Life West student and LIFELINES writer, Noah Volz, sat down with the newly appointed Chair of Technique, Dr. Ramneek Bhogal.
Dr. Bhogal is a Palmer College alumnus of 2002, who practiced and taught in Davenport, Iowa for 16 years before becoming Life West’s Chair of Technique this past July.
Noah: Welcome to our campus community. I’d love to start with your background. How did you make your way to Life West?
Dr. Bhogal: I was hired in the technique department at Palmer College right after I graduated in 2001. My teaching career turned into a full time career. This will be my 16th year as an educator and practitioner. When I saw the technique department chair open here at Life West, I thought that this would be the perfect progression for my career. The philosophical alignment of the school was a huge draw for me. So, I gave it a shot and I’m happy to be here.
N: Awesome. Life West students are curious about what you are planning to do with the technique department. What is your vision for the department?
Dr. B: My predecessor, Dr. Browning, did some great work and left an amazing legacy of things for me to follow up and cultivate further. A lot of energy was put into reshaping and redesigning the technique curriculum at Life West. The redesign was built with time and energy from multiple people – so for it to happen and have everyone invested in it is remarkable. I’m planning to let the curricular redesign play out and then I can start to fuse some of my ideas into areas needs arise.
N: I understand that your wife is teaching here as well, correct?
Dr. B: Yes, Dr. Stephanie is teaching here too. Her background is in pediatrics and pregnancy. We graduated from chiropractic school together 16 years ago. She’s assuming responsibility for some of the pediatrics and pregnancy coursework at Life West along with the existing peds instructors. Stephanie brings a new perspective to the curriculum and they are teaming up and sharing ideas and revamping the protocol here.
N: That’s great. I’ve heard from a few of my classmates that she is amazing. They see her strong skill set and the abilities she has to offer.
Now that you are technique chair here, do you have any other “irons in the fire?”
Dr. B: We closed our practice when we came out here and we are uncertain as to whether one will open up yet. We have decided to let our dust settle and our family to get settled before we have another obligation to practicing. Serving the community and serving your patients with chiropractic requires its dedication and our family is coming first in the transition.
We do have an adjusting outlet. My wife and I created a nonprofit foundation 6 years ago, Peak Potential Outreach. We go to underserved, underprivileged communities around the world. We take teams of chiropractors. We are integrative too. We take dentists, physical therapists and teachers to serve in the Pacific Rim area. We go once a year with the team and provide care. Through my desire to serve and create this nonprofit and my wife’s interest in helping children, we yoked our efforts and created Peak Potential Outreach. So, that is one of the irons in the fire and that’s a big, important one for us.
N: What’s the best way for students to reach out and get in touch with you?
Dr. B: I’ve had a lot of students stop in and chat with me. One student commented “I heard you are a wanderer.” I thought, “What does that mean?” I guess what they were saying is that I walk around the hallways a lot – interacting with people. I walk around the school because I like to see what’s going on in my classrooms. I like to see the daily organization in the technique department. I am walking around and making sure everyone’s got what they need in my department. I want them to experience me being present and knowing that I’m there, supporting them and backing them up, and if they need something, we’ll get it done.
So, if students catch me in the hallway, it’s a great time to stop and introduce yourselves and say hi. If you want to sit and have a long conversation, making an appointment is the best way to do it.
