The two leading national chiropractic associations give you their responses to our question: Where do you see the future of Chiropractic going and what is being done to get us there?

chiropractic associations ises to our question: ire of Chiropractic going ane to get us there? ICA International Chiropractors Association ICA BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY! OFFICERS Officers President Robert Hoffman, DC, FICA Vice President Maxine McMullen, DC, FICA, FICCP Secretary/Treasuer Timothy Meng, DC, FICA Chairman of the Board Robert Braile, DC, FICA Board Members International Regional Director Michael Brickman, DC, FICA Western Regional Director Gerard Clum, DC, FICA Representative Assembly Chair Elliot Foster, DC, FICA Central Regional Director Michael Hulsebus, DC, FICA Southern Regional Director D.D. Humber, DC, FICA J. Richard Burns, DC, FICA Hugo Gibson, DC, FICA Thomas Klapp, DC, FICA Christopher J. Quigley, DC Michael S. McLean, DC, FICA William C. Remling, DC, FICA Gary Walsemann, DC, FICA Sid E. Williams, DC, FICA Representative Assembly Officers Representative Assembly Chair W. Gene Cretsinger, DC, FICA Representative Assembly Vice Chair Mark S. Kimes, DC, FICA Representative Assembly Secretary Robert D. Ressmeyer, DC, FICA Response by President of the International Chiropractors Association Dr. Bob Hoffman, D.C. In a time of redefinition and resolution, chiropractic's unique principles stand strong. Dr. Robert J. Hoffman is the 12th elected President of the International Chiropractors Association and has served in a large number of leadership and service positions in the profession, including Chair of the ICA Representative Assembly and Chairman of the Board of the New York Chiropractic Council. He is a 1978 graduate of the New York Chiropractic College and has been active in supporting the chiropractic profession throughout his career, including serving on the NYCC faculty from 1985-1990 and directing the ICA Representative Assembly as Chair from 1995 to the present, following his tenure as the Vice Chair from 1988-1995. Dr. Hoffman has been in private practice in Oyster Bay, New York, since 1979. Many in the chiropractic profession today are going through a period of intense searching and profound examination of their professional values and beliefs. Over the past few years, various combinations of ideas and new directions have been offered by, what 1 consider to be, the fringes of chiropractic, such as chiropractic "medicine", the "medipractor" notion, and various schemes and plans to move chiropractic into the medical model, so we will be more "acceptable" to the health care establishment. I believe that, by all objective measures, these attempts to re-define chiropractic into a medical subsidiary have stimulated a great resurgence of enthusiasm, confidence and focus on chiropractic's founding principles. To say that the pendulum has swung away from medical dalliance and experimentation, back to the basics of our profession, the adjustment of subluxations, is an understatement. Take a look at the marketplace and you cannot escape noticing that those practices that focus on the adjustment and the unique principles of chiropractic are the most successful in the profession. The subluxation-based schools are the ones drawing the strongest student populations and, by the way, graduating the most confident, motivated and focused students. The seminars that are drawing the largest crowds are those programs that reinforce and strengthen knowledge, information and clinical application of basic chiropractic principles. There has never been a better time to be a chiropractor. This does not mean, however, that those who want to move chiropractic toward the medical model are no longer dangerous. Quite the contrary. The International Chiropractors Association has not been a passive factor in this resurgence of chiropractic's basic ideas and values, or in the defense of those values in the face of the Continued on pave 37... ICA- POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE ...from page 26 mcdicalization challenge. ICA is entering its 75th year of service to the chiropractic profession and the public; and, ever since it was founded by Dr. B. J. Palmer in 1926, as the worldwide voice for chiro­practic, ICA has stood strong and proud for those ideas that define and distinguish chiropractic as a separate philosophy, art, science and practice. The ICA doctor applies the basics of chiropractic every­day, detecting and adjusting subluxations. We do so with pride, dignity, clinical competence and a clear understanding of what we do and why. These are assets that not all DCs have the advantage of; and. that is, perhaps, the greatest tragedy in contemporary chiropractic. To not know what you are supposed to do, and why, must be an empty, frightening situa­tion to be in; and one can see why some in chiropractic have sought to leave their uncertainties behind and pursue a transi­tion into medicine. Such a transition would, however, be the death of chiro­practic. ICA clearly understands the stakes in these efforts to change the direction of chiropractic. In today's competitive and increasingly complex health care market­place, success depends on your ability to distinguish and differentiate yourself, to offer something of unique value and importance. To place the chiropractic profession under the medical model, to strip the adjustment of its uniqueness and to relegate it to "manipulation" status as just another "treatment modality" would be the end of chiropractic. The tragedy would be two-fold: the elimination of chiropractic as an independent science and practice, and the consignment of tens of millions of innocent patients around the globe to a system of medicine that ignores the uniqueness of every individu­al and denies the dignity of the body's self-healing ability. Who in chiropractic with any sense of himself/herself, or con­cern for humanity, would even contem­plate such a trade? Regrettably, too many in chiropractic would make that trade. From the recent campaign to change the name of chiro­practic in Rhode Island to "chiropractic medicine", to yellow page advertisements where practitioners never mention that they are, indeed, chiropractors, a few on the fringes are knowingly damaging the core of chiropractic. ICA will be calling on all organizations in the profession to unite behind a clear statement of independence, uniqueness, and definition, making certain that the world understands that those who are pushing a merger with medicine are act­ing contrary to the vision and beliefs of the vast majority in chiropractic, and are not acting in the public's best interests. The issue of chiropractic's basic defini­tions will be extended to ICA's activities related to the National Board of Chiro­practic Examiners (NBCE) and the Coun­cil on Chiropractic Education (CCE). ICA will not hesitate to join with other organizations in seeking alternatives to both the CCE and the NBCE, if their activities continue in the medical direc­tion. I have no doubt, based on the thou­sands of individual DCs and students who have shared their grave concerns with ICA over the past few months about both the CCE and NBCE, that ICA would have the enthusiastic support of the majority in chiropractic, in order to pre­serve the integrity and independence of chiropractic. Along with strong defensive plans and programs, ICA also has a strong and innovative campaign of positive, proac­tive programs and initiatives underway, the most significant of which is, undoubt­edly, ICA s new Recommended Clinical Protocols and Guidelines for the Practice of Chiropractic, now being published and readied for worldwide distribution. This exciting new guidelines document was nearly three years in the making, and involved input from hundreds of practic­ing DCs, educators, attorneys and mem­bers of the public. The new practice protocols offer a detailed and comprehensive narrative that seeks to explain and validate chiropractic procedures, with a focus on the subluxa-tion and its neurological implications. The unique aspects of the specific chiro­practic adjustment are dealt with in great detail in an effort to define, clarify and validate this uniquely chiropractic proce­dure. This historic undertaking has pro­duced a strong, defensible, practical advocacy document that marshals and arrays a well-researched, accurately ref­erenced and substantive explanation for chiropractic procedures from the ICA perspective. I do not believe that a more complete, accurate and well-defined practice protocols document has ever been produced for the chiropractic pro­fession. ICA s Recommended Clinical Protocols and Guidelines are now available on ICA's Internet website at www.chiropractic.org. A copy will soon be provided to every ICA member and available to the profession in both a print­ed edition and on CD-ROM. ICA also plans an unprecedented distribution cam­paign to provide the guidelines and proto­cols to the insurance industry, health care policymakers and other professions, in an effort to build a greater understanding of the unique and powerful nature of chiro­practic science. ICA's international growth has also been the focus of serious planning and developmental discussion in recent months. ICA now has members in 43 nations, as well as in all 50 of the United States, and every province in Canada. ICA is working hard to determine and implement appropriate ways and means to promote the growth and development of chiropractic worldwide and to support the profession's pioneers, as they work to establish chiropractic around the globe. ICA also plans to expand and enhance its international activities, including applying for formal recognition as a NGO (non-governmental organization) by the World Health Organization, more international members services, and a renewed effort to make the ICA and FACTS' Lisbon 2000 Symposium, sched­uled for November 2000, in Lisbon, Por­tugal, the most significant international chiropractic event in history. I want to extend a personal invitation to every one of you to attend the Lisbon Symposium. This is a historic event you will not want to miss. I have, personally, participated in the activities of the WHO and the Pan Ameri­can Health Organization, representing ICA and chiropractic at important interna­tional meetings. I have spoken on behalf of ICA in Europe, and personally attest to the growing support worldwide for ICA's vision for chiropractic. ICA is a dynamic community of the most successful chiropractors on earth. ICA's vision, as articulated by Dr. B.J. Palmer, has proven timeless. ICA's key has been our ability and recognition of the need to adapt to the changing times, without abandoning the principles that got us this far. Herein lies the secret. ICA wants all who value the founding princi­ples of chiropractic to be a part of our current efforts to build and develop chiro­practic, worldwide, according to our unique and proven values. Call us. You are welcome, wanted and will enjoy being part of a winning team For more information or inquiries about the ICA, you may contact their main office by calling: 1-800-423-4690 or looking up their website at: www, chiropractic, org Editor's Note: TAC invites your feedback on this article. Be sure to Jill out our Fax Back Survey on page 10, and fax or snail mail to us (see our contact info on page 2). Or, now you may fill it out and send it to us online at: www.amchiropractor.com^ 1 hank you for the opportunity to respond to a question that every D.C. should be answering. The vision that I have, and I believe is shared by many in our profession, is that chiropractic will continue to develop to become among the most respected of health care disciplines, and the doctor of chiropractic, the time-honored advocate of wellness and prevention in health care. Each of us in chiropractic should appreciate that the philosophy, science, and art of chiropractic is special and deserves to be embraced by an unenlightened and unhealthy society. The chiropractic message and what chiropractic offers humankind needs to be made known and our place in the health care delivery system made to be secure and enduring. Getting us there is the issue that deserves some work. My question to every man and woman, who has chosen chiropractic as a career, is, "Do you feel that this profession deserves an organized, resourceful and influential national association to champion chiropractic issues?" There are national issues being debated in Congress that have a direct and immediate impact on how we practice today and tomorrow. Are we going to define our profession's place in the health care marketplace, or are we going to let the "powers that be" create our destiny for us? Are you among the estimated 70% of the chiropractic profession who do not support one of the two national associations? If you are among the 3 of 10 DCs who do invest in our profession's future through national association membership, you are to be congratulated and encouraged to remind your colleagues that their support, or lack of it, makes a difference. This holds true for state associations, as well. Every state that has a 50%-or-better number of doctors supporting its state association is among those states Continued on next page... Response by Chairman of the Board for the American Chiropractic Association J. Michael Flynn, D.C. J. Michael Flynn, D.C., is the senior doctor in a four-doctor clinic fifty miles south of New Orleans, in the oil and seafood rich community of Houma, LA, with a population of 100,000 people. He has just celebrated twenty-five years in practice, having graduated from TCC in 1975. He was born in Davenport, IA, while his father was a student at Palmer. His dad, upon advice of B.J. Palmer, decided to practice in one of the four unlicensed states at the time (1954), and twenty years later was President of the Chiropractic Association of Louisiana when Louisiana became the 50th state to license the profession. Dr. Mike has sen>ed his state association in different positions, including legislative chair and President. He served on the Board of Examiners for eight years, two as President. He has been an ACA alternate delegate for ten years, a delegate for six years, and elected by twelve southern states as a Governor of the eleven-member Board of Governors. He was elected Chairman of the Board of the American Chiropractic Association in August of 1999. In his community, he is a past President of his Chamber of Commerce, and is an appointed mem­ber of a seven-member libraiy board that is building a 13-million-dollar libraiy scheduled to break ground in January of 2001. For the past twenty years, he has lec­tured in the parochial and public school system on the consequences of alcohol and other drug abuse and on health care issues. He has a brother who practices in New Orleans and a son-in-law in his third year at TCC. ACA Board of Governors Chairman-Governor, District V J. Michael Flynn, DC President James Mertz, DC Vice President Daryl D. Wills, DC Immediate Past President Michael D. Pedigo, DC Governor, District I Roger E. Combs, DC Governor, District II Edward L. Maurer, DC Governor, District III George B. McClelland, DC Governor, District IV Robert P. Lynch, DC Governor, District VI James D. Edwards, DC Governor, District VII Jerilynn S. Kaibel, DC President, Council of Delegates Donald J. Krippendorf, DC Vice President, Council of Delegates Richard G. Brassard, DC with better margins of fair and equal access to chiropractic care. States with less than an organized/supported associ­ation will have an increasingly difficult time establishing chiropractic as an inte­gral part of the health care system. The key word is UNITY. The chiro­practic profession must unify in order to have a credible voice that succinctly, and with strength of conviction, pres­ents the chiropractic message to health care consumers and those who make the decisions for them. Our chiropractic history is rich and telling. In the Wilk, et al, case, a docu­ment dating back only thirty-eight years reveals an activity of the Iowa State Medical Society (a society of the AMA), which proposed a plan that included, "What medicine should do about the chiropractic menace." Under section F of that plan were these chal­lenging words: "Encourage chiropractic disunity." Sadly, today, this disunity continues to be encouraged, and it weakens what should be a strong united voice for access to quality chiroprac­tic care. The Congress of Chiro­practic State Associations understands this, and is encouraging open and hon­est discussions about the great need for unity in our profession. They are to be commended and should not waiver in this worthy goal. In the months leading up to the Presi­dential election in November, we will hear a media campaign from both par­ties about American's Promise. I believe in American's Promise. Part of that promise must be a concept of wellness that is available to every American and, especially, the children of America. The chiropractic model of health inspires hope for generations to experience health and vitality through the correc­tion of subluxations. Improving struc­tural function, along with the advice and training of doctors of chiropractic on health related issues is what is needed in America and around the globe. The chi­ropractic message should be inclusive to an over medicated, under nourished and highly stressed society. Leaders from every organized group in chiropractic must support efforts to unite us under an umbrella of common­ality. Every doctor of chiropractic, who truly cares about this profession and appreciates the significant struggles that require organized effort, must examine his/her level of support. The apathetic, indifferent, and those with selfish motives must come to the realization that they are encouraging disunity by their actions or inaction. There are differences in the chiroprac­tic profession, as in all professions. Some are perceived and some are real, but none are insurmountable. The core principles of chiropractic are enduring and give us a solid foundation on which to unite. This is the best of times for chiropractic, and those who are fortunate to have chosen the career path dedicated to a model of health care that has arrived. The pioneers of chiropractic could only dream of the success we are now experi­encing: Dreams that required great sac­rifices and a steadfast determination to succeed, despite obstacles imposed by established medicine. It is only through organized effort that we have achieved our place in the health care delivery sys­tem; and, it will be only through organ­ized effort that we will continue to make progress. I have been a member of the ACA since beginning my practice. My dad, who practiced twenty years without a license in Louisiana, was often heard saying to non-members of the state and national associations, "Why should patients be willing to support your prac­tice, if you are not willing to support your profession." He taught me early one of the most important laws of the universe: "The more you give,-the more you receive." Doctors of chiropractic have to be willing to give back to their profession. The future of chiropractic is being shaped now, and every chiropractor should be paying attention to its form and fashion. Every doctor of chiroprac­tic should be a member of one of the two national associations, and they should be demanding that their associa­tion achieve unity for the profession. The mission and by-laws of each associ­ation are very similar; conflicts, howev­er, should be addressed, debated, dis­cussed and resolved in a spirit of respect for our lasting principles and practice. Since the policies of the ACA and ICA are essentially identical, it is time for this profession to stop wasting its limit­ed resources and unite. I am honored to have the opportunity to serves as Chairman of the Board of the ACA, and could not be more proud of the efforts and accomplishments of this organization. Initiatives to defend the correction of the subluxation by chi­ropractors, rather than by other provid­ers, are the basis of our lawsuit against HCFA. Other decisions by managed care companies to limit chiropractic care are on our radar screen, like the recent decision by one company to deny chiropractic to children under the age of twelve. It is only with an organized effort that we will break down the barriers of injus­tice and bias that seek to exclude chiro­practic contributions to health care. The ACA was influential in the passing of a law removing the x-ray mandate in Medicare as of January 2000, and has introduced leg­islation to Con­gress which would broaden our scope of service to the senior citizens of America. The ACA, in a joint effort with the Association of Chi­ropractic Colleges, has secured access to chiropractic care for the veterans and active military men and women of America. The ACA proposed the amend­ment to the Campbell bill, and, then, helped support its passage in the House--an amendment prohibiting the possibil­ity of a medical boycott against this pro­fession in the future. The list of ACA accomplishments and current actions can be received upon request. Be assured that the forty full-time staff members of the world's largest organization of chiropractors are work­ing with a committed effort to protect this profession and insure access to our care. Ask the ICA for its current list of initiatives and accomplishments; com­pare the two, and make a decision to join either the ACA or ICA. I see the future of chiropractic as very bright; the glow of endless possibilities for a better and healthier world made brighter by organized effort; and the can­dlelight of our profession blazing by a united effort. Too many patients have been denied access to chiropractic care due to the folly of our disunity. There are Continued on page 44... ACA RESPONSE ...from page28 two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them. Let us be willing to unite and accept the respon­sibility to change things for the better! The ACA celebrates 70 years as a nation­al association this year. The ACA record is one of action in promoting, preserving and protecting chiropractic. You will find the ACA ready to meet the challenges to our profession and make some challenges of our own. By the time this article is printed, the ACA will have announced a major lawsuit against a large national insurance company, citing violations to the antitrust laws of the United States. Until some form of unity is achieved, doctors of chiropractic will be able to count on the ACA to champion this pro­fession, with a commitment to leveling the playing field of access to our care. It is a mission that every DC should be sup­porting, with a willingness to resolve dif­ferences in a spirit of cooperation and with great purpose for a healthier world. I hope to one day soon see us united as a profession and believe it will happen— the sooner the better! For more information or inquiries about the ACA, you may contact their main office by calling: 1-800-986-4636 or looking up their website at: www.amerchiro.org Editor's Note: TAC invites your feedback on this article. Be sure to fill out our Fax Back Survey on page 10, and fax or snail mail to us (see our contact info on page 2). Or, now you may fill it out and send it to us online at: www.amchiropractor.com.