Lore
I Want to Be There When the Awesome Happens
Jason's articulation of why he chose chiropractic over medicine — he wanted to be present for the moment a patient felt better, not prescribe something and wait for a phone call.
In the pilot episode, Jason was asked why he became a chiropractor and not a medical doctor. His answer: “I wanted to be there when the awesome happens.”
He considered medical school, he said, but wasn’t excited about the prospect of his tools being surgery and pharmacology — interventions where the clinician often isn’t present for the outcome. Chiropractic gave him the chance to be in the room when someone felt better, immediately, because of something he did. Instant gratification, professionally delivered.
Kathy immediately co-opted the phrase: “I wanted to be there when the awesome happens too” — her version rooted in PT, tearing her knee in college, watching her physical therapist get her back to basketball in nine months, and wanting to be that for someone else.
Jason noted — diplomatically — that having a personal injury as your origin story is very common in healthcare and slightly concerning when it describes why someone became a mental health professional. He then immediately backpedaled. Kathy’s response: “Angels.”
First seen in Science with a Smirk: Our Evidence-Based Approach to Health.