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PEAK Clinical Program

PEAK Clinical Program

The PEAK (Practice, Excellence, Art and Knowledge) program is a program designed to allow senior interns to complete their clinic requirements under the direction of an off-campus doctor.

The doctor has qualified to become a Life University Extension Faculty member and serves as a mentor to help the intern not only develop clinically, but also prepare to make the transition from school to practice.

The PEAK Program is for student interns in their 13th or 14th quarters of study, in good academic standing and having passed the 12th quarter OSCE exam. Doctors of Chiropractic are credentialed through an application process to become a PEAK Doctor. The student intern works with the PEAK Doctor to provide patient care and fulfill other assignments given by the PEAK Doctor. Students are a participating team member of the clinic and a valuable part of the practice team. Interns perform history examinations, diagnoses and X-rays; provide chiropractic adjustments; and complete a Learning Objective Worksheet each week.

In many other programs, student interns mostly just observe a practice. This is clearly not the case in the LIFE PEAK Program. This experience allows the intern to gain valuable insights into the nuances of running a profitable practice and the rewards of providing quality chiropractic care. The PEAK Doctor acts as a mentor to the intern, helping to bridge the gap between the classroom, the college clinic and private practice. In many cases, the PEAK Doctor is not only a facilitator in the student intern’s development, but also becomes a lifelong mentor.


“I had two doctors that I was able to shadow [Dr. Bob Schumacher and Dr. Joe Esposito],  and they impacted me pretty much for the rest of my life. It was very strong foundational learning,” said PEAK Dr. Medlin. “It’s really fun to be able to tie into the next generation of chiropractors and provide a foundation for them so that they don’t learn bad habits.”

Dr. Sean Medlin, Clear Connections Chiropractic


Program Options

Our options in the PEAK Program include:

International Clinic Program: Read more about our amazing options to work in clinics in Ghana, Peru, Sweden, Argentina, Singapore and New Zealand.

Outreach Clinics: LIFE operates a clinic that provides free care to populations who cannot afford to seek out care in private practices. This clinic allows our students to give back while learning the clinical art of Chiropractic.

Private Chiropractic Offices: We have PEAK Clinics not only in Georgia, but also in 29 other states. One of the things that sets our private practice experience apart from many other schools is that our students are able to not just observe, but actually adjust in all of our PEAK offices. In a private practice, our students hone their patient care skills by caring for and adjusting real-world patients. They also learn many details of real-life practice, such as front and back office procedures that work and how to manage a private practice.

Peak Intern Handbook


For more information regarding International Clinic Programs or to find out how to qualify and apply to be a PEAK host doctor, please contact Dr. John Markham, Executive Director of Level III Programs, at 770.426.2980 or John.Markham@LIFE.edu.