• Job: Doctor of chiropractic, Brookhaven

Photos by KARL W. RITZLER/Special (ENLARGE)

Dr. Ronald Tucker says that chiropractic care is centered on the belief that the body can heal itself if the spine and joints are aligned properly. Tucker sometimes takes Otis (at left), his synthetic-skeleton associate, on educational trips to schools.

(ENLARGE)

• What I do: Some things in life can be pains in the neck, but Dr. Ronald Tucker can take care of a real pain in the neck, back or just about anywhere else.

As a doctor of chiropractic, or chiropractor, Tucker views his profession as helping his patients achieve a "lifestyle of pain-free living," he said. "It's a very sensible approach to preventative care and wellness, not just for pain."

He said he focuses primarily on aligning patients' spines to take pressure off the nervous system. Undue pressure on the spinal cord can cause other ailments, such as headaches or muscle pain elsewhere in the body, explained Tucker, 55.

With proper spinal and joint alignment, he said, the body can use its own ability to heal injuries.

"Chiropractic enables the body to function at its best ability," Tucker said. "We are caretakers of the spine. We decompress the spine to enable the nervous system to become unencumbered."

He concentrates on alignment of the vertebrae, related structures and joints. Most of his patients are dealing with migraines, sports strains and sprains, accident injuries, or back or neck pain.

"I can adjust any joint in the body," he said. His practice's services also include massage therapy and physiotherapy for soft-tissue treatment, which includes electrical muscle stimulation.

While he has specialized equipment, such as adjustment tables, Tucker does most of this work with his hands, feeling the muscles and bones and adjusting them into proper alignment.

"Each patient is treated specifically for their condition," he said. "The treatments are tailor-made for each person — safe, precise and tailor-made."

Before he begins any therapy regimen, Tucker takes X-rays to find out what's wrong and whether his services can help.

Not all ailments can be treated by chiropractic methods, he pointed out. Chiropractors don't prescribe medicines, perform surgery or treat illnesses such as cancer or the flu — "nothing invasive," Tucker said. He refers patients to physicians and specialists for ailments that are beyond the scope of his practice.

• What got me interested in this: "I always wanted to be a doctor," Tucker said.

His interests shifted from traditional medicine to more holistic approaches to health and chiropractic while he was an undergraduate at California State University in Sacramento.

While taking pre-med courses, he said he worked with an osteopathic surgeon, a medical doctor who also uses spinal adjustments. "I got to see a lot of medical procedures," he said.

In addition, he said, he was good with his hands and had worked many summers in construction.

Tucker became disenchanted with traditional medicine because "it didn't seem natural to me."

A friend who was a chiropractor introduced him to the field, and he was hooked, especially after his own back went out and he received chiropractic treatment.

• Best part of my job: "I know I can make a difference in someone's life, health and well-being," Tucker said.

• Most challenging part: "Convincing people who are in pain and have tried other methods of treatment that they should commit to a series of [chiropractic] treatments," he said. "It's not a one-visit program."

Tucker said he achieves results over a course of visits, usually 10. "Results come with time and repetition," he said.

• What people don't know about my job: That a chiropractor's training is comparable to a physician's.

"I spent a year in anatomy and dissection, a year studying radiology and a clinical internship," he said. "It costs about $100,000 to get an education [in a] four-year curriculum after college."

• What keeps me going: "Knowing I can rely on my training and experience to offer the patients the expertise they're looking for," he said. "I see so many cases and remarkable recoveries."

• Preparation needed for this job: You have to believe in the body's ability to heal itself, Tucker said. "Chiropractic is not the healer; the body is the healer."

Chiropractors attend four years of postgraduate education, in a course of study that's similar to that of a medical school but has a greater emphasis on anatomy, radiology and orthopedics. Now, candidates must have bachelor's degrees in science, but when Tucker enrolled, chiropractic colleges required only a specific number of credit hours in sciences.

Most chiropractic colleges have residencies as part of the curriculum, and many graduates, including Tucker, serve additional internships after graduation. Most graduates go into private practice.

To practice, a chiropractor must pass a series of four national board exams, both oral and written, and must be licensed by the state where he or she practices. All are required to complete annual continuing-education courses.

Tucker, an Atlanta native, studied pre-med at the University of Georgia and Cal State, where he accumulated enough credits to attend Life University's College of Chiropractic in Marietta. He also is a certified physiotherapist.

He has run Brookhaven Chiropractic Clinic since 1989 and for five years was a member of the national board that examined candidates for chiropractic degrees.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.