Meet Joni Chapman

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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joni Chapman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joni, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

Structrual Elements helped me begin my practice. As a recent graduate from the DACM program at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego, CA and minimal business experience, I was searching for a way to secure my place as a Doctor of Acupuncture in integrated healthcare. I was scared and insecure as a new practitioner.

I came across Structural Elements during my search and there was no looking back. I took a jump of faith and moved to Maryland to become a Structural Element practitioner and microfranchisee owner.

I love what I do at Structural Elements. I am a true believer that full body treatments are the best way to keep the body in proper alignment for optimal health. I was nervous in the beginning and afraid I would fail; but the staff was very helpful, informative and willing to do what is neccesary to help their practitioners succeed.

I have been with Structural Elements for about a year and have watched my patients improve quickly and get into maintenance. It feels really good knowing that I am truly helping people. Structural Elements’ protocol is easy to understand and implement, allowing orthopedic wellness integration with a diverse group of practitioners.

My goal after being a part of Structural Elements is to open my own clinics in San Diego and bring this exceptional orthopedic wellness practice to as many people as possible.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I began in healthcare at a very young age. I was responsible for caring for my younger sister. I was seven when she was born. There were several complications that resulted in her having cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, epilepsy and severe mental retardation. Growing up, I helped my mom care for her; she comes home at six months old and needed and NG tube for nourishment and medications, was having seizures and with her mental incapacity, life was very challenging. Eventually, with a lot of therapy and persistence, she began to walk at five years of age on Mother’s day; that was a special day. She continued to make milestones. When I began high school, I decided to do home study so I could work and still care for my sister while my mom went to nursing school. Sometimes,
I even helped my mom with her homework. Eventually, my mom graduated and began working in a nursing home. It was severely understaffed. I saw how she stressed and worried about us. To help out, I decided to get a job. Which was my first paid healthcare job. I would leave school at lunch and care for a client with spina bifida and go back to school. I graduated from high school six months early and applied at the nursing home my mom worked. That was a very difficult time in my life. I was young with some experience but never expected to care for so many patients at one time. There were several shifts we worked together, she was the charge nurse and I was her nurse assistant, caring for 60 patients on two separate wings because there was huge shortage of nursing staff. In 1994, we moved to Michigan where I continued to grow my medical experience. I worked in group homes, nursing homes and of course continued to care for my sister. I decided to go to school to be a medical assistant. That was going very well; top in my class, until I was in a head-on collision on my way to school. I was no longer able to attend school, I could not retain the information I was learning. Soon after, I had children and got married.

After a few years and a couple of different jobs outside of healthcare, I realized I had a lot of medical knowledge and experience; so I went to nursing school. That was intense. While I was in nursing school, my mom developed many complications from diabetes. I became very excited about herbs and their healing benefits. After nursing school, I got my EMT certification; I was on the path to be a flight paramedic until disaster struck and my marriage dissolved and I did not get my nursing license. I was lost for a while until I started working at a healthcare staffing service. I was a high tech health aid. Eventually, I decided to work for myself; which is more lucrative, if you can do it. In 2009 I moved back to San Diego. The best decision I ever made. I began working in an Alzheimer’s group home to make ends meet. Then, as I began marketing myself, I had no trouble getting another job. I have worked for myself with mainly one client since 2010. He is a high quad on life support. He needs 24-hour care and staffing can be difficult for him as well.

In 2017, I decided to go back to school, it was time. I thought about getting my BS in nursing and continue on for my MS in nursing to be a nurse practitioner when I found PCOM; Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, where I attend for my doctorate in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. My passion for natural medicine never faded. My prospective graduation date is August 2020. But in the meantime, I have started a non-profit business; Holistic Staffing Professional, that allows me to help many others. I have a gift of networking and now I want to help alternative practitioners, such as acupuncturists, massage therapists, yoga instructors, and personal trainers to obtain gainful employment in mainstream healthcare while serving those that are under-serviced. Integrated medicine is a wonderful thing; it gives people multiple options for their healthcare and prevention of disease.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been a very difficult road; from family issues, the high cost of living in San Diego, being a single parent of two children and broken romantic relationships along the way. I learned that staying positive in the worst situation is best for dealing with stress and life changes.

Please tell us about Holistic Staffing Professionals.
Holistic Staffing Professionals is a staffing service that places alternative/natural healthcare workers with employers that want and need integration. By having acupuncturists available in hospitals we can increase outcomes of traditional care. By assisting doctors and other healthcare professionals we aim to get and keep people healthy. Prevention is the best medicine. We specialize in strengthening the core, fall risk safety, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. As a company, I am proud of how well people perceive our mission. Our mission is to provide alternative staffing solutions for integrated healthcare. We are the only alternative staffing agency. I have not found anyone else doing what we do.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I do not feel I would have done anything differently. Life has allowed me to develop into the person I am now with the education and experiences along the way.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The story is attached

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Yes absolutely. I would have just done it sooner.

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Meet Joni Chapman

Meet Joni Chapman

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Joni, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

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