Somehow I passed the test and instantly became college material. I was now a proud student enrolled in a state college’s preveterinary program. From that day forward I knew that I wanted to become a doctor and that I was not going to be any doctor but a doctor’s doctor. I studied as hard as I could and raised my grades enough to get into Cornell University’s preveterinary program. I graduated in the top 25 percent of my class. Not bad for not being college material. A Slight Shift in Direction During my early teen years, I developed severe back pain, which was thought to be congenital. I was born with a bad back, and because it was congenital there was no way out. As I entered college, my back pain became debilitating to the point that something had to be done. My doctor did not want me to undergo surgery and suggested I tough it out, which I did, but you always heard stories about once you have a bad back you will always have a bad back. This was not fun to hear when you’re eighteen, but it was true. One day it really hit home while I was lying on the floor of my girlfriend’s living room in severe pain when her father’s friend asked me what was wrong. I told him my back was killing me, and he said don’t worry, “It is going to get worse with age, ” as he stepped over me and walked out the front door.

Although it seemed cruel, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew he was right and that it  was only going to get worse if I didn’t correct the problem, but how? Had it not been for  that epiphany, I probably would never have chosen the path I did. I decided to find out  about back pain and was accidentally introduced to the field of chiropractic. I went to a  Doctor of Chiropractic who helped me with my back problem. As I learned about the  profession, I realized that they were able to treat many other health problems besides  back pain. Well that just seemed to be the icing on the cake, because if I could just help  people with low back pain, that in itself would have been a rewarding experience. That  was it. I applied to what is now known as New York Chiropractic College, graduated   with honors and in the top 2% of my class scholastically and clinically   (not bad for not being college material and received my degree in 1976, and was   off and running.  As I was in my last year of school, I saw a quote from Thomas Edison about the  doctor of the future: “The doctor of the future will give no medication but will interest  his patients in diet, care of the human frame, and the cause and prevention of disease.  ”  Although the definition was near perfect, there was no how-to manual that explained  how the doctor was going to treat his patients.  From that day forward I was hooked, and I wanted to become the doctor of the  future. I devoted my life to health and wellness, and forty years later created a  health and wellness program that lives up to Mr. Edison’s vision of the doctor of the  future.  In 1980, I left New York City with my new bride Gloria and moved to beautiful Palm  Beach, Florida. My wife and I started my practice in 1981 and raised a family of four—  Natalie, Tiffany, James, and Alexandra, two of which are chiropractic physicians and now  practice with me.