The Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic

Date: Jun 09 2008
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
Ok people, I am not here to disagree with anything that has been written about Sherman College, its cult like nature, the brain dead, brainwashed yes men ( and women) who run the place, or the fact that the philosophy is such a reactionary throwback to the time of leaches and smelling salts that it can no longer be applied to the modern world. All of these things are true. The problem with us all getting together and bitching about them now is that we knew where we were, and what we were getting ourselves more deeply into each quarter that we decided to return…Yet quarter after quarter we trudged back up that hill to the "tornado shelter" of a circa 1975 warehouse building, opened that door, sat our asses behind those banquet tables under those florescent lights and kept our mouths shut. We all did this. Some of you are still doing this! Now let us ask ourselves why we have done such a thing? Why did we inundate ourselves with debt and go home (or to san marcos) and cry in our beers everynight about becoming a paying member of the chiropractic moonies? Why did none of us have the courage to collectively stand up and say this is bullshit and we are not going to sit here and swallow it hook line and sinker? I can sum it up for you. We all delt with the crap because we believed the myth of something better at the end. We all believed that if we could graduate, and get licenced, we could do whatever we wanted, the philosophy would not matter, and we could move on with life. As an alumnus of the school who has been out here doing it for a little while now, let me tell you this:

IF YOU HAVE ANY RESERVATIONS AT ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING AT SHERMAN, GET OUT NOW WHILE YOUR DEBT IS SMALLER. DO NOT WASTE ANOTHER DAY AT THAT PLACE.

I can tell you first hand that once you graduate you will be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. I have interviewed for assosiate positions with so many crack-pots, and with so many people that expect you to instantly adopt thier way of thinking, or rather the way they have been told to run a practice by thier practice management guru. One guy told me upfront that i would be expected to join them in their morning devotionals, and that he would tell me what church to attend, since he had moved churches quite frequently in the town and we had to pick one where we could effectively market for new patients.

My current job is at a PI mill, where the potential to make money is much higher, but you leave feeling morally compromised every day. You say Oh i won't do PI, Ill rely on commercial insurance patients. Newsflash folks, guess what my avarage reimbursement for a commercial insurance patient is after they have paid co-pay…2-3 dollars…thats it.

They fill you head with all kinda bullshit at Sherman, but what they dont tell you is that to really be successful in chiropractic these days, you must be willing to not only accept a line of bullshit, you must be willing to sell it to the general public. All of you having issues with Sherman need to realize that your issues lie with Chiropractic as a whole. It is an increasingly marginalized segment of health care that is fighting for its life, one practice at a time. You will not get a "regular" job, with a regular salary, you will likely not have paid health benefits, you will not have a retirement plan, or often even a 401K to contribute to. You may finish sherman, and get through the insanely expensive board process, you may pay the money to get licensed somewhere and yes you may even make money. Those of you who do, will be the exception, not the rule.

I have been lucky enough to find a job that has allowed me to feel somewhat more stable, but I am still taking the MCAT and applying to medical school as soon as possible. If you feel bad about sherman now, get out of the finacial aid check line and do the same thing for yourself before you owe your souls for a lie.