Meet Palmer rugby alum Dr. Tracy Francis-Nguyen!

Originally from: Rochester, New York
Current location: Sauk City, Wisconsin
Year graduated: 2006
Name of practice: Luedtke Storm Mackey Chiropractic (LSM)
Specializations: Family/prenatal/pediatric Chiropractic

Dr. Francis-Nguyen’s Story

Originally from upstate New York, I am a proud Army wife with two children, Vinh, 10, and Tien, 8. I enjoy rugby, soccer, dance, volleyball, outdoor activities, live music, and spending time with my family when I am not at work. Before chiropractic school, I was a professional dancer for the Rochester Rhinos soccer and Knighthawks lacrosse teams, as well as playing collegiate, club and select side rugby while finishing my B.S. in biology and chemistry at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.

Currently, I am an associate doctor at Luedtke Storm Mackey Chiropractic (LSM) in the Sauk City, Wisconsin location. LSM has been the leading wellness centers in the Greater Madison, Wisconsin area for over 65 years offering chiropractic care, laser therapy, and naturopathic medicine. We believe in advancing the human experience by helping patients find pain relief, recover from injury or surgery faster, better manage their medical conditions, and live healthier and better lives naturally. We have 19 clinics in the Madison area, and practice using the Palmer Package with an emphasis on the Gonstead technique.  I have a focus on family/prenatal/pediatric chiropractic but love to see patients of all ages.

My favorite Palmer memory was Palmer Clinic Abroad* in Vietnam. I spent three weeks traveling around Southern Vietnam providing care to the citizens of the small communities. We saw the mountains in the North and the beaches of the South. At the towns we would come in on tour buses and see people lined up around the block to be seen. It was amazing to provide care to these people and saw firsthand the second- and third-generation effects of agent orange. We also were able to see how the Vietnamese people saw the Vietnam war and where the guerilla warfare occurred. The people were so grateful, and I was able to see firsthand so many miracle cases that you usually only get to read about while I was there.

My favorite memory is the first All-Iowa tournament we went to our first spring season in 2004. We had an awesome weekend on our first big travel event in conjunction with the men’s team. We played hard, taking second in the tournament, but due to numbers and minor injuries, I ended up playing positions from my usual #15 (fullback) all the way up to #2 (hooker). The only positions I didn’t play that game were prop and eightman. That weekend cemented us as a team, and we all made memories that we reminisce about today.

My other favorite memory of Palmer rugby came this past spring when I traveled with the team to St. Louis and then Atlanta for the playoffs and National final four tournament this past spring of 2022. I was so proud, and it was awesome to see how amazing a team I had started 18 years had become and what a powerhouse they are.

Palmer provided me the opportunities to learn and the chance to be around a wide variety of techniques and philosophies which then allowed me to grow into approaches and the way I practice chiropractic today. It also allowed me a greater knowledge of the different techniques even if I don’t use them. When I get a difficult case, that may not respond as well to my techniques, this enables me to make proper referrals to certain specialties within chiropractic that address issues that may not be responding as I would like them to. Palmer also helped me through my efforts of starting the women’s team that I learned valuable leadership skills, as well as how much I can achieve when I put my heart and full commitment into a goal.

I chose Palmer because it is the Fountainhead. I wanted to go where it all started. The strong basis in philosophy, and excellent teachers I was exposed to, also solidified my decision. The smaller community and lower cost of living also played a role in helping me to keep my overall cost down as compared to other schools.  I also knew of the long history of men’s Rugby team and while there was not yet a woman’s team, I planned to start one.

Any words of advice for current students? Be open to any and all opportunities and chances to learn from those who have come before. You may not always be able to use the information or agree with it – but you never know when that information can help or be useful. Sometimes the greatest lessons come from the biggest failures and learning from those who have already made them can help us avoid them ourselves. Science, like life, is ever-evolving and changing, and as we grow and learn change is also inevitable. Be humble. Patients won’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. Be open to new experiences.

Read more about Palmer College Rugby

*Palmer Clinic Abroad is no longer an active program at Palmer College