We Know Her Around Here As Dr. Julie

Feb 15, 2011 by Melissa Brown

Since Dr. Julie Marchiol opened the doors of Ascent Health Center 10 years ago, she has treated hundreds of adults, children and even babies as young as six weeks. I interviewed Dr. Marchiol to find out about growing up in Trinidad, her path to becoming a chiropractor and her goals for the future.

MC: You were born in Trinidad, Colorado. I hear that is beautiful country. What was it like growing up there?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: Yes it is. Gorgeous. Growing up was good; that’s where I played sports, that’s where I went to the chiropractor because of sports and that’s what ultimately led to me becoming a chiropractor.

MC: What kind of injury? What kind of sports were you playing?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: I was doing basketball but it was technically for my low back but I had horrendous chin splints and when I went to this chiropractor he looked at my low back but asked if I had knee problems. I had no knee problems but I had shin splints. We focused on nutrition, chiropractic, shoe inserts and I haven’t had shin splints since. I loved him.

MC: Wow, that’s awesome, how old were you when you went to him?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: I was 16. Got out of Spanish twice a week!

MC: So you went to Princeton after high school?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: So this man from my hometown set up a scholarship fund. He went to Princeton during the 1920s and then he moved back to Trinidad and he ranched, bought a bunch of land. He realized that kids in that area wouldn’t financially or academically think of going to Princeton so he set up this scholarship fund so that anyone from my county that gets in to Princeton, has their education paid for. My whole education was paid for, I got to live in Italy for a year, and a computer. A computer back then, computers were like archaic. I went to college a long time ago.

MC: That is amazing.

Dr. Julie Marchiol: It is amazing. I’m thinking of moving my kids back there during their senior years.

MC: So, that’s pretty prestigious, Princeton for college. What was it very demanding?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: It was hard for me because, you know, small town public school…so I picked a small department and I went in, my department only had 15 people in it in my class so it was perfect for me because it was like going to a small school at a big university, tons of one on one.

MC: And your major was Italian?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: It was Techno-biochemistry with a minor in Physics…no, kidding, it was romance languages, ha. The department was small and it was great. I knew I was going to chiropractic school so it was perfect.

MC: Did they have health majors there? What led to you majoring in Romance Languages?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: I went into it thinking I would do Psychology because I didn’t want to do chemistry, biochemistry or biology. I didn’t have any interest in it but I knew you had to have all the pre-med prerequisites for chiropractic school so I started taking them during that and I hated it. It was not my cup of tea. So I looked at English, talked to my advisor but then thought switching to English would be boring. I switch to Italian and I immediately loved my department. I lived in Italy for a year, I did my thesis over there and it was paid for.

MC: So of all the chiropractic colleges growing up, I always went to chiropractors and I knew of Palmer in Iowa, of course, and Life, which was like the stepson of Palmer. But then there are all of these others that I never knew about Cleveland in Kansas City. What made you decide to go there?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: I knew I didn’t want to live in Iowa. I really wanted to live in California but I thought my focus would be a little muted if I picked California. So I visited the Cleveland Chiropractic College campus in Kansas City. I’m a go-on-how-you-feel type of person and I just loved it. The people, the campus, it was just perfect.

MC: What was the curriculum like?

Dr Julie Marchiol: It was so easy, they should give those things out at like 7-Eleven, ha. No, it was hard. But compared to Princeton, it was easy because in Chiropractic school the semester focus was always similar amongst classes. So it was one semester all neuro, next semester all brain, next it was all structural.

MC: So when you got out of school what was the plan, your own practice?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: So for those listening, the ideal plan after you get out of school is to actually have one, a plan. I did not and that was hard. My whole focus through school was “how am I going to graduate?” Then when I graduated I had no plan and it was so hard because they don’t teach you about business in school. So I got out and I worked for these shysters, the kinds of chiropractors that give chiropractors a bad name. I didn’t do anything relevant. I did that for three months and I wanted to jump off a building. So I spoke to my chiropractor who wrote my recommendation letter back home and he offered to let me practice for free in his office. He gave me my own room, I started building up my own clientele and after two years I felt I was ready. I took him to lunch, I was so upset. I was crying when I told him I wanted to start my own practice. He said that he’d always wanted me to. It was such a relief. He was amazing. He even let me take my clients and the staff. It was unbelievable.

MC: So was it hard after that, the business side or did the staff really know what they were doing?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: The staff that I brought, I couldn’t have done it without them. They did everything. I didn’t know how to turn the computer on. When they left to go to school and we hired other people, we had a bit of a struggle. Now I do know how to do all the front desk stuff but it was so much more fun when I didn’t.

MC: Your practice is obviously integrative with Pilates, yoga and your services, but what are your goals for the coming years, expansion? Improve upon what you have but stay small?

Dr. Julie Marchiol: My ultimate goal is to have another doctor doing regular adjustments and I’d love to do all the consults and labs as well as the tricky cases. But it’s a work in progress and a chiropractor’s work is never quite done.

MC: I totally understand. Always an adjustment or injury to take care of and I am sure your patients appreciate your passion for the skill.

Dr. Julie Marchiol: I sure hope so!

MC: Well thank you so much for your time today; it was wonderful chatting with you!

Dr. Julie Marchiol: Thanks for coming in! Now let’s go work on that back of yours!

Dr. Marchiol is a graduate of Princeton University, Cleveland Chiropractic College and The International Academy of Medical Acupuncture. She is a member of the Colorado Chiropractic Association and a past legislative committee member of the CCA. Dr. Marchiol’s practice, Ascent Health Center, is located in the Lowry Town Center. She currently resides in Denver, Colorado with her two amazing children.