Occupational Medicine is a pretty broad term but I’m going to approach this from a DOT Physical and a drug/alcohol testing aspect.  We hear from people all the time that Medical doctors, nurse practitioners and physicians assistants have said that chiropractors have no business performing DOT physicals.  I would like to rebuttal that argument: while chiropractors don’t have to ability to manage medications or order many medical procedures, we most definitely can perform the type of exam necessary to qualify (or disqualify) drivers to safely drive.

Roughly 12 years ago, the FMCSA developed guidelines that all medical examiners needed to be certified to perform these physicals.  I was one of the first 10 people in the state, across all profession to get certified and I haven’t looked back since.  I have since taken the course again and past the test, again. I say all of this because it doesn’t matter what profession you are, we all take the same certification process and take the exact same test. So while I may not be able to take people on and off medications, I am able to review a medical history, medication list, previous surgeries and send you out for sleep apnea testing and other testing that may be necessary to safely pass the test.

As for are we able to identify things, yes and quite honestly we have seen most if not all of the items we are tested over: monocular vision, insulin use for diabetes, amputated limbs or the basic high blood pressure have all come through the office in some shape or form. The process has changed over the years and we have had our hiccups with getting the correct forms filled out, but we eventually get there.

I find a lot of enjoyment performing these exams, they are normally pretty straight forward, quick and we are able to get people in and out of our office in a timely manner.  We are discovering that most medical clinics are not getting recertified, I’m not sure if the paperwork is a headache or if it’s just not something they want to do anymore, but fewer and fewer people are doing them.

The drug/alcohol testing is a little bit different animal.  Whether you are part of our consortium that we run in house or just use us as a collection site, just know that I have gone through the training and certification to perform this service.  It’s always a little interesting as you don’t have to be a healthcare professional to perform these collections, just pass the certification.

At this point, I plan on keeping it run and collected by healthcare professionals, whether that is me personally or have a nurse or two that come in and do collections, I would like to keep it that way. The process is fairly quick and painless unless you have a “ding” on your collection history, then it’s a little more invasive, but not crazy.  We are finally starting to hit our stride with this service and are looking to potentially going mobile at times for companies that don’t like to send their drivers away from the day’s work in order to get to a clinic to perform a collection.

While it was never my intention to get into DOT Physicals and urine collection, I’m fully committed at this point and I would love to discuss you or your companies needs in regards to any or all of these services. If you have any questions or comments please direct them to spracklindotservices@gmail.com and we can discuss how we can make your life a little easier.