DR. DAVE McCANN (Clinical Director and Chiropractor)

Maria Gable: Where did you go to school and how long have you been in practice?
Dr. Dave: I’m originally from the Midwest. So, I went to Logan College of Chiropractic in St. Louis Missouri. I’ve been in practice for about 20 years now. I practiced for about 10 years in Huntsville Alabama before relocating here to Southern California.
MG: How did you become interested in the chiropractic profession?
DD: My undergraduate degree was in Electrical Engineering Technology. My 1st job out of college was in the Clinical Engineering Department at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. Anything that plugged into the wall and had to do with patient monitoring, or life-support equipment, we managed that. As jobs go, it was a good one. But I wanted to get into patient care, as opposed to machine care. But I knew I didn’t want to work in a hospital. So, I started looking into nursing and physical therapy. Well, a small group of us decided to take a scuba diving class. I needed a physical in order to participate in the class. When I contacted my primary care doctor’s office to schedule the physical, they said it would be 2 months before I could get in. I had a horrible HMO insurance. One of my buddies said: “You should go see my chiropractor, Dr. Dan. He can probably get you in tomorrow.” So, I scheduled a physical with Dr. Dan. While he was performing the physical, he told me about the chiropractic philosophy of treating the person as a whole, as opposed to just trying to manage symptoms. Everything he said made sense to me. And, here I am!
MG: How has your career changed/evolved over the years?
DD: It’s very different now! I think, like a lot of professions, they teach you just enough in school to get started. Then you have to figure the rest out on your own. So I started out just focusing on neck pain, back pain, and headaches. But I wanted to be able to do more. However, the one thing that I can point to and say, “I’ve been doing that for 20 years” is using the Foot Levelers orthotics. Coming from an engineering background, it just always made sense to me. You have to have a balanced, stable foundation, or it can throw everything off. Your feet may not hurt but they can cause stress and pain throughout the entire body.
MG: When/how did the nutritional aspect of your practice come into play? Tell us a little bit about what that entails.
DD: In 2002, I needed some continuing education hours to maintain my license and chose to go to a seminar that focused on supplementation and nutrition. I was blown away! The speaker, Dr. John Brimhall, has people coming to see him from all over the world with all kinds of ailments. At that time, he had already been using what is now referred to as Functional Medicine, to care for his patients, for more than 30 years. He’s using Applied Kinesiology (muscle testing), cold lasers and detoxifying foot baths in his protocols. He’s incorporating bloodwork, saliva and  stool labs and really healing people with food and supplements. I knew that’s what I wanted to do! Now, that’s where the focus most of my energy and training. As a matter fact I just attended the Apex Energetics, Mastering Brain Chemistry program. Fascinating stuff!
MG: What do you like to do in your spare time?
DD: Most of my spare time, I spent hanging out with my wife. She’s seriously one of the smartest and funniest people I’ve ever met. I think she sees the world just a little differently than anybody else. I find that kind of fascinating! Nerd alert! We like to play a tabletop game called Carcassonne. But, we play by our own set of house rules and we  call it “Codependent Carcassonne” because we want to stay married. And sometimes I do community theater.
MG: Name a book you think everyone should read.
DD: Well, I’m not much of a “reader”. I mean, I rarely sit down and read a book. I discovered a long time ago that I am very much an auditory learner. So, I have a subscription to audible.com and I am constantly listening to something. Typically, on my way to the office, I am listening to something that I feel supports me in the work that I do. On the way home, I typically listen to
something more entertaining.
So, recently the most influential book for me both personally and professionally has been 10% Happier – How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works, by Dan Harris, narrated by Dan Harris. I have known intellectually the benefits of mindfulness for a long time, and have on occasion recommended some deep breathing exercises to patients. Last year, I read a blog article about it by the author in which he described it as “meditation for the fidgety skeptic.” Something about that really struck a chord with me. Since then, meditative practice has become an integral part of my daily routine. Now, I can speak about it with my patients on a more personal level.
For something a little more on the entertainment side of things one of my recent favorites has been A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – by Mark Twain, narrated by Nick Offerman, and anything by David Sedaris.