2502 NYCC TRANS FINAL2 - New York Chiropractic College

Fall 2001/Winter 2002
New York Chiropractic College
2360 State Route 89
Seneca Falls, NY 13148-0800
Public Affairs Office
(315) 568-3146
e-mail: pvantyle@nycc.edu
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
President’s Council .............................. 4-5
Health Centers ................................. 12-13
Nutrition ........................................... 14-25
Spectrum ........................................... 28-31
News Briefs ...................................... 32-35
Postgraduate and Continuing
Education .......................................... 36-37
Trustees’ Profile ..................................... 38
Faculty Spotlight .................................... 39
Talent Pool ........................................ 40-43
Research Roundup ........................... 44-45
Commencement ............................... 46-47
What’s News ..................................... 48-49
Employment Opportunity ................... 50
Career Development Center ................ 52
Enrollment Management ...................... 53
Scholarships ............................................ 54
Editor/Director of Public Affairs
Peter Van Tyle
Advisor/Designer
Peggy Van Kirk
Editing Associate
Vicki Baroody
Cover/Illustrations
Dennis Homack, D.C., ’97
Production Assistance
Crystal James, 7th Trimester
Contributors
Jonathan Kropf, 7th Trimester
Jaclyn McDermott, 7th Trimester
Randy John, 7th Trimester
Jeb Albro, 5th Trimester
Alana Starr, 3rd Trimester
Spectrum
Frank S. Lizzio, D.C., ’80
NYCC Alumni Association President
TRANSITIONS is a publication of New
York Chiropractic College and is
distributed to over 5,000 professionals,
State Boards, Associations, State
Publications, all NYCC students and other
interested parties.
TRANSITIONS and New York
Chiropractic College shall not be
responsible for lost copy or printing
errors.
TRANSITIONS is published three times
a year.
Correction
Transitions’ prior issue related that Dr.
Robert Hoffman was an active member of
the New York Chiropractic Association.
Instead, the article should have read that
he is an active member of the New York
Chiropractic Council.
a message from
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
of trustees
“Integrating”
Beyond Labels
Conversations about
chiropractic’s place in the current
health-care paradigm often get
bogged down in semantics. For
example, is chiropractic really a
“complementary” therapy? Is it
“alternative”? Such discussions
invariably provoke lively discussion
and stimulate healthy selfevaluation
within the profession.
The inquiry also leads to speculation
about how chiropractic can
effectively integrate into the rapidly
evolving health-care system.
Traditional medicine, long the
reigning health-care model, is
quickly adapting to American
health-care market forces. Additional
therapeutic options such as
chiropractic and acupuncture are
valued by an eager American
public. To the extent these
health-care alternatives effectively
complement
the evolving system
and successfully
integrate with
it, they will continue
to flourish.
How might
chiropractic better integrate with
America’s health-care system?
More specifically, is integration
even necessary? According to
William Meeker, DC, MPH,
FICC, and Director for Research
at the Palmer Center for Chiropractic
Research, the American
public will benefit from improved
interdisciplinary collaboration,
and will realize additional value
in an economic environment that
equitably compensates desired
outcomes. NCMIC President
Louis Sportelli, D.C., adds that
there is a danger in thinking that
simply offering complementary
and alternative medicine (CAM)
in medical schools will trigger the
anticipated paradigm shift in
American health care. More is
required. Merely teaching CAM
therapies in medical school classrooms
and discussing them in the
media is a poor substitute for
personally dispensing the life sustaining
and pain relieving benefits
they offer. Intellectual tolerance
of CAM is not, nor will it ever
be, equivalent to “practicing”
CAM. Dr. Meeker approaches
chiropractic integration from
three perspectives. First,
Additional therapeutic options such as
chiropractic and acupuncture are
valued by an eager American public.
Dr. Peter Ferguson, Chairman
of the Board of Trustees
chiropractic’s level of integration
may be determined by identifying
and evaluating chiropractic
patients. Categorizing the user
population by age, gender, occupation,
income, and education
reveals something about the nature
and scope of chiropractic’s
integration. Secondly, Dr.
Meeker makes the case that integration
may be viewed from the
standpoint of interdisciplinary
collaboration. That is, doctors of
chiropractic and acupuncturists
may be seen as having integrated
successfully when representatives
of the various health disciplines
routinely consult and collaborate
with them about appropriate patient
treatment plans. Finally, Dr.
Meeker discusses the issue of integration
from the perspective of
compensation. Health care treatments
that insurance companies
refuse to recognize, and that
therefore go uncompensated, reveal
the extent to which the particular
therapies lack full integration
into the marketplace.
Doctors of chiropractic and
the other non-medical specialties
must make important professional
and business decisions regarding
referrals
and integration
with medical specialists.
Research
indicates that the
American public is
demanding additional
health-care options, as the
medical establishment busily
adapts to offer them in its educational
curricula. Historically,
there has never been a better time
for chiropractic and other nonmedical
professions such as acupuncture
to play an integrative
and meaningful role in shaping
the future of health care.
www.nycc.edu
3