Meet the Student Doctors
Jesse
Hi there! My name is Jesse. I’ve been dreaming of the opportunity to serve you and your family at PWC for over two years! I am on a mission to restore hope, faith, and connection to every family I meet.
My passion for helping children and families lies within my own struggles that I had as a child. I had a whole other kind of storm brewing inside of me for 18 years. Processed foods, sugars, and excessive amounts of calories caused me to be chronically sick. That’s when proper nutrition, exercise, and chiropractic saved my life.
My goal is to never let a child’s storm dictate their life. Every child has the ability to craft a unique life of their own. To live and be what they want to be – and to let their families happily witness it. I’m here to help detect and unlock that power inside.
I look forward to meeting and serving you!
Katelyn
I’m a farm kid from Iowa, who’s parents aren’t sure how they raised two daughters that decided to go for a chiropractic degree. My story with chiropractic began when I was 3 weeks old, and eventually made me switch my career path in college from physical therapy after a year in school. Right before my first year in undergrad I decided to go shadow a physical therapist in Pella. The whole day I was enjoying watching him go through the day, working with patients, and really thought that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That was until he said one joke to me about chiropractors.
I still remember it so clearly, he said, “The thing about physical therapists is we want to see someone for six weeks and then never again. Chiropractors make you keep coming back forever.” I struggled with that statement, because I wanted to make relationships and real connections with the people I was helping. I didn’t want to send them away and essentially say, “see ya never.” That was the beginning of my doubts of being a physical therapist.
I stuck with my undergrad degree going into college, but my heart wasn’t in love with the idea of being a physical therapist anymore. My first year of undergrad was hard. Moving from small town Pella, IA to Davenport was a BIG change for me. I began struggling with severe anxiety, I gained 30 lbs in a little over 3 months, and I felt like I was losing all control of my life. I went to my doctor at home and explained what was going on. She offered to put me on anxiety medication, and as for the weight gain that was just part of the “college lifestyle.” Neither of these options were acceptable for me. Especially since I wasn’t the typical college student. I was working out and eating heathy, and I was working on the weekends instead of going to parties like a lot of my peers. I walked away from that appointment feeling a little defeated and very hopeless about getting my life back.
I went back to school and it continued to be a problem. I called my parents multiple times a week begging to come back home, which thankfully they always told me no. At this time my sister was working on her doctorate at Palmer. After watching me change from the happy carefree person I was into the empty anxiety ridden person I’d become. She went to one of her professors and explained what I had been going through, and he told her without a doubt that he could help. In just three months of working with him I began to feel like myself again. I was happier, my anxiety attacks were far and few between, and my weight was slowly going back to normal. After this experience I had decided that I wanted to switch from physical therapy to chiropractic. So that following spring I decided to do the 3+1 program through Palmer. This required me to overload my remaining semesters, and take classes over the summer to get everything done. Which wasn’t easy, but it was so worth it.
The summer before I started school at Palmer I worked at the office my sister was associating at. I loved seeing how chiropractic was changing peoples lives. How they felt stronger and happier with chiropractic care. I loved seeing them light up after their adjustments and it made me love chiropractic even more. However, while I was there I also realized what I never wanted my chiropractic career to become. In that office the money coming in was more important to the owner than the patients were. She would put on a fake persona when talking to patients, and it seemed so insincere. I never want to see patients as just a number. I want to really care and make a real connection with them. This was an eye opening experience as I saw first hand how different chiropractic careers could be. I saw my sister deeply care and connect with the patients. While I saw another chiropractor put on a face and talk to patients as little as she could. It was also through my sister that my love for pediatric chiropractic grew. I watched her go from a little intimidated to see kids to rocking a growing pediatric practice. I get to come home on breaks and witness the changes she is making for the kids, and their families. From helping children that aren’t progressing as well as they could, or helping kids with anxiety feel more in control in their lives. I experienced anxiety for the first time at 18 years old. Yes, I was legally an adult, but really I was just a kid. But I was a lot older and should have been more able to handle it. I cannot imagine experiencing it at a younger age, and I want to help kids going through the same thing I was. I want to be able to help them live their best life, and feel comfortable within themselves. The world is tough, and it’s even tougher when you are struggling with yourself. I want to intern at PWC because I believe this is the best place to be to learn more about pediatric chiropractic. The majority of the chiropractic world focuses on pain. I believe that chiropractic has so much more to offer to the world than pain management. Through listening to Tony speak and shadowing the office I know that this is the place I want to start my chiropractic path before graduating from school. While I shadowed at PWC I loved the environment there. I loved how everyone that came there immediately felt at home. The kids and the adults were excited to be there. It felt like the families coming in where coming to be apart of a bigger family. The energy was unmatched. Interning at PWC would allow me to learn at the largest pediatric chiropractic practice and set me on the right path to achieve the goals and dreams that I have for my own chiropractic journey.