2
Our Expanding Scope of Practice
I hope this edition of the Alumnus finds you enjoying the summer and all that this time of year has to offer. NUHS every summer offers an opportunity to connect and reconnect with colleagues face-to-face( remember that?).... Homecoming! This year’ s festivities were held on campus and allowed the attendees to see all of the campus improvements and an opportunity to speak with the administration. Being on campus, in situ if you will, always recalls so many more memories of when I was a student than participating off campus. The campus tours were a great opportunity to see all of the capital improvements in the classrooms. These investments combined with the addition of cutting-edge technology keeps NUHS at the forefront of education.
This year’ s theme: Women in Medicine. Leaders in Healthcare was a great experience. The topics that were presented were diverse and ran the spectrum of clinical management to research. I personally found all of the speakers very informative and even entertaining at times( you know who you are). The information was intellectually stimulating and relevant for today’ s modern DC / ND / AOM practice. At the conclusion of the weekend I was better equipped to meet my patient’ s needs; especially my female patients.
In my practice 63 % of patients are female and typically have great influence on the choices their friends and families make regarding healthcare providers. I believe it is imperative for all healthcare professions to promote female providers as they are uniquely qualified to forge a more meaningful relationship with female patients and therefore better outcomes. Also, certain patient populations, mostly due to religious beliefs, are not allowed to be seen by a male provider. Even if your practice does not focus on women’ s health, the information that was presented will help you better understand your female patients, educate them on their health and facilitate better referrals. I am hopeful that this event might even serve as a springboard for a CME track in NUHS post-grad focusing on women’ s health topics if there is interest.
Sincerely, Darren D. Hancock, DC, DACBSP
2