Pick A Tribemate The first step is to pick out a candidate who we will call our “tribemate”. This will be the person whose opinion about the relationship to the problem we will trust. This trust must be well established and beyond question. The following guidelines may be used: Is he a medical professional? If he is, then he should have a good technical understanding of the situation. Does he have a background in medicine or related science? If he does not, he should ask his peers in medicine, or someone who works at a similar place. Is he able to judge the potential harm, and to estimate the validity and quality of the research the individual seeking a relationship has done? Does he have knowledge of and access to medical literature? Does he know the difference between a legitimate medical paper and a bogus or dubious medical paper? Does he have a history of treating his patients with an attitude of openness, concern and compassion? He should also be able to judge the individual’s motivation. Does the patient appear motivated? Does he seem honest, genuine, and sincere? Does he appear competent and able to think through the situation logically? Does he seem competent and honest in his discussion with the provider about the problem? Does the candidate seem competent and honest in discussing and revealing his prior treatments? Does the person appear intelligent and sincere? Is he able to understand the problems he will face? Does he appear to be financially solvent and able to handle whatever the solution to the problem may cost? A common trick of the unscrupulous medical opportunist is to target people for a relationship that can be exploited only if the person trusts him. Some of these relationships are legitimate, such as when the patient is a relative of the medical opportunist. Other relationships are less valid, such as when the prospective partner has a bad past history with doctors or other health-care providers, or there is no logical connection between the individual and the medical opportunist. The medical opportunist then uses the relationship to exploit the individual in the most serious, vulnerable, and intimate aspects of his life. Choosing A Mentor A relationship with a physician or other health-care provider can be a major boon to an individual considering a chiropractic relationship. This person will help him see his body as a source of information for health and not a diseased body of which he has to be wary. There are a number of factors that will help him choose the right mentor. The chiropractor should ask questions and take care that the answers will not expose him to the same danger as in those he meets on a forum or on a website. It is essential that the mentor be trustworthy. It is also vital that he be seen as willing to offer support and information. It is important that he have a reputation as a physician who treats patients based on the results of the tests that are actually performed. The medical opportunist uses the same strategy here that he uses with people who wish to learn a martial art: he will ask questions but give wrong answers in order to misdirect the individual to a false solution. The medical opportunist is also an active member of forums or chats that discuss alternative medicine. He usually gets a forum name such as “Dr. So and So” and will answer every question in a thoughtful and helpful manner. He also will answer questions about anything medical in a knowledgeable and correct manner. The medical opportunist may also claim to know the answer to a medical problem, then lead the person to a website that sells a bogus treatment or device. The best way to avoid becoming a target of the medical opportunist is not to use a health-care professional for treatment. The individual should be cautious when he seeks a cure or an answer. He should seek out other, competent individuals who can help him. When he wants advice, he should get it from reputable sources, such as the medical professional whose name appears on his medical license. It may be better to give the individual a good book and a sympathetic ear. If the person is seeking treatment from a doctor, he should be sure to establish the trust relationship. This may require a few visits, maybe even several visits. The first visit can be used to determine the state of the relationship. It is also important to make sure that the doctor has access to a computer that can give him access to appropriate medical research material. The individual should expect the doctor to be knowledgeable about the problem and to be able to answer his questions. The doctor should provide answers, not just questions. He should provide information, not just possibilities and options. This doctor should be willing to be a resource for the individual, not just for his own selfish benefit. He should be willing to tell the patient about the options available to him, not just the ones he wants to sell. Another important factor is that the doctor will help him make a rational decision for his particular situation. The physician will answer his questions objectively and clearly. The medical opportunist sells only bogus solutions, whether it is a book or a product. He may say, “I do not make money off the product; I only use it in my own treatment.” Yet the product may also be used to sell another product that he or his company is making. He will tell the individual that the solution is safe for use by children and pets. What this means is that he is only selling the product because it will earn him more money than it will cost to sell it. If the medical opportunist claims to be a doctor and has made a diagnosis and treatment based on his experience and expertise, he may show it to the individual to show that he has taken the time to learn and educate himself on the matter. But he will not show any diagnostic records, nor will he provide any lab results of the kinds that would show the validity of his claims. If the medical opportunist shows his diagnostic and lab results and explains them, he is giving them away for free and could have been sold to anyone. But he has not sold them to the individual. If he does show the results, he is not showing that he has earned the right to have them. He is only giving it to the individual to have more credibility. Does the medical opportunist have any diagnostic or lab equipment? Does he own or rent an office? Does he have hospital privileges or other certification? Does he maintain an impressive display of credentials? An important factor in determining who is a suitable individual for a relationship with the person needing a relationship with a chiropractor is that he needs to be in good health and condition when he begins treatment with the medical opportunist. He must maintain good health. He must prove his condition before he may get treatment. To check the validity of the relationship, the individual can ask himself these questions: Is the person who needs a relationship for the first time in my life or has he had other relationships with chiropractors, other health-care providers, and alternative medicine? The more he has had to live with the effects of his decision to believe in chiropractic, the more serious his need to find his chiropractor is. The more he has tried different treatments, the more important it is for him to select an individual who offers the most proven, credible, consistent, and reliable results. Does the individual who needs a relationship trust the person with whom he is talking? When he speaks, is he open, honest, and interested in helping the individual in a personal way? Does the person seem to be educated? The individual should investigate the training and education of the provider he is speaking to. If he seems uneducated, naive, or a quack, there is no reason to expect that he can help him. Does he seem open, willing to listen and explain the situation, and willing to provide answers and resources that are effective, practical, and real? Does he seem committed to finding a good solution? Is he committed to helping people who are unable to afford medical treatment? Does he have the credibility of having a good record for the past ten years? The more that the individual checks out the other person, the more likely it is that he will not be sold a solution by someone who has no real expertise. If the medical opportunist will not reveal his past, then he is using the relationship for his own gain and is no longer giving the individual his trust. This creates doubt in the individual’s mind and exposes the individual to a greater danger. The medical opportunist will always be looking for the easiest way to get what he wants. If he cannot find the right product, then he will sell someone a product that he does not make. If he cannot sell a product, then he will sell someone a product that he does not own. If the provider cannot sell him the right product, then he may make up something that will look real but will not really solve the problem. The medical opportunist will not show his credentials or make his diagnoses public because then everyone will see what he does not want them to see. He will not show his credentials or make his diagnoses public because then everyone will see what he does not want them to see. He will say that his knowledge is only academic and based on research in which he has participated, but not share that research. He will say that he never received a license, a degree, or certification in medicine, but never show any credentials. If the medical opportunist cannot sell his product or credentials to the client, he will probably sell them to someone