What is a Chiropractic Internist?  

The acronym ‘DABCI’ stands for Diplomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Internists.  It is under the umbrella of the ACA and represents the credentials earned by chiropractic physicians that have completed 300+ hours of post-doctoral training in the use of diagnostics for both pathological and wellness evaluation; and thus, have become board certified through the American Board of Chiropractic Physicians (ABCI) board.  By utilizing the same tools and examination methods as conventional medicine, Chiropractic Internists are in a position to offer their patients the best sound health care advice and assessment as primary care physicians within the complimentary health care arena.  The Diplomate designation is bestowed upon less than 250 Doctors of Chiropractic throughout the World.

Dr. Smith is the only chiropractor in Louisiana to have achieved this distinction.

The Chiropractic Internist philosophy and approach of the DABCI training is based on the paradigm of natural, functional, and preventive medicine that believes in a ‘treating the fire, not the smoke’ theory; promoting a wellness model that treats dysfunction before disease develops.  It is reasonable to say that the Chiropractic Internist fuses biochemical and biophysical medicine to offer patients the best in comprehensive integrative health care.  

Although a Chiropractic Internist may intervene after a diagnosis is made, their objective is to evaluate functionality at a much earlier state, often averting the disease outcome and its secondary effects.  In addition, they undertake a systematic evaluation of undiagnosed symptoms, allowing management of otherwise puzzling conditions.  

For example, the effects of chronic inflammatory bowel disease do not stop at the boundaries of the GI tract; these processes operate throughout the whole patient, affecting the brain, the immune system, and the musculoskeletal systems.  Successful management of a patient with chronic illness requires knowledge of what is going on in other areas.  Imbalances in the patient’s immune system, gastrointestinal health, structural health, hormonal and neurological health, energy production, psychological (mind, and spirit) health, and the need for detoxification are all examined; lending a true holistic approach.

The Chiropractic Internist’s treatment is concentrated on health restoration by promoting balance to dysfunctional systems. This parallels with the chiropractic philosophy of the relationship between structure and function of the human body, and how that relationship affects the restoration and preservation of health.  With the use of comprehensive diagnostic tools beyond standard conventional testing, history taking and examinations, the Chiropractic Internist’s treatment protocols typically include lifestyle modifications, nutritional counseling, and the use of pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplementation and herbal therapies.

Why chose a DABCI?

We take a "whole person" approach to your health care. When you visit our office, you will not be treated as a disease but rather as an individual (possibly with a condition or disease) who is in need of better health and healing. Dr. Smith is a Board Certified Chiropractic Internist which allows him to be uniquely qualified to assess and treat ailments that occur within the human body.

We base your diagnosis and treatment program on hard scientific medical data gathered by traditional medical testing and blend it with the non-traditional approaches of herbal medicine, nutrition and lifestyle management, natural homeopathic medicine, chiropractic medicine and allopathic medicine. Dr. Smith correlates all this information with his many years of experience to develop a personalized plan of care that is safe and highly effective.

Whether you hurt, suffer with chronic pain, have been injured in an accident, unhappy with your current state of health, or would like to improve your physical or mental performance, Dr. Smith has the tools to help you.

I thought Chiropractors only took care of things like low back pain and headaches. Why does Dr. Smith do so many things? 

Dr. Smith's focus is an all-inclusive holistic approach to his patient's health. Proper diagnostics and a detailed treatment plan are essential to restoring normal physiology. The root cause of the disease must be found and fixed.