Chiropractic Assistant 

(Female, Age 27) from San Mateo, CA

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 27 who works as a Chiropractic Assistant in San Mateo, CA. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Chiropractic Assistant
Salary $34,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week
Company Size (not answered)
Location San Mateo, CA
Years Experience 4 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
Currently employed full time with a chiropractic office with 3 other employees. The office consists of one doctor, and 2 chiropractic assistants, including myself.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Patient care, medical/insurance billing, customer service, administration, preliminary examination procedures, x-ray processing

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
medical, dental, life ins.

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
Well compensated.

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
Yes. I both enjoy and dislike it, depending on the day. Most patients are pleasant and fun to be around, but there can be occasions when this is not the case. On the whole, we have a very laid back work environment where the focus is on wellness, and the overall attitude of all in the office and those who enter is that of positivity, and a genuine desire to be healty and happy.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?
Yes

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?
Yes

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
It’s a basic, no-frills chiropractic office that can sometimes lack visual stimuli. Colors are drab, music is your typical doctor’s office elevator music, but it’s clean, and comfortable.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 1
Benefits: 3
Hours: 2
Co-Workers: 8
Supervisors: 4
Job Title: 7
Level of Responsibility: 5
The Actual Work: 6

A day in the life of…

Please describe a typical workday for you in your current job:

5am to 6am
6am to 7am
7am to 8am
8am to 9am Open mail, clean tx rooms, pull last minute tx cards
9am to 10am prepare files for insurance calls, greet/check in patients, pull files, schedule appointments, take cancellations
10am to 11am insurance calls, exam preliminaries for one patient, assist with patient exam, greet/check in patients, schedule appointments, take cancellations
11am to 12pm lunch
12pm to 1pm lunch
1pm to 2pm finish insurance calls, greet/check in patients, schedule appointments, take cancellations
2pm to 3pm clean tx rooms, pull tx cards for Saturday, run tx reports, run Verifone report, back up computer system, greet/check in patients, schedule appointments, take cancellations
3pm to 4pm end of workday
4pm to 5pm
5pm to 6pm
6pm to 7pm
7pm to 8pm
8pm to 9pm
9pm to 10pm
10pm to 11pm
11pm to 12am

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
I was a patient at the office, and when the previous CA needed a week off, I was asked to fill in. That eventually became a full time position.

What was the application process?
I filled out tax forms, however no resume or application was required.

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
No, I was a patient, and the doctor was aware of my aspirations to become a chiropractor, so when his assistant needed some time off, he asked if I’d be willing to fill in temporarily. The temporary position turned into a full time, permanant position.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
“How would you like to work here for 2 weeks?” The interview wasn’t traditional in any sense. He asked, I accepted, and the next day, I was in the office working.

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes and no. I was thrown into a situation that he understood would require me to learn on the go, so it was natural that I wasn’t going to be fully prepared for all that I ended up learning along the way.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
There was an absolute crash course, including but not limited to learning our patient management program, medical insurance billing, office procedure for greeting and doing new patient consultations, chiropractic examination procedure, x-ray development and machine calibration.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Not particularly. Schools aren’t generally great for preparing you for what awaits you in the real world. If anything, my professional experience proved to be much more invaluable than anything I ever learned in a classroom.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
n/a

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Familiarize themselves with the philosophies of chiropractic. Become a patient, or already be a patient to ascertain whether or not it’s a field they can get behind and believe in, so that their enthusiasm can support that of the doctor(s). General administrative duties are also important, as is a firm grasp on medical insurance billing and procedure.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
Requires a cheery disposition, real belief in the healing abilities of chiropractic, general administrative duties are also important, as is a firm grasp on medical insurance billing and procedure. The ability to multi-task and “wear many hats” is also important, as we are constantly switching gears and going from patient exams, to filing, to insurance calls, to receiving and interviewing new patients.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
A high school level education is an absolute must, but these days, who doesn’t have at least that? It’s a fantastic position for chiropractic students or those currently in college.

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Be happy. Believe in what you’re doing. Make sure you’re flexible, always be ready to learn something new, and stay open to changes and improvements. If you like administrative work, that also requires you to be a total and complete jack of all trades, this is for you.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
Somewhat, yes. I’ll be going back to school to become a Doctor of Chiropractic, and having first hand knowledge of the business side of the practice will be helpful. The doctor I work with has been VERY encouraging, actually letting me take on much more responsibility than our other C.A., or than any of his C.A’s in the past, so that I’m able to gain more experience and insight into the inner workings and procedures of the entire chiropractic operation.

What are your current career goals?
Will be going back to school in fall of 2008 to persue a degree in chiropractic. Upon completion, I hope to open my own practice in Northern California.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?
n/a

Prior work history

Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:

Title Length Salary Description
Prior Job 1 Accounting Assistant 2 years 32000 General accounting. A/R, A/P, collections, general office administration
Prior Job 2 Office Manager 4 years 28000 Managed all A/R, A/P, bank deposits, reconciliation of all cashier’s deposits daily, invoice management, as well as being the nursery department buyer.

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:3.8

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
3.75 SF State B.A.
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)

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