Real Students… Real Advice: James Morosky
“Back in high school I was thinking about medical school or law school. Then one of my friends from church who went to chiropractic college came and spoke to our chemistry class about his experience there. I missed the first half of his talk but the last half was really interesting. He was talking about the musculoskeletal and nervous system and that topic interested me,” says James.
While still in high school, James arranged to “shadow” a local chiropractic physician, spending time at the doctor’s practice to see first-hand what the career entailed. The doctor that James shadowed had graduated from National. “Later, as a college student at Penn State, I realized that both of my majors — biology and psychology —would flow nicely with chiropractic medicine.“
Originally, James considered several chiropractic schools. He remembers, “A friend at Penn State toured all the schools and came back to tell me about them. She told me about NUHS because it was on my list. She said that all the other schools couldn’t match up to what National offered. In fact, she’s also a student at NUHS today, although she’s three trimesters ahead of me.”
“Since I was originally considering medical school, National appealed to me. I chose chiropractic medicine because I appreciate an approach to health care that doesn’t rely on drugs and yet doesn’t eschew them. Likewise, I also appreciated National because it doesn’t rely exclusively on adjustments for health care,” says James.
“National teaches many different modalities of care, and works to build bridges to understand other branches of medical care. I felt this would better prepare me for my future career as a physician.”
He also chose National because of its excellent business and marketing program. “I really didn’t have any knowledge in that area and knew I needed to learn business skills in order to set up a future practice. Nothing the other schools offered came close to what National had in this regard.”
James’ life as a student is a busy one. He graduated early from Penn State to give himself a break, and to get married. He and his wife used the extra time to move to Chicago and get settled into an off-campus apartment before James started his DC program in May 2008.
In addition, James is in the work-study program on campus and works part-time in the Office of the Registrar. He is also a member of the Motion Palpation Club, the Student American Chiropractic Association, and participates in “ChiroVoice,” a lobbying arm of the American Chiropractic Association.
When he graduates, James hopes to practice in Ohio, Colorado or Pennsylvania. “These are the states where there are licensure laws that allow for a broad scope of practice, which is what I’d like to do,” says James. He can foresee himself working in an integrative medical setting where he can consult with MDs, DOs, acupuncturists, and massage therapists as part of patient care. James also would like to pursue continuing education in internal medicine and neurology.
What’s James’ advice to undergrads currently shopping for the right career and right school? “Consider all possibilities, because the future will always be changing. Back in high school, becoming an MD was tops on my list. That was before the huge alternative health care boom that’s going on now. People are demanding natural medicine. Now I’m glad I got into chiropractic medicine when it’s looking like there’s an upswing. But the bottom line is to go with what you love.”
