Your Extraordinary LIFE 2021 | Page 38

Dr . David Koch

Reflects on His Life at Life U

Life University Chiropractic Sciences
Professor Dr . David Koch recently retired from teaching full time after 40 years on the job . While he will continue to lead lab courses , Dr . Koch is taking time to reflect on his long career in Chiropractic and education , and he spoke with our YEL staff this fall .
How did you first learn about Chiropractic , and how did you become interested in it ?
I have been under chiropractic care since I was two years old , even before I remember . I just grew up with it and didn ’ t think anything of it — you just went to the chiropractor and got your spine adjusted . When I went to college , I wasn ’ t really sure what I wanted to do , so I started looking around , and I met a woman named Ida Rolf who invented something called rolfing . It ’ s very deep tissue massage , so I got rolfed and I liked that , but it made me realize I ’ d already been doing that kind of work since I was a little boy . So , I dropped out of undergraduate because I didn ’ t know for sure what I wanted to do . About a year and a half later I said , “ Well , why don ’ t I go become a chiropractor ?” In order to be a rolfer , I had to have a license to touch people ’ s bodies , and there are only a few ways to do that — a Ph . D . in psychology , an M . D . degree or a D . C . degree , or you become a massage therapist . So , I decided to become a chiropractor ; that would have been in 1975 . I went back to college , got my undergraduate degree and started chiropractic college in 1977 . And I ’ ve never done anything else since October 4 , 1977 .
I didn ’ t know this until later in my life , but my grandfather — my mom ’ s father — was a medical doctor and a chiropractor . He became a medical doctor in 1906 at the University of St . Louis and became a chiropractor in 1914 . He practiced as a medical doctor , but my mom was his office assistant when she was a little girl , and she said , “ I remember that he adjusted people . I never thought about it until now .” After my uncle died , my cousin got his family papers , and we discovered my grandfather ’ s chiropractic diploma . Nobody knew he was a chiropractor . Now I have my grandfather ’ s chiropractic diplomas up on the wall
What would you want people who are unfamiliar with Chiropractic to know about it ?
The first thing I always want to tell someone who has no idea about it is that it ’ s about the way your body runs . Your brain is where your body makes all the decisions to run , but it sends all those decisions down your spinal cord , and then your body does what your brain tells it to do . Then I will say Chiropractic deals with your spine , which holds the main cable between your brain and your body . And when your spine isn ’ t working right , it can obscure that communication . It can garble the messages that your brain is sending to your body and the messages your body is sending to your brain , and your body doesn ’ t know what to do . It has interference in the nerve system , and we correct those spinal misalignments ; we call them vertebral subluxations or spinal subluxations . So , I give them the smallest of lay lectures , and I start with the innate connection between the brain and the body , and the body and the brain ; it ’ s called the simple cycle . And I say , “ If you knew something was blocking that communication , wouldn ’ t you want it cleared up ? Wouldn ’ t you want your brain to be able to talk to your body and vice versa ?” In humans , it happens through the spinal column , and the spine can then mess with that cord . That ’ s pretty simplistic , but that ’ s plenty conceptual enough for people . It ’ s like when an ophthalmologist says , “ Your eye is like a camera .” It ’ s not really like a camera , but it is in one way . Light comes in through the front of a camera , and it makes a picture on the film in the back . Light comes in through your eye , and it makes a picture on your retina . The fact is your spinal cord is the main cable of your body ’ s telephone system , and your brain sends telephone messages down the wires to every cell in your body . And your body calls back up to the brain , and all that traffic is going through your spinal cord . Wouldn ’ t you like your spinal cord to be unencumbered ? Let ’ s talk about getting your spine adjusted .
What brought you to Life University ?
I was invited to come down for an open philosophy instructor position by Dr . Rob Scott . He wasn ’ t the president of the college at the time ; he was the Vice President of Academic Affairs . He knew I was free from Palmer College of Chiropractic , where I had been teaching chiropractic philosophy . So , I came down to Life University . I had been aware of , and had lectured at , Life University before , because I taught at Sherman College of Chiropractic for so long , for 18 years , and was president of Sherman . The invitation was perfect for me . I came down in 2006 and finished out my career teaching philosophy at Life University .
How have you seen the University grow and change ?
I came to Life University when it was still Life Chiropractic College , plus some extra courses in order to let the pre-chiropractic students do their undergraduate degrees . It started to change as soon as I got here . That ’ s when the college decided to expand its undergraduate program , which I was leery about because of a couple places where a non-chiropractic university had tried to add a chiropractic program that hadn ’ t worked out that well . This would have been the first time that a chiropractic college became a full university , and we didn ’ t know whether it would be successful or not . Obviously , it ’ s worked out spectacularly . I have really enjoyed watching Life University transform itself into a broad-scope university with a strong chiropractic program and a lot of other really good programs .
What are the most important lessons you ’ ve tried to impart to your students ?
I have lived through the process of Chiropractic trying to find itself , so I would say the most important lesson that I have for my students
36 Alumni . LIFE . edu | 2021