D.C. student, U.S. Navy Veteran (Linguist)

“Well-rounded chiropractors for well-cared-for patients”

As a young woman growing up in Houston, Texas, with her mom and sister, Aaron Guitroz-Lane tried exploring different pathways to figure out what suited her and her life goals. In a way, trying out different career pathways can feel a bit like trying on a new wardrobe, seeing what fits and what feels out of place. And oddly enough, what fits like a glove one season might feel restrictive the next.

Guitroz-Lane has gone through a few sets of figurative wardrobes on her journey to growing into her best potential. She attended Baylor University for a few years before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, becoming a linguist after receiving her associate degree through the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. After retiring from the military in 2020, she was living in Georgia and searching for her next professional steps. Her dream had always been to become a sports chiropractic physician, but she first chose physical therapy – a path that felt more familiar and attainable to her then.

“I guess you could say I was naïve about Chiropractic,” Guitroz-Lane said.

She knew that many professional athletes utilize chiropractors to support their health and even potentially boost their performance, yet her knowledge of what Chiropractic entailed was limited. Then, by chance, she saw a bodybuilding documentary, which showcased a female bodybuilder receiving soft tissue care from a chiropractor. It changed her perspective on Chiropractic, showing her that Chiropractic not only encompassed spinal manipulation but also cared for the whole individual, all the myriad parts that feed information into the nervous system. It slotted like a key into a door – that Chiropractic was in fact “a cohesive form of care.”

At the time of this revelation, she had been working at a physical therapy clinic, examining where that road could take her. What she found through observation and asking questions of her co-workers was that “there is a stopping point with physical therapy” in terms of professional growth as well as its efficacy in terms of long-term whole health support. Therefore, it didn’t take long for her to decide that Life University (Life U) was the missing piece she needed to take her passion to the next level.

In the course of her D.C. studies at Life U, her interests have stayed focused on full-scope examination of musculoskeletal challenges that feed into and out of the nervous system. This was most publicly demonstrated in her commitment and leadership of the Orthopedic (Ortho) club, whose meetings she regularly attended while serving as Treasurer until she had to refocus her efforts on passing board exams and caring for her boisterous toddler.

“I really like Ortho Club because it focuses on making us more cohesive, well-rounded doctors,” Guitroz-Lane said.

Similarly, Guitroz-Lane cited her extremities-focused classes as her favorites because, like Orthopedics, they are a less highlighted part of Chiropractic that still can have a huge impact on overall health.

“This is my personal theory when it comes to Chiropractic: You have to care for everything that feeds information back into the spine. That communication is not a one-way street. We talk about the nervous system and the sensory input and information that comes from the nervous system, but what about the things that go into the nervous system? We have to care for those, too. And that’s why I enjoy the extremity classes because we are taking care of the things outside of the spine that are the forgotten-about entities,” Guitroz-Lane said.

In that vein of fostering well-roundedness as a chiropractor, as Guitroz-Lane prepares to enter her fast-approaching PEAK program senior apprenticeship hours, she has elected to serve in a practice outside of her standard scope. She has elected to work with Dr. Andrew Krantz in a clinical practice structure that is more expansive than she ever imagined herself working in. Krantz Chiropractic Clinic is in Marietta, Georgia, and it operates as a full family practice, so Guitroz-Lane will have the opportunity to work with patients of all ages and with a wide variety of health concerns. What an exciting chance to jump in with both feet and serve as a shining example of Chiropractic in action!