DO C TO R TO DO C TOR
Serving the Underserved
Bringing chiropractic to minority patient populations–effectively
This installment of Doctor to Doctor features a discussion with Rodney Williams, DC, a December 2000 Logan graduate who serves as the national president of the American Black Chiropractic Association (ABCA) and is a member of Logan’s Board of Trustees. He currently practices at his clinic in Little Rock, Ark. three in Little Rock. When I moved back to Little Rock after graduating from Logan, I would often hear, “I’ve never seen a black chiropractor before.” So I want to not only bring awareness to minority communities about natural health care, but to the profession as well.
How has the American Black Chiropractic Association helped your chiropractic career?
Providing for an underserved patient population can be challenging for any doctor. Dr. Williams discusses his role in the minority community and how he utilizes his position as an AfricanAmerican chiropractor to educate—and ultimately, serve—African-Americans students, patients and fellow chiropractors.
As a health provider caring for an underserved patient population, what do you consider your role in Little Rock? I’m an example to our youth that they can become doctors. We need more African-American chiropractic doctors in our community—currently, there are only
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As an active member, the ABCA has helped tremendously in building my leadership and interpersonal skills. Serving as president, I have the opportunity to travel and visit many doctors from across the country and learn from them. I have learned many chiropractic techniques just by going to ABCA conventions, where I can collaborate with my colleagues to discuss everything from insurance to patient care.
How is the ABCA making a difference within the AfricanAmerican population? One of the reasons for establishing the ABCA was to help African-American students identify and network at chiropractic schools—especially those schools with small African-American
student populations. As president, I see firsthand how the students benefit from coming to the ABCA conventions, how they draw encouragement from other students and learn from doctors about working in their community. Some African-American students have told me they would have dropped out of their chiropractic school if it weren’t for the ABCA. Attending the conventions allows them meet other minority chiropractors and encourages them to become successful doctors.
What cultural considerations should doctors take into account to effectively serve minority populations? It is important to understand the health conditions that plague that specific population. Many patients have awareness of those conditions because they have affected the health of family members and close friends, but they may not fully understand the condition or disease and why it’s plaguing their specific population. Patients appreciate a doctor who can communicate with them in a relevant and appropriate manner, offering alternatives to medication and surgery for those conditions.