You have to get up pretty early to catch Jacob Kwast, a Palmer College student now in his seventh trimester on the Main Campus. By 8 a.m., he is already well into his day, providing hands-on care in the Palmer Chiropractic Clinic. Fortunately, Jacob always has a few minutes to talk about training and technique.
“THIS IS WHY WE’RE HERE,” says Jacob. “We all want to work with patients and push ourselves to provide the best care possible.” For Jacob, Palmer’s dedication to hands-on training and direct patient interaction has come in stark contrast to his undergraduate experience. “My undergraduate program was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he says. “When classes went online, it didn’t work for me. I saw my grades go down because the virtual instruction was simply not effective. I was so thankful that Palmer provided an in-person option when I arrived here.” The difference at Palmer has been drastic. “In-person learning is critical to a chiropractic education,” Jacob says. “You can sit at home and read through notes, but you miss so much if you’re not interacting directly with faculty and clinicians. How do you learn hands-on when you’re not hands-on? I’ve learned a lot just by asking questions of faculty and hearing about their personal experience; it’s really challenged my clinical thinking skills.” Jacob knows a student who went to another
chiropractic college and completed the first year of study remotely. “She’d been thousands of miles
20
away,” says Jacob. “When she finally got to campus, the experience was not what she expected, and she left that program. Unless you’re here, really experiencing the work, getting to know your peers, and being pushed forward by the faculty, there’s no way of knowing what chiropractic is about.” Since 1897, Palmer College has defined the field of chiropractic education. Along the way, the curriculum has been carefully refined to provide students like Jacob with a cutting-edge, hands-on educational and clinical experience that prepares them for their future careers. Today, schools and colleges around the world are experimenting with online and distance education, and chiropractic colleges are no exception. Can colleges and instructors balance the benefits of online education and overcome the potential pitfalls of remote learning? At Palmer, the answer is yes.
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS At first glance, the benefits of online education are obvious; for students, a distance format provides flexibility and different opportunities to engage in the
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