Dr. Anne Odenweller, D.C.
Doctor/Owner
Odenweller Chiropractic Clinic
13580 Coursey Blvd, Suite A
Baton Rouge, LA
Phone 2225-755-0499
FAX 225-756-8029
Dr_anne@bellsouth.net
“Whatever you can do or think you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
— Goethe
“This above all, to thine own self be true.”
— William Shakespeare
“Doctors of Chiropractic care are trained to improve the function of the nervous system through the manipulation of joints so that the body can function more productively, and without pain” Jefferson Hennessy wrote in a recent article in Acadiana Profile. This description of the profession is one Dr. Anne Odenweller (known as Dr. Anne to her patients) embraces. She believes motion is life. “I don’t just treat patients, I try to educate them on preventive measures to help them attain and maintain a healthy life.”
Born and raised in Ohio, she had chiropractic care growing up, which sparked her interest in the field. The family’s chiropractor educated them on health care rather than sick care, introducing her mother to information about nutrition and health foods. Dr. Anne was taught chiropractic first, medicine second and surgery last. She finds it rewarding to help people feel better. “So many times people feel immediate relief after an adjustment.”
At a young age Dr. Anne decided on chiropractic as her career choice. She liked being active, working with her hands, making and repairing things, and didn’t think a desk job would suit her temperament. “Chiropractic is sort of a mechanical profession.” She also had another goal in life—to join the Army. Her dad had been in the Army, and she loved looking at books he had which were put out by different battalions during WWII. “I felt it was my duty to serve, to help protect the country and preserve our freedom.” She joined the service after her freshman year at Bluffton University in Bluffton, Ohio and was able to complete a second year of college going part-time and nights to Harford Community College while stationed in Maryland.
She worked as a Medical Corpsman for the first two years of her stint in the Army before being chosen for the AMOSIST Program (Ambulatory Military Outpatient System.) There was a shortage of physicians due to the Viet Nam War, so corpsmen were trained to triage sick call patients, take care of minor illnesses and work under the guidance of the doctors. During her four years of active duty, Dr. Anne worked and trained in several states, but spent most of her time in Maryland assigned to Aberdeen Proving Grounds. She was never deployed out of the country, though she loves to travel and learn about other cultures. She switched her military occupational specialty to helicopter maintenance while in the second year of her two–year Army Reserve obligation.
Dr. Anne’s pre-chiropractic study, with its emphasis on the sciences–chemistry, biology and anatomy, had prepared her for entrance into the Texas Chiropractic College in Pasadena, Texas. With the aid of the GI Bill, she finished her four years there and earned her Doctor of Chiropractic degree. Her postgraduate studies include Chiropractic Orthopedics, Sports Injuries, Chiropractic Rehabilitation and Animal Chiropractic. “I’ve always loved seminars.” She’s had continuing education courses in nutrition, whip-lash injury and adjusting techniques for the extremities.
After she graduated, Dr. Anne did temp work in various chiropractic offices in several states and had to pass the state boards to be licensed in each one. Although there is no national license in the field, chiropractors are required to take the National Board Exams before graduating. She was encouraged by a friend from Texas Chiropractic College who was practicing in New Orleans to take the state boards to practice in this state. Louisiana was the last state in the union to license chiropractors, and the profession has been firmly established here for many years now.
She visited Baton Rouge in the early eighties and settled here because “it appeared clean and green and seemed like a nice place to live.” After working four or five years for a clinic, she opened her private practice. Dr. Anne feels Baton Rouge is growing nicely and hopes future growth and development is being carefully planned. She is concerned about building in what appear to be flood plains. Believing we should be stewards of our environment and protect animals, she thinks we should preserve habitat, rather than eliminating open spaces. “I’d like our city to be aware, open and tolerant, and I’d like to see more places that are animal friendly, as in other cities and countries.”
When she is away from the office, she enjoys gardening, woodworking, travel, astronomy, studying chiropractic, and caring for animals. She has dogs, cats and a horse. When she has time she likes to read science, history, gardening and nature articles and books as well as do-it-yourself books. Visiting the library at least once a week was one of her main activities growing up. “I got lost in the world of books.” Dr Anne loves how books can transport you to other places and help you use your imagination. Whenever she has traveled, she’s used libraries in the places she’s gone. She especially enjoys visiting medical libraries. “Everyone has something to say and writing a book is a good way to do that.”
Besides the favorite quotes listed at the beginning of this profile, Dr. Anne also likes this one by St. Francis of Assissi–“Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” It pretty much sums up her philosophy of life. She likes to stay busy and feels that goals are important. From this profile one can see that the things she loves include helping people feel better, animals, books, travel, astronomy, and learning new things. Dr. Anne agrees with the old saying, “the things you love, you can’t get in catalogs.”
