Laura Bissmeyer

Possible variantsCurrent undergrad students

◦ Freshman – SeniorCurrent grad students

◦ MS - PhdFormer students with jobs/without jobs

◦ Grad/undergrad 1-3 yrs 3-5 yr 5 and up yr

Possible variantsCurrent undergrad students

◦ Freshman – SeniorCurrent grad students

◦ MS - PhdFormer students with jobs/without jobs in their field of study

◦ Grad/undergrad 1-3 yrs 3-5 yr 5 and up yr

1. Where did you go to school?2. What are you doing now?3. How does what you are doing now align to the

vision of what you had as you approached graduation? Why?

4. Why are you doing _____ now?5. Why aren’t you doing _________6. Would you recommend this field to someone

else? Why? Or why not?7. What did the school do to help launch

you/prepare you (for your career)?8. Knowing now what you know about your field

of study what would you recommend the school do? Why?

2 studied Chiropractic medicine◦ 1. working a nurse◦ 2. part-time day care

1 studied political study◦ Working as a house painter

1 studied social work◦ Contracting with corporation as a process analyst

After interviews decided to focus on Chiropractors – primarily because this is a major field of study with significant money and time commitment not to be working in the field following graduation….

I liked my school

When I graduated I thought I would successfully open my own practice

seminars on how to start a business but it wasn’t close to helpful once I got out and was trying to actually open a practice

It wasn’t easy to find a location

It (the practice) was building too slowly and I couldn’t afford to keep it open

After all the $$ I spent in school it was hard to have the money to keep things going

I have a family couldn’t continue to be a drain ($$)

I wasn’t comfortable asking patients to come back again once they felt better

The school should have ‘warned’ me about how hard it was going to be and they should do it the first year of school before I spend all the money and time on school

I was meant to be a healer not a marketer

I love working with people, helping them get well

No observations – phone interviews

The school should share more about how tough it is to start a practice

That the school ‘lied’ about what they would be capable of after graduating

Never should have gone to grad school in this field in the first place

Not worth the time or money

expectations weren’t met

School just took them for their money

What is wrong with me that I couldn’t get new clientsIt was totally not worth it

Would never recommend this path to anyone else

I was duped or taken in

Disappointed in business failure

Failure as a healer (their calling) because they aren’t healing

Angry at the lack of ‘truth’ that the school didn’t share ‘reality’

Upset for not making the business work

Stupefied that everything school said was tried but still didn’t work

Students of Chiropractic medicine … need a better way to establish a path to

a successful private practice because… a person graduating from

Chiropractic school is not certain to have the business skills or finances to ensure

success

4