender will simply better understand their body. There is some evidence behind this judgment, as well. A 2018 study based on a review of heart attack patients admitted to Florida hospitals over 20 years found a higher mortality rate among women patients who were treated by male physicians, while women and male patients experienced similar outcomes with women doctors. Women patients also tend to be more comfortable with a woman doctor for discussing health problems involving the more intimate areas of their body and feel a male doctor may not relate to these gender-specific problems.

3.    Flexibility. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of DCs work as sole practitioners, according to the NBCE. Such an arrangement offers schedule flexibility that women DCs prefer. A flexible schedule enables women doctors more time to raise families while still maintaining their practice. In fact, the latest report shows 45.7% of women DCs practice part-time compared to only 35% of men.

4.    Youth. Women DCs are on average younger than their male colleagues. More than half (53%) of DCs younger than 30 years old are women, while more than 70% of doctors age 50 to 59 years are men. As more male DCs retire, the younger women doctors will fill their ranks. This sets up a cycle where younger women aspiring to become a doctor have same-gender role models and mentors, which, in turn, grows the number of women in the profession.

To continue reading this article on LinkedIn, CLICK HERE.