Service & Chiropractic

If we are to correct the course of the chiropractic profession during the next 15-20 years a varied fund of knowledge and set of skills beyond the clinical are going to be needed. 

Much of the effort will need to come from volunteers – chiropractors who recognize and internalize the “last chiropractor” concept. We will need researchers, policy experts, educational specialists, information technology experts, organizational management experts, public health specialists, attorneys and many others. 

The entrenched powers in the profession have created a closed system whereby there is a financial incentive to keep the status quo. A close look at the few dozen groups, organizations and businesses which effectively run and control the profession reveals a cartel whose own interests remain at the forefront – not necessarily the interests of the profession, its future practitioners or patients. 

Service to the profession and the patients and communities we serve will need to be the focus of these efforts. The people possessing the varied talents outlined above will need to go to work producing the necessary changes in policy, research, education and service necessary to turn the profession around. 

Leaders, managers and workers will need to be identified. Needs assessments will need to be completed, and plans will need to be developed, implemented and evaluated after implementation. 

There is no time to waste.  Subluxation based practitioners must aggressively seek appointment to regulatory boards. Subluxation based practitioners must become deeply involved in state and national associations. If a state or national association does not represent the interests of a subluxation based profession then either the association leadership must be changed or new organizations must be formed to represent and advocate for these views. The practice of merging associations under the guise of unity but in reality for the purpose of dissolution of the subluxation based voice must stop. 

Subluxation based chiropractors must become actively involved in public health efforts within their communities. This includes local activities within cities, counties and schools as well as statewide, nationally and internationally. Chiropractors will need to be trained in community health needs assessment and become the leaders in their communities on health related issues – especially the risks associated with vertebral subluxation. 

A nationwide campaign must be undertaken to alert the public of the serious risks associated with vertebral subluxation and the benefits of managing it. The subluxation based community will need to push back hard against the entrenched powers within chiropractic that contend subluxation is not an important public health threat. It will need to be ready to protect and defend those chiropractors who are targeted by rogue regulatory agencies for educating the public on the risks of subluxation and the benefits of its prevention and reduction.  

Efforts to re-establish the role of subluxation based chiropractic on the international stage must be reinvigorated. While the problems related to the chiropractic cartel and its entrenched powers in the United States are spiraling out of control, the problems internationally are much worse. The regulatory environment in some countries for subluxation based chiropractic is so bad that many practitioners have given up their license to practice chiropractic in order to continue practicing. Those that remain licensed many times feel the constant threat of sanction should they deviate in any way from the pain based model being promulgated.  

Make no mistake about it, the tasks before us to wrest the profession from the hands of an entrenched cartel motivated by greed and self interest and seeking to change the fundamental nature of the profession are Goliath. An unwavering commitment to and sacrifice for this mission is necessary. The future generations of chiropractors and the patients they serve are counting on us.   

Will you join us on this mission?