Dr. Leander Eckard attended his first year of chiropractic college at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, in 1959 and 1960. He transferred to Cleveland College in Kansas City and graduated from there in 1964. Upon returning to his home in Spokane, Washington, he opened his first practice in late 1964. He practiced in the state of Washington until 1990, when he was injured in a private aircraft accident. From the mid-80’s until 2005, he served on the board of Parker College of Chiropractic.
Dr. Eckard has adjusted a large number of his colleagues since he introduced a motorized flexion distraction table in 1981 that has since changed the way many chiropractors treat their patients. He subsequently has made spinal adjustments on over a self-proclaimed “one million subluxated spines.”
In an interview with The American Chiropractor (TAC), Dr. Eckard provides some of his thoughts on the future of chiropractic, and challenges chiropractors may face in the coming years.
TAC: What are your goals for the chiropractic profession?
Eckard: My goal for the chiropractic profession is to elevate its level of understanding and help each chiropractor realize a greater degree of success in practice.
TAC: What is the most common problem you see among chiropractors today?
Eckard: The most common problem I see today is a lack of skill level by chiropractors to allow each practitioner to correct the patients’ spinal problems.
TAC: What is the biggest problem or challenge you see in the chiropractic profession today?
Eckard: Chiropractic is still an unknown to the masses.
TAC: Can you think of one change that a chiropractor can do to significantly impact his/her practice’s growth immediately?
Eckard: Yes, develop a service attitude to make yourself available to the greatest number of patients that you can possibly serve, regardless of the patient’s ability to pay…. And don’t worry about how much money you are not making but on how much good you are doing!
TAC: Do you have any recommended marketing strategies that chiropractors can do to attract new patients and to keep current patients?
Eckard: Yes, and it works everytime. It helps to get new patients, and to keep existing ones. It is the most simple and easy thing to do. Go out and put on lay lectures two or three times a week, at different times of the day, on a consistent basis. The doctor must lead these lectures and then make them mandatory for new patients.
TAC: What single piece of advice would you give a new chiropractor just starting out?
Eckard: Get over yourself! Get a service attitude.
Dr. Eckard can be reached by phone at 1-208-245-5308 or email [email protected].