Integrating Care

Preceptorships help Palmer students expand their clinical learning experience.

Palmer College alumna Katelyn Seaba, D.C. (Main, ’20) just finished a clinical rotation at Bigfork Valley Hospital in Bigfork, Minnesota. Having that experience under her belt, Dr. Seaba is now confident that she’s ready to provide chiropractic care to any patient she comes into contact with.

Clinical rotations are excellent opportunities for Palmer students to grow their clinical experience prior to graduation. “Not only did I learn how to put all of my clinical skills together, but I also saw rare conditions that I thought I’d only learn about in school,” says Dr. Seaba. “I’ve seen babies, teens, middle-aged and elderly patients. If I were to open my own clinic tomorrow, I wouldn’t fear the array of patients that might come through my doors.”

Working in an integrative care setting also gave Dr. Seaba the opportunity to provide sideline care at sporting events, shadow surgeries, and work with patients overcoming significant disease. “I saw a patient who survived an abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture, another with peripheral nerve entrapments, an individual with diabetic neuropathies regaining sensation, and a patient who lost all function of their lower limbs as a result of cancer on their T9 vertebra—which they eventually gained back,” she says.

Dr. Seaba completed her rotation under Mike Olson, D.C., CCSP, ICSP (Main, ’11) at Bigfork Valley Hospital. Dr. Olson began this program six years ago and has hosted 13 students at the hospital.

“I’m adamant about chiropractors needing to be involved in integrative care,” says Dr. Olson. “This is an opportunity for our profession. Since I started, we’ve grown our presence in hospital settings, and now we get a lot of calls requesting chiropractic integration. My ability to pass on what I’ve learned is important, and we need more students learning how to work in an integrative setting.”

While chiropractors provide care without the use of drugs or surgery, Dr. Olson says, “I want my students comfortable interacting with all types of care. They need that knowledge and background. My students sit in on physical therapy sessions and typically shadow five to ten different surgeries and spinal injections.”

As Dr. Seaba was finishing her rotation, McKenzee Schultz—a 13th quarter Palmer Florida student—was just beginning hers. For McKenzee, this experience is exactly the opportunity she’d been looking for. “I’ve always been interested in working in an integrated care hospital setting,” McKenzee says. “If you want to get better, you’ve got to push yourself, and this is giving me that extra opportunity to do so.”

MORE: Read more from Palmer Proud Magazine

Palmer College of Chiropractic holds academic affiliations with 45 Department of Defense/Veterans Affairs hospitals, integrative health hospitals, and pain management clinics with the goal of providing students with an additional clinical learning experience. Learn more about preceptor programs on Palmer’s website.