Whole report - Anglo-European College of Chiropractic

Message
Research and Continuing Professional
Development at AECC
2001 – 2003
Since the reorganisation of research at AECC in 1999, further developments took place in the autumn of
2001. This reflected the pivotal role of research activity both in the professional development of Faculty at
AECC and in the delivery of postgraduate education and continuing professional development (CPD). As
a result, a single department within the AECC was established to provide postgraduate education, training
and research opportunities to maintain and enhance the professional skills and competencies of chiropractors,
and to provide research and other scholarly activities for the professional development of AECC staff. The
Department of Research and Professional Development was established in October 2001, and for the first time
the AECC Research Report is expanded to include Postgraduate Studies.
The period covered in this Report (2001-2003) has been productive and exciting. Research activity has continued
and in some areas expanded, maintaining the reputation of the AECC as a research centre of excellence
among chiropractic educational institutions worldwide. Research at the AECC is evidenced in the main by
the Faculty who have either completed or are currently enrolled on PhD and Masters programmes, by
publications in the peer-reviewed literature and by platform and poster presentations at national and
international research conferences. A record of these is given in the first half of the Report. The AECC is
committed to research as a means of providing a stimulating and intellectual environment in which
undergraduate students, postgraduate students and Faculty alike all learn. Research ensures that teaching
staff are current and up-to-date in their respective disciplines, and that as a result, the education provided at
AECC is of the highest standards and quality.
Since the establishment of the Department in 2001, there has been a striking expansion of the postgraduate
education and training portfolio. The AECC has developed, in collaboration with the University of Portsmouth,
two new postgraduate Masters programmes and a new Professional Doctorate programme. The latter is the
first of its kind in chiropractic education worldwide, meeting the demand for more professionally relevant
programmes in research. Further details of these innovative developments in postgraduate education can be
found in the second half of the Report. In addition to these award-bearing programmes, the Department has
implemented an impressive CPD portfolio. These short courses and workshops in a wide range of subject and
skills-based areas for qualified chiropractors are delivered in the main by AECC Faculty, again reflecting the
expertise, energy and commitment of our teaching staff. Again, details of these CPD events are recorded in
the second half of the Report.
This Report reflects the considerable expertise, talent, ability and effort in research and postgraduate education
expended by our staff at AECC during their working and professional lives. I am very proud as Director of the
Department to be able to present this Report and take this opportunity to sincerely thank everyone who has
contributed to research and to postgraduate studies over the last two years. I would also like to thank the
Department’s Research Associate, Mrs. Denise Stys-Norman, for her expert skills in compiling the Report, and
the Departmental Administrator, Mrs. Georgina Enright, for her invaluable support in managing the postgraduate
education and training programmes.
Professor Jennifer Bolton PhD, MA, ILTM, FCC (Hon)
Director, Department of Research and Professional Development, August 2003
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