Dr. Carie Cutting Blends Two Passions in New Business Ventures
Alumni Spotlight
Carie Cutting, DC, LMT, (NUHS ’16) first came to National University’s chiropractic medicine program after spending 10 years as a massage therapist. However, her interest in chiropractic medicine started early on.
Due to her parents’ preference for natural medicine, she had been seeing a chiropractic physician for primary care since the age of three. Her interest in health care developed from there. “I always knew I wanted to help others in one form or another,” she said.
While Dr. Cutting continues to be passionate about massage therapy, she wanted to increase her knowledge base and help others even more as a chiropractic physician. “Earning a DC degree gave me a much more in-depth medical education and a deeper understanding of the human anatomy,” Cutting said.
The degree also helped expand her scope of practice. In addition to practicing part-time at a personal injury clinic in Clearwater, Florida, she now runs two businesses. The chiropractic private practice called CTC Chiropractic Services is a mobile service that allows Dr. Cutting to see patients at home or in their office. The second business is a continuing education company, specifically for massage therapists.
Dr. Cutting started the business because she wanted to help other massage therapists expand their knowledge base to achieve confidence and success. As someone who has sought continuing education courses herself, she also wanted to increase the amount of high quality learning opportunities available.
The company, Massage CE Express, launched earlier this year with massage therapists already lined up to take courses. Cutting said her DC degree helped her gain credibility to earn national accreditation for the company. Course topics include: headache management; laws and rules of massage therapy; prevention of medical errors; and ethics of massage therapy.
“The vast amount of knowledge that I now have from going through National University’s DC program allows me to provide further medical insight to massage therapists,” Dr. Cutting said.
At the personal injury clinic in Clearwater, she continues to use treatment techniques from both professions. “I am able to put my focus on chiropractic medicine while still spending some time performing manual therapy,” she said. “In my opinion and personal experience, the amalgamation of chiropractic and massage can be life changing for those on the receiving side of care.”
Advice for New Chiropractic Physicians and Massage Therapists
Dr. Cutting gained much of her business management expertise from her undergraduate degree in finance and the businesses her father owned and operated throughout her life. She recommended investing in learning the financial and management aspects of running a business. Work ethic is also key to business success. “Working hard and doing right by your customers and employees can set you up to be truly successful in no matter what you decide to do.”
When making career plans, she advised new chiropractic physicians or massage therapists not to settle with what first comes their way. “If you have a dream for your future, then make that your goal. I always use timelines with my personal goals each step of the way. This seems to make things less daunting and keeps you on track for success.”
Dr. Carie Cutting