In Western Australian chiropractic circles, the name Dr Ross Gilmore carries a lot of weight. 21 years ago, he was a major player in the introduction of Western Australia’s Chiropractors Act 2005, a landmark legislative piece for the profession. In essence, the Act ensured the profession was regulated, the public was protected, and that practitioners were competent.
This Act was used as the template for the current national law to which all chiropractors are subject and helped the profession gain recognition from Ahpra.
Without Dr Gilmore’s unrelenting persistence, this may not be the case today. Over 20 years, and spanning five different state governments, he lobbied and received guidance from constitutional and government act-based lawyers. With each government change, he was tasked with re-establishing the necessary connections to continue his work.
Without him, who knows where the profession may be.
Recently, Ross sat down with ACA Western Regional Manager, Joanne Servaas, to chat about his career and the lessons he learnt along the way. Naturally, a career as lengthy and storied as his is filled with plenty. Yet, one of the most important ones he learnt happened in his career’s infancy.
After completing his chiropractic studies at the International Chiropractic College in Melbourne in 1980, Ross made the lengthy journey from Victoria to Perth. 3,500 kilometres. At least a day-and-a-half of non-stop driving, traversing one of the most isolated and arid stretches of highway on Earth, which slices through the Nullarbor Plain. To say it was a long trip would be an incredible understatement, the equivalent of calling a cyclone a light breeze.
His early months in practice were tumultuous. Soon after he completed his purchase, the patient and office records of his new Perth practice were stolen, collapsing his patient numbers to almost zero.
At the time, the rules and regulations around chiropractic meant it was illegal for Ross to conduct any advertising at all. He found himself between a rock – a recently purchased practice with next to zero patients – and a hard place – an inability to advertise and attract new patients. Few, if any, would envy the position he found himself in.
Yet he persevered and pushed on, building a flourishing practice now under the stewardship of his daughter, Dr Pamela Hellemons, and establishing himself as a titan of WA’s chiropractic community.
Dr Ross Gilmore's Advice for Young Chiropractors
At the centre of his professional life is the ACA. Over the years, it has taken many shapes and names. Though Ross’s commitment to the Association, and the profession he knows, loves and has fought tirelessly for, has remained consistent throughout.
While much has changed in the time between Ross beginning practice and the present, Ross believes a strong chiropractic community is essential.
“That unity is still necessary,” he stresses.
For younger generations, engaging with a professional association such as the ACA mightn’t seem fashionable. Some might view it as a purely transactional relationship, one where if the numbers don’t stack up, then there’s no point hanging around.
For Ross, this line of thinking is misguided. In his estimation, an ACA membership is about something greater than any single individual.
“There’s safety in numbers,” he explains.
“Patients like to know you belong to something bigger than yourself, and an Association is one of those things. Because in their mind, it means you have access to a much broader and more encompassing level of information than the everyday chiropractor practising on their own would.”
“To put it another way, it makes you a bigger practitioner. That’s a great benefit to your patients.”
Over the years, Ross has acquired many chiropractic friends and lessons. Of course, remaining ethical above all else is something that’s been drilled into him since his early days of the progression. But, if he could go back in time and tell his younger self one thing, what would it be?
“In your first year, you’ll be incredibly enthusiastic. In your second year, you’ll probably have more debt than you can possibly imagine, but in five years you’ll come out the other side, and you will start to achieve things,” he says.
“Understand, chiropractic is a small business, but also corporate in its greater aspect of the community.”
“But if you grow developing yourself, your business will continue to grow, and you and your patients will get great benefits from that.”