Every state and the District of Columbia requires practicing chiropractors to be licensed. The license regulations vary from one state to another, but they uniformly require a significant amount of education from an accredited school of Chiropractic medicine, and a major part of that training must be in a clinical or practical setting. California, for example, requires almost 1,000 hours of clinical work across 11 different topic areas on top of 4,400 hours of classroom and lab education before you are even eligible to apply for a chiropractic license in that state. New York requires applicants to have graduated from a chiropractic program at a school accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education, which itself requires accredited providers to include a practice component to their Doctor of Chiropractic Degree education programs.
As a result, if you're studying to become a chiropractor, you can look forward to spending a significant part of your training time in a practical setting, working under the supervision of trained and licensed chiropractors and other health care professionals. It's a part of your education that you have to complete if you hope to be able to apply to be a licensed Chiropractor anywhere in the US. That's why it's so serious if you're accused of misconduct in connection with your practical experience and why you need the help of the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team if you find yourself in that kind of difficult situation.
The Chiropractic Internship Requirement
Where your internship takes place depends on your chiropractic training program. It might be at a school-operated clinic designed just for that purpose but also staffed with trained and licensed chiropractors. It could also be at a hospital, medical center, or private chiropractic practice. In some cases, you may begin in a student clinic for part of your practical training and then complete the rest at another type of medical facility. Wherever you are interning, you will be expected to act in a professional manner and to live up to the standards set by the organization, your school, and your state's licensing entity.
What Kinds of Discipline can Chiropractic Interns Encounter?
Because of the overlapping nature of a chiropractic training internship, if you are accused of misconduct at your internship, you could be subjected to several levels of discipline.
- Clinical discipline. Each medical workplace – even if it's a student clinic – has certain ethical and professional standards that it expects its staff to live up to. There is likely a handbook that describes these in detail, and if your internship has one, it's important that you read it and understand what's expected of you. If you're accused of misconduct at your internship, the consequences may be swift and as severe as your immediate removal from the program, which can seriously disrupt your career path. That's why it's so important to contact someone with experience in these matters who can help. The attorneys at the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team work with students in similar settings all over the US, and they have the experience to help you understand the allegations made against you, how your internship organization may react to those, and how you can best defend yourself against the allegations.
- School discipline. Because internship programs are so closely intertwined with chiropractic education programs, there is a good chance that any misconduct you're accused of in the internship setting can also be considered school-related misconduct. All schools have student handbooks or codes of conduct that they expect their students to abide by. The schools also have processes in place to investigate and resolve misconduct allegations – processes that don't always respect the rights of the accused student. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team understands this from having helped students all over the US defend themselves against serious misconduct allegations, and they are ready to step in and help you with your defense.
- State Licensing body discipline. During the course of applying for a state license to practice chiropractic medicine in a particular state, you may be required to disclose past misconduct, including any that may have occurred during your internship. It's important to make sure that you meet your disclosure requirements because failure to do so can result in your license being suspended or revoked once you do have it. One way to avoid having to disclose misconduct allegations is to have those allegations resolved in your favor. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team understands the importance of having a clean record when you go to complete your Chiropractic license application and can help you make sure that you don't have any prior misconduct findings that you have to disclose.
- Chiropractic Advocacy Organization discipline. There are a number of different membership groups at the national and state levels that provide information, services, and advocacy for chiropractors. Many of these have student membership levels – and also have codes of ethics and disciplinary procedures that members are expected to follow.
What Kinds of Conduct Can Result in Discipline?
There is a wide range of misconduct that can happen during your chiropractic internship that can result in a complaint being filed against you. That said, some of the more frequent types of misconduct allegations include the following:
- Practice misconduct. Failure to follow the instructions of your supervisor or of the organization you're interning with when it comes to treating patients. This is particularly important because it is critical to understand that your internship experience is a learning opportunity and that you're expected to listen to and follow the directions of your supervisors. When the quality of patient care and patient well-being can be affected by your actions, failing to follow directions can cause serious problems.
- Substance abuse misconduct. If you are working at your internship while under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or prescription or non-prescription drugs, you are not able to bring your best when it comes to treating patients in your care. And because of the literal hands-on nature of the chiropractic profession, even a slight mistake during treatment can mean pain or disability for the patient. This is what makes substance abuse misconduct allegations so very serious.
- Physical abuse misconduct. Abusing a patient, whether it's physical abuse if a confrontation occurs or sexual abuse based on non-consensual touching, can result in misconduct allegations that can derail your future and, in some cases, result in criminal liability.
- Fraud misconduct. If you claim to have provided a patient with treatment that you didn't actually provide, or if you misdescribe the treatment on an insurance claim form or patient bill, you can be accused of fraud – particularly where the result is that you get credit for clinical work you didn't do, or your clinic is paid for work that wasn't performed. It's extremely important to pay close attention to your internship's record-keeping requirements because if you get sloppy and make mistakes, it might be construed as an attempt by you to defraud the organization, your school, a patient, or an insurance company.
No matter what kind of misconduct allegation is made against you by any organization, it's important to take it seriously and to understand that you have the right to be represented by an experienced attorney who understands this area and can help you defend yourself. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has been helping students all over the US who have been accused of serious misconduct and can help you, too.
How are Misconduct Allegations Resolved?
The process for resolving a misconduct allegation can vary considerably depending on the organization that is handling the misconduct claim. An employer, for example, may respond to a misconduct allegation with little investigation and simply terminate your internship with little discussion; a school, on the other hand, may conduct a more extensive investigation, hold a hearing, and provide an opportunity to appeal a decision against you. In any case, it helps greatly to have an experienced attorney in your corner who can help you understand what's going on and protect your rights in the process.
Here are some typical steps that you may encounter if you're accused of serious misconduct:
- Initial investigation. First, the complaint will be reviewed to make sure it's the type of complaint that the organization handles. For example, a complaint from a patient that they had to wait too long for their appointment with you – where you're not responsible for the scheduling, and no harm came to the patient – might never make it past this stage.
- Detailed Investigation. Where the complaint is about misconduct that the organization considers to be part of its obligation to review, a more detailed investigation of the allegations may follow. You, your co-workers, supervisors, and others – including the person who brought the complaint – may be interviewed. Clinic records and other documents may be requested and reviewed. In most cases, you're entitled to have an attorney present during your interview, and an attorney can also help you conduct your own investigation of the claims. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has the experience and understanding of the investigation stage to help you when you're being questioned and to work with you to conduct your own investigation where that could be helpful to your defense.
- Offer to Resolve. After the investigation, you may be charged with specific violations. You might also be given the chance to accept the findings and also to accept a set penalty, which in some cases might be a lesser penalty than one that could have been given to you. Whether or not to accept this depends entirely on the circumstances, but in any case, you'll benefit from the experience of the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team. They can help you review the situation, evaluate the offer, possibly negotiate with the organization bringing the disciplinary case, and decide whether to accept or reject the offer.
- Hearing. In cases where no offer to resolve is made or where one is made and it's rejected, there will often be a hearing of the charges against you. While it will resemble a court hearing, the standards are generally looser, and the hearing judge or panel may accept evidence that would not be accepted in an actual court proceeding. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you with your hearing – presenting and questioning witnesses, explaining to the hearing judge or panel why the evidence against you may be faulty or misleading, introducing evidence to support your defense, and making arguments on your behalf.
- Decision. After the hearing, the judge or panel will issue a decision. If it's in your favor, the disciplinary proceeding likely ends here. If it's against you, the panel may also sanction you in some way, and you may have the chance to appeal. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you understand your situation, and if the ruling is not in your favor, it can help you decide what the best response to the situation is.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team Can Help
You've invested thousands of hours and probably tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in your education and training to become a chiropractor. Don't let a misconduct allegation derail your career. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has been advising students facing serious misconduct allegations all across the country for years, and we can help you understand the allegations against you, investigate them, defend against the charges, and make the best arguments possible for your case. We get how important your internship is to your career, and we're here to help you make sure you get the most out of it.
This is not a situation you want to face by yourself. Call the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686, or reach out online and set up a confidential consultation to find out how we can help. We understand how stressful it can be to deal with misconduct allegations, and we want you to know that we are ready to listen and to help!
