Position on Orthopractic/Prescriptions
The Palmer University System has adopted a position statement on the controversial issues of orthopractic and the movement to allow chiropractors to prescribe drugs. The position paper asserts that the proposed "redefinitions are reactive, driven by expediency, even panic."
Michael Crawford, University System Chancellor, commented: "Our position is that both orthopractic and the push to have chiropractors dispense drugs, including the proposal by another college to develop a doctor of chiropractic medicine degree, are extremist positions, outside the mainstream of chiropractic and the Palmer Tenets, upon which we base the curriculum of Palmer College of Chiropractic and Palmer College of Chiropractic West."
For a copy of the full position statement contact: Juan Nodarse, director of Marketing and Communications, telephone (319) 326-9662, Palmer Chiropractic University System, 1000 Brady St., Davenport, Iowa 52803.
Palmer College of Chiropractic (PCC) has its own HEAL default management program, and in 1994 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stepped in with new options for loan repayment. Because of these efforts, Palmer had $55.1 million in HEAL debt refinanced from April 30 to September 30, 1994. In addition, more than 200 alumni whose loans could not be refinanced or consolidated, due to long-term default, successfully entered repayment with the HHS.
"This is a tremendous step forward," reports Brenda Gran, repayment specialist in the Palmer Financial Planning Department. "It will help reduce the HEAL default rate for the college. But it's vital for us to get our HEAL default down even more. Palmer is willing to help with the process."
The college receives monthly reports of past due HEAL borrowers and a quarterly list of those who have defaulted. Alumni have several options for HEAL loan repayment once they contact the college. If the loans are not in litigation, they can be consolidated or refinanced through the HEAL consolidation program. If that's not possible, HEAL defaulters need to wait until HHS purchases the guarantee on the HEAL debt and enter repayment with them. "They then must make 12 consecutive payments on time," Ms. Gran said. "Once they've done that, their name will be removed from the default list since they will be in satisfactory repayment. That's our objective for all our defaulted HEAL borrowers." Ms. Gran encourages any Palmer alumni who have defaulted to contact her at 1-800-722-2586, ext. 889, to discuss repayment.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, an avid supporter of chiropractic, was center stage during the 1995 Annual Meeting of the ICA Council on Fitness and Sports Health Science and Symposium on Natural Fitness March 3-5 in Columbus, Ohio, co-sponsored by Palmer. The event was held in conjunction with the Arnold Schwarzenegger Body Building Classic and the Ms. International Fitness Competition.
The symposium's eight-hour educational program was sponsored by Palmer College and applied to fitness, exercise, and prevention certification through the ICA's Fitness Council. Speakers included DCs Tom Deters, editor of Muscle and Fitness magazine; Jack Barnathan; Ray Saint; and Coralee Van Egmond, a 1986 Palmer graduate and fitness expert.
Joseph Sweere, DC, DABCO, a faculty clinician at NWCC and Dr. Mike Schmidt, a 1982 Northwestern graduate, attended an organizational meeting of the International Federation of Holistic Medicine in Havana, Cuba. NWCC President Dr. John Allenberg asked Dr. Sweere to attend the conference on behalf of the college. Dr. Sweere presented "Fundamentals of Chiropractic"; Dr. Schmidt spoke on nutrition.
The invitation for NWCC to send a representative to Cuba was extended to Dr. Allenberg when he attended the Northwestern co-sponsored international chiropractic conference in Cancun, Mexico last July. Prior to Dr. Sweere's visit, Marcos Diaz, MD, was sent by the Cuban Ministry of Health to explore strengthening ties with chiropractic colleges in the United States. "We are certainly interested in stronger ties to the Cuban health care system because of their willingness to embrace conservative health care," said Dr. Allenberg.
NWCC enrolled its first Cuban student, Daniel Bravo, who already has a medical degree and was one of the 134 new students this fall.
The National College of Chiropractic (NCC) recently received a grant to fund a Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP). The program is designed to recruit, matriculate, and train educationally and economically disadvantaged students. Since receiving the funds, an HCOP office has been staffed by Wendell Blair, HCOP coordinator and Rosetta Meredith, HCOP secretary.
The HCOP staff is meeting with the admissions department to learn all aspects of the college's admissions process. Mr. Blair will travel to area colleges promoting the program to students interested in health careers, and will be assisted by coordinators at various schools to target students who may qualify.
The National College research department has enrolled 42 subjects, one third of the participants which are needed to complete its study on primary dysmenorrhea. Funded by the Foundation of Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER), the study is being conducted to link measurable pain reduction with spinal manipulative therapy.
The NCC research department has received nearly 800 phone calls inquiring about the study and personally interviewed 118 candidates at the clinic. Participants have been recruited from the area via advertisements in local papers, press releases, poster displays in surrounding communities, public service annoucements on cable television, community bulletin boards, and articles appearing in the Chicago Tribune. Most recently, members of the research department attended the "Women in the '90s" exposition where they passed out informational brochures regarding the study.
NCC has been re-accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) for a full seven years, the maximum allowable under CCE regulations.
Many relevant diagnostic signs are not performed deliberately by the examiner or by the patient at the examiner’s direction. They are observed as the patient reacts to their condition. Fortin’s finger sign, Minor’s sign, and Vanzetti’s sign are three examples of this principle.
Spearheaded by burgeoning scientific and clinical research literature, psychedelics have reached a level of media coverage and popular interest that has not been seen for over half a century. By “psychedelics,” we are referring to the unique class of substances that includes psilocybin (the active compound found in so-called “magic mushrooms”), LSD, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ayahuasca, 5-MeO-DMT, and mescaline – each of which occurs in the natural world (except for LSD, which is a semi-synthetic compound).
While working at the Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., one of the primary care physicians stated that imaging every patient prior to receiving chiropractic was not medically necessary. It was at that point I reconsidered the need for the imaging of every patient to avoid malpractice.
