D.C. student, Marketing Outreach for Sports Chiropractic Club
“The Athlete that Lives Within Everyone”
As a Jersey girl growing up in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey as an only child to a single mom, Amy Richmond constantly strived “to make a big effort to make her mom proud, knowing how hard she worked.”
Education has been a top priority in Richmond’s life, as she has completed a bachelor’s program, a master’s program, a doctoral program and now, professional degree program as a Doctor of Chiropractic student at Life University (Life U). Richmond worked in college sports medicine as an athletic trainer for almost a decade. Her previous doctorate in Athletic Training first gave her a bigger picture of holistic medicine and how it can be used for practical purposes.
“We focused a lot on energy medicine, different types of joint mobilization, the ability of the body to heal itself,” Richmond said.
As she continued in her practice, however, she realized that the healthcare model for athletes relies on “medication, surgery and long rehabilitation times.” Unfortunately, the focus was not on giving athletes more holistic healthcare options. Professional athletes might have a bit more leeway to seek supplemental or alternative care, as there is a culture of using every safe possible method of gaining an edge to perform better. Yet many high school and collegiate athletes are more often limited to a team physician of some type, with athletic trainers under them, making decisions for athletes’ health with minimal face-to-face contact. This is not necessarily good or bad, but it just doesn’t give much room for any treatment options other than very traditional medical methods.
Richmond has seen firsthand how holistic healthcare methods can make a positive difference and at times improve outcomes, so eventually her desire to provide her patients with better options led her to Chiropractic.
To that end, in her time here at Life U, Richmond is doing all she can to absorb all the best information and skills related to Sports Chiropractic. Richmond has held pretty much every possible leadership position for the Sports Chiropractic Club, including President. She currently serves as Marketing Outreach for the club, which primarily consists of managing the group’s social media channels and promoting special events. The club’s goal is to connect students with every opportunity to learn about the eclectic world of Sports Chiropractic and to network with and learn from local sports chiropractors. The club boasts curriculums designed for D.C. students at all different levels of their education.
Besides her work with the Sports Chiropractic Club, Richmond also enjoys her time in the campus clinic.
“With Sports Chiropractic, we talk about seeing the athlete in everybody, looking at everybody’s daily activities as some type of athletic movement. Just because someone is not going to go out and play a soccer game, for example, doesn’t mean that [they don’t need support]. Your 80-year-old grandmother bringing groceries up the stairs – that is an athletic movement for her,” Richmond explained.
“We look at analyzing those types of movements and interventions, like Chiropractic and rehab and soft tissue, that we can implement with those patients to give them an all-around better quality of life.”
Faces of LIFE is a story campaign that showcases members of the dynamic Life U community, including faculty/staff, students, alumni and health science professionals. Interested in being featured or nominating a candidate? We want to hear from you! Email Marketing@life.edu. Read more Faces of LIFE stories.
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