Abigail Benzinger, Author at 911爆料 /author/a-benzinger/ The Standard of Excellence in Integrative Medicine Wed, 08 Jul 2026 16:22:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 /wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Abigail Benzinger, Author at 911爆料 /author/a-benzinger/ 32 32 What makes you tick? What is your “why”? /what-makes-you-tick-what-is-your-why/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:30:00 +0000 /?p=242898 Think about the reason you go to the gym each day. Is it because you want to feel better in your clothes, or is the gym the one place where your mind finally quiets down? Maybe your motivation is even bigger. Perhaps you are setting a healthy example for your children, or working hard to […]

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Think about the reason you go to the gym each day. Is it because you want to feel better in your clothes, or is the gym the one place where your mind finally quiets down? Maybe your motivation is even bigger. Perhaps you are setting a healthy example for your children, or working hard to help correct a family history of cardiac disease.

That exact same question pertains to why you are here in chiropractic school or the naturopathic program. Out of all the health care professions in the world, why did you choose this specific path?

The Journey Ahead

It is absolutely imperative for you to remember that initial spark, because this journey gets incredibly difficult. The schedule is brutal. Studying day in and day out is mentally and physically exhausting. There will be days when fatigue sets in, doubts creep in and you find yourself questioning if you can keep going. (I鈥檝e already asked myself this, so you’re not alone!)

Remember Your WHY

When you hit those walls, your “why” becomes your lifeline. Remembering why you started is not just a motivational phrase; it is the fuel that keeps you moving forward when willpower alone fails. You chose this path because you have a passion for healing, a unique vision for patient care, and a purpose that the world needs.

So, when the study sessions feel overwhelming, take a deep breath, say a prayer and remember. Let your “why” quiet the stress, hone your focus and give you the strength to stay the course. You are capable, you are here for a reason, and the destination will be worth every difficult step of the journey. Keep pushing forward.

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How to Survive and Thrive During Second Trimester /how-to-survive-and-thrive-during-second-trimester/ Fri, 26 Jun 2026 13:05:37 +0000 /?p=242729 The second trimester of chiropractic school is no joke! If you just looked at your new schedule and felt a wave of panic, you are not alone.

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The second trimester of chiropractic school is no joke! If you just looked at your new schedule and felt a wave of panic, you are not alone. Juggling 26.5 credit hours means your days are planned down to the minute with lectures, study plans, meal prepping and everything else in between.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed, but this trimester is entirely survivable. I learned the hard way, so you don鈥檛 have to! Here are three essential strategies to help protect your mental health and your grades!

1)聽聽聽聽 Staying Active

As future health care providers, we know how important it is to stay physically active. Yet, when school gets busy, and it鈥檚 always busy, physical health is often the first thing students sacrifice. Keeping on top of your physical health is just as important as taking care of your mental health鈥攁nd staying active improves both.

Aiming for 10,000 steps a day is a great baseline. Hit this goal by taking a lap around campus during lunch, walking during phone calls, or pacing the hallway between lectures. A few of my classmates even invested in a walking pad so they could get their steps in while studying!

Getting your steps in provides proven physiological benefits, but more importantly, it gives you a much-needed mental break from the heavy workload.

2)聽聽聽聽 Reviewing Daily

When you finally get home after a full day of back-to-back classes, the absolute last thing you want to do is open your laptop. It feels like extra punishment. However, waiting to cram weeks of material right before an exam is a recipe for a meltdown. Speaking from experience.

I will be honest: I didn’t truly get the hang of daily review until the very end of the trimester, and I regretted waiting so long. Spending just 30 to 45 minutes every evening reviewing that day鈥檚 notes makes an enormous difference. Transitioning some of the information from short term to long-term memory. When exam week arrives, you won’t be learning the material for the first time; you will just be refreshing it. Future you will thank you.

3)聽聽聽聽 Making Non-negotiable Time for Things You Love to do

It鈥檚 easy to fall into the trap of studying, studying and more studying. But burning yourself out by week four will not help you become a better chiropractor. You must intentionally make time for the things that bring you joy outside of school.

Whether your outlet is playing sports, sitting by the pool, doing crafts, or losing yourself in a fiction book: schedule it. Treat these hobbies like mandatory appointments. I鈥檝e found that giving my brain a break from chiropractic adjustments, neurophysiology and anatomy, I was able to focus better when I returned to studying.

The second trimester is a marathon, not a sprint. It demands a lot, but by implementing daily reviews, protecting your hobbies and keeping your body moving, you can do more than just survive, you can thrive. Take it one day, one step, and one adjustment at a time!

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Dare to be Different /dare-to-be-different/ Fri, 12 Jun 2026 13:15:03 +0000 /?p=242648 Apply! Apply! Apply! Professors and alumni always encourage students to pursue scholarships, but how do you standout? Why should the committee choose you over another applicant?

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Apply! Apply! Apply! Professors and alumni always encourage students to pursue scholarships, but how do you standout? Why should the committee choose you over another applicant? I recently wrestled with these questions while applying for a scholarship that required an essay on the 鈥渁pplication of chiropractic care in sports medicine.鈥

During my research, I found numerous studies proving the relationship between correct spinal alignment with increased strength and response time. While these studies speak for themselves, I realized that most applicants would take this exact same clinical approach. I wanted to standout, so I decided to be different. Below, I am sharing the essay I submitted. In a few weeks, I will update you to let you know if my alternative approach paid off!

鈥淔or four years, my office was the sidelines of professional and collegiate football fields. As an athletic trainer, I lived and breathed the “25/8 grind,” managing the care of athletes subjected to high-velocity trauma on a Saturday night and expected to perform at the same elite level again just six days later.

Unique Environment

In this environment, athletic trainers excel at balancing minimally invasive interventions that elicit a healing response with the management of the resulting inflammatory process. We constantly teeter on the edge of doing just enough but not too much, all to ensure these athletes are on their A-game come the following weekend. Still, I frequently hit the glass ceiling of what our care could offer.

These are athletes at the highest level of their sport, people who are in tune with their bodies almost to a fault. But who wouldn鈥檛 be when physical health is how you put food on the table? Although I primarily provided care for injured athletes, I also worked with the healthy players who were structurally sound but felt functionally inhibited. There was seemingly nothing “wrong” with them, yet they would express deep frustration when noticing their physical reaction times lagged. Within my scope of practice, I did what I could with the tools in my toolbox: utilizing manual therapy to break down tissue and designing rehabilitation programs to “reteach” those fibers how to function.

The Chiropractic Point-of-View

It wasn鈥檛 until I was speaking with a chiropractor about my frustrations regarding one of these athletes that he asked, “Have you checked their joint position?” I explained that the range of motion was good and there was no generalized pain with movement. By the end of the conversation, I asked if he would be willing to look at the athlete, and the following day he did just that. During his assessment, he discovered that the fibular head had shifted anteriorly, and he corrected this by utilizing a subtle adjustment to realign the joint. I continued with our standard treatment and rehabilitation. After practice that afternoon, the athlete turned to me and said, “That’s the best I鈥檝e felt on the field in a while.鈥

That sentence right there is what every Athletic Trainer lives for.鈥

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The Power Hour: Why Lunchtime Clubs Are Your Secret Weapon in Chiropractic School /the-power-hour-why-lunchtime-clubs-are-your-secret-weapon-in-chiropractic-school/ Fri, 29 May 2026 13:25:34 +0000 /?p=242291 鈥淒rinking out of a fire hose.鈥 That is the easiest way to explain the experience of beginning a doctorate program for chiropractic medicine. Not only are you re-adapting to sitting in class six to eight hours a day, but you are also hearing a constant stream of buzzwords: clubs, extracurriculars, student chiropractic associations, tutoring and mentoring.

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鈥淒rinking out of a fire hose.鈥 That is the easiest way to explain the experience of beginning a doctorate program for chiropractic medicine. Not only are you re-adapting to sitting in class six to eight hours a day, but you are also hearing a constant stream of buzzwords: clubs, extracurriculars, student chiropractic associations, tutoring and mentoring.

Take a deep breath. It鈥檚 going to be okay!

You are here to master chiropractic care, prepare for board examinations and gain clinical experience. Naturally, you might ask yourself, 鈥淲hy on earth do I need to add clubs to my plate?鈥 The answer is simple: chiropractic school is going to be as good as you make it. Using your lunchtime to join a club is one of the smartest investments you can make in your future career. Here鈥檚 why.

Building Your Network

The first and possibly most important reason to participate in campus clubs is the opportunity to meet students in upper trimesters and build a rapport with professors. Walking into a new school knowing absolutely no one is nerve-wracking, even for the most extroverted individuals.

By participating in clubs, you meet upper-semester students who have already survived the exact classes you are stressed about. They can offer advice on study tactics to use, show different palpation techniques, and truthfully, tips on how to stay sane. Clubs also have faculty advisors and occasional guest doctors that allow you to build professional relationships outside the formal lecture.

Developing Your “Chiropractic Hands”

Another great reason to get involved is hands-on experience. Practice makes perfect, right? Being a chiropractor is a manual job. You cannot learn the feel of a joint restriction, or the feel of muscle hypertrophy solely from a textbook.

Joining a club gives you a safe space to train your hands and provides the opportunity to palpate a range of different body types and compositions. Practicing on a classmate who is 5 ‘2 ” requires a completely different setup and leverage than practicing on someone who is 6’ 4″. Clubs allow you to make mistakes, ask questions and refine your psychomotor skills long before you ever step into the clinic.

Avoiding Burnout

Last, but not least, clubs offer a much-needed mental break. Surviving a 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. class schedule every single day for over two years is exhausting. Stepping into a club for an hour during lunch forces you to change your environment and move your body. It provides a community-driven break to actively learn, connect and re-energize. Chiropractic school is a marathon, not a sprint. If you do not take intentional breaks to enjoy the process, you risk burning out before you even cross the finish line.

Make the Most of Lunch Hour

Your time is your most valuable asset, so try not to look at it as 鈥渓osing鈥 an hour of study time. You will build a community to lean on, develop the muscle memory your future patients will rely on, and give your mind the break it desperately deserves. So, look at the club schedule this week, grab your lunch and step inside. Your future self and your future patients will thank you!

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