This Fall, Ryan Fischer will become the first Doctor of Chiropractic graduate within an academic primary care fellowship at Boston University School of Medicine.
The Ohio native, who is set to graduate this August, said he learned about the opportunity through his involvement with Logan’s chapter of the Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA), where he had served as the Vice President and Legislative rep, as well as a national position as Vice Chair of the Research Committee.
“When I came to Logan, my mindset was that I wanted to explore as many opportunities as possible and have no regrets,” he said. As he nears commencement, that couldn’t be more true.
For Ryan, chiropractic is a second career. He previously earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and worked as a pharmacist but felt like he was not doing the best for patients and what they needed. Instead, he sought a career that would allow him to be more hands-on and focus on finding solutions to patient problems.
“I was familiar with chiropractic, having been a patient from a young age, so I knew the benefits I had seen in my own life,” he said. “I found Logan by talking with chiropractors and actually some of my pharmacy colleagues – and the program was a good fit.”
Once at Logan, Ryan said Associate Provost and Dean for the College of Chiropractic Kristina Petrocco-Napuli, DC, MS, DHPE (’23), FICC, FACC, who serves as the club advisor for SACA, became a mentor. “She opened the door and started my interest in postgraduate training —something that had always been on my radar. Coming from a background that relies heavily on clinical trials and peer-reviewed literature was something I could identify with and it really became a driving factor for me to find opportunities that support evidence-based practice in the chiropractic field.”
It was at the annual ACA Engage Conference earlier this year where Ryan met Eric Roseen, DC, PhD, from the Boston Medical Center and learned about the fellowship program – an opportunity that selects individuals to support clinicians with NIH-funded research grants while learning methodology skills and statistical analysis of research and grant writing.
Because the fellowship is not specific to chiropractic practice, Ryan will be joining other medical providers who are also training to be academic and research-focused physicians. Ryan said he looks forward to interdisciplinary collaboration as well as forging a path for future DC students.
“I am definitely excited to be able to take the next step and push further for the chiropractic profession,” Ryan said.
The fellowship will encompass independent research work and secondary analysis for publication, culminating into an individual project; clinical responsibilities at Boston Medical Center; and required didactic coursework to earn a Master of Epidemiology from Boston University School of Public Health.
Eventually, Ryan said he envisions himself working in an academic setting at a leading institution, like Boston University, affiliated with a large healthcare system and involved in ongoing research that contributes to newer and emerging integrated care roles for chiropractors. “I’d love to work to help our profession grow and become a more established part of medical teams within healthcare systems and cultivate integrated care models that include chiropractic in primary spine practitioner roles,” he said.
“It feels really good to understand the opportunity that chiropractors have and what we are able to offer to patients and other healthcare providers. Logan has done a great job providing that foundation and really instilling critical thinking skills that allow us to look beyond and ask, how can we do better?”