Collaboration: ACC-RAC 2006

By Dana Lawrence, DC

Collaboration is the theme for the upcoming Association of Chiropractic Colleges - Research Agenda Conference (ACC-RAC 2006), which will be held March 16-18 in Vienna, Va. Collaboration in chiropractic research has grown substantially over the past 20 years or so.

This is a necessary step in the development of chiropractic science, for many reasons. One reason is that it is a step in the integration of chiropractic into the larger scientific community, something that has been happening for more than a generation. Another reason is that we are finding that it is no longer possible, given our growing expertise and skill sets coupled with the increasingly complex world of research, to be able to coordinate projects using the skills solely of chiropractors. Our research demands a greater level of sophistication; this has led us to developing relationships and collaborations which work to the benefit of our science. Finally, and pragmatically, research funded through NIH and HRSA increasingly requires collaborative efforts before that research can be approved.

Francis Macrina notes that scientific advances are rarely the result of a single researcher's labor, and that the model for training new scientists works on a collaborative basis, involving a trainee (often a doctoral student) and a mentor (typically a senior scientist).¹ The day of the researcher working in isolation is over; there are few people making significant science without a team behind them. Beaver notes that collaboration offers many benefits, including speed, power and efficiency of research; breadth and synergy of projects; reduced risk of ventures; and feedback, dissemination and visibility of results.² He notes in particular the development of collaborative models into research design at major universities, with PIs interacting with postdoctoral personnel, graduate students and even undergraduates. He also points to the effect the World Wide Web and the Internet have had with regard to collaboration, and positions this in the context of developing globalization. The walls of distance are disappearing, and collaboration is now easier than ever as a result.

I should point out that whenever we hear talk about collaboration, I think we begin to think solely in terms of interactions between research institutions, such as Palmer working with the University of Iowa or SCUHS working with the UCLA School of Public Health. But collaboration encompasses many more kinds of interactions than that. In fact, if there is a relation between two or more people, you have a collaboration. This would include institution-to-institution collaborations, membership in a research team, mentor-mentee relations, thesis chair relations, and so on. And we tend to think solely in terms of scientific research, yet collaboration also takes place among educational institutions with regard to learning and educational program development. In fact, one could view the entire ACC-RAC as a collaboration, between the research sector as presented in RAC and the educational sector as presented in the ACC.

The production of this conference is a collaboration among a great many people, and we see this occurring more and more in education as well as research.

This is why the theme for the 2006 ACC-RAC convention is so important. Collaboration allows individuals or institutions to combine expertise, technology and resources that allow researchers and educators the ability to do work well beyond what they could do alone. It allows the investigation of new questions, and in asking those questions, leads to answers that are interdisciplinary in nature; that is, to provide answers that have the strength of addressing a hypothesis by different means, thereby strengthening the rigor of the answer. It brings together people from different backgrounds. Looking here at the Palmer Center, just to pick a place where I have direct knowledge, we have among us individuals with expertise in neuroscience, anatomy, engineering, biomechanics, biostatistics, clinical trials design and management, health services research, guidelines development, and journal editing and writing. And we are not unique, except perhaps for our specific mix of talents. Collaboration also brings challenges: There are logistic issues to address concerning allocation of space, resources and curriculum. Some see collaboration as a threat to the traditional department structure of institutions. A Special Emphasis Panel at NIH may not always contain individuals with all the expertise utilized in a given proposal. These problems can be addressed, usually by working carefully with the people involved. The goal of the 2006 ACC-RAC conference is, in part, to call upon the expertise of the presenters to tease out both the benefits of collaboration as well as the challenges, and to see how collaboration has been an important part of each person's scientific development.

ACC-RAC 2006 will contain a mix of platform presentations, panels and posters, addressing the most recent science in the profession, professional issues and collaboration. Examples of presentations include:

On Collaboration

Models of Collaboration: Clinical, Educational and Research
Chiropractic Care in Older Adults
Initiating and Sustaining Collaborations: Lessons Learned
Expanding Research in Chiropractic Colleges
Collaboration and Integration: Risks and Benefits

On Chiropractic Science

Critical Appraisal
Scientific Writing
Survey Design and Assessment
New NIH Grant Procedures
Evidence for the Risks and Benefits of Spinal Manipulation
Evidence for the Biomechanisms Underlying Subluxation and Adjustment
Beyond Classification: A Diagnosis-Based Clinical Decision Rule

On Education

Team-Based Learning
Best Practices in Teaching With Case Studies: From the Science Classroom to Clinical Education
Current Initiatives in Health Promotion and Wellness Training for Chiropractors

On Professional Matters

Ethics and Professionalism
Evidence for the Identity of Chiropractic: Primary Care or Spine Doctor?

In addition, there will be many sessions in which our most recent research will be presented, and there will be time to view poster presentations of yet more research. The need to stay abreast of chiropractic research has never been greater. This program will provide you the means to read the literature and assess it, to see whether you feel comfortable incorporating its recommendation into your practice; it will provide you the skills to prepare a paper for presentation so that you can add to our literature base; it will help those of you in research design better and more effective surveys; and it will provide you with information about how the NIH Study Section process actually works. The program will examine the issues of professionalism and professional ethics. You will see different models for the chiropractic profession, in a panel certain to lead to debate and questions as the panelists contrast several different directions for the future of chiropractic: one modeled on becoming spine specialists, one modeled on chiropractors as primary care practitioners, one modeled on wellness, etc.

But at the end of the day, what you will gain will be an appreciation for what our profession has accomplished, how it has used collaboration to advance its science, and how we are using information to continue that advancement. We look forward to seeing you there.

Note: Visit www.c3r.org/accrac06 for more information and registration details.

References

Macrina F. Scientific Integrity, 2^nd edition. Washington, DC; ASM Press, 2000:157.
Beavers DD. Reflections on scientific collaboration (and its study): past, present and future. Scientometrics 2001;52:365-377.

Dana Lawrence, DC
Associate Professor,
Clinical Research Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research