BCA New Chiropractor of the Year nominee 2022 – Miss Cocomehendo Gyaba

Since her graduation in 2020, Coco has firmly established herself as a capable Chiropractor within a multidisciplinary clinic. She embraced the opportunity of working alongside MSK colleagues, both within and outside the profession. This included taking the time to understand their skill sets and building referrals into her treatment plans to produce the best possible treatment outcomes for patients.

She has consistently worked on her own education through peer learning in both a team and one-on-one setting. In addition to her desire to learn, Coco’s willingness to step out of her comfort zone and meet challenges head on has set her apart from her peers. At times, this has meant needing to take on board difficult messages and to change behaviours, which she has done with grace and professionalism.

Fresh from a pandemic-hit final year at university that limited hands-on time with patients, Coco’s interview presented an interesting challenge: her skills assessment was to take place on a man roughly twice her size. This could not have been further from the kind of patient she wanted to deal with – infants and babies – yet she embraced the challenge.

After joining the team, Coco worked hard to hone her adjusting skills over the following year. She grew a solid list of adult patients of different shapes and sizes, building her confidence in communicating her treatment recommendations, with excellent results.

Once established with this patient-base, she quickly completed training in paediatrics. Her newly acquired skills were put into practice as she co-hosted bi-monthly infant clinics, offering free consultations in the local community. Coco showed great maturity in recognising the limitations of her own knowledge, acknowledging the associated challenges and seeking help, where needed. As a consequence, she has consistently given her patients or their parents confidence in her care.

Coco has developed a strong relationship with the administrative team at the clinic. She is not afraid to roll up her sleeves, voluntarily manning phones to support the team at busy times. She has also brought constructive challenges to the clinic. Drawing on her experience of working in other clinics, she has highlighted potential areas for improvement, and proposed alternative ways of doing things that have benefitted clinic management and patients alike.

Coco’s patients hold her in high regard for the very values that the BCA represents. We are delighted to work alongside her and to see her career continue to develop.

Nominated by Samantha Campbell