Life's agreement with the Costa Rican Olympic Committee was to not only build and staff the clinic, but also to provide chiropractic care to the Olympic-class athletes of Costa Rica. As part of that commitment, a team of Life doctors will travel to the Pan American Games in Honduras in December with the Costa Rican team.
Life founder and president, Dr. Sid Williams, paved the way for the clinic by traveling to Costa Rica in 1996, where he met with Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres, legislators and lawyers to take steps towards beginning to draft legislation to recognize chiropractic in Costa Rica as a profession and to establish a scope of practice. (NB: Costa Ricans go to the polls Feb. 1 to elect a new president. President Figueres cannot seek a second term, per their constitution.)
Life has also established a sports health science exchange program with the University of Costa Rica. Students in Costa Rica will have access to courses and instructors at Life via the Internet and satellite transmissions. Athletes and coaches from Costa Rica will also travel to Life University for a program that combines chiropractic with high-level physical training, metal discipline, nutrition, and sport health science.
Chiropractor Appointed to Teaching and Research Position at Oregon Health Sciences University
Dr. Michael Freeman, one of the more than 900 licensed active chiropractors in Oregon, has been named a clinical assistant professor at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. It is believed to be the first time a chiropractor has held such a position of honor at the university.
A chiropractor for the past 11 years, Dr. Freeman has authored several papers for professional journals on spinal trauma and whiplash injuries. He also recently received a PhD in traumatic epidemiology from Oregon State University.
Dr. Freeman sees his appointment at OSHU as a great opportunity to expand chiropractic research and to relate chiropractic and medical treatments. "It's extremely important for chiropractic and for medicine that we start having people crossing over between the two professions in the academic fields," he said.
Although he was hired by the university effective December 1, 1997, Dr. Freeman probably won't begin his teaching duties until the winter term of 1998. "I'm going to spend a year developing a curriculum," he said. "I'll be bringing in trauma surgeons and burn specialists and other people experienced in trauma to help present the class."
Texas Chiropractic College Honors Dr. Harris
Dr. William Harris has been recognized with a number of awards during his long career, including being named the "Chiropractor of the Year" twice, and receiving induction into the Chiropractic Hall of Fame. Dr. Harris was also honored by Dynamic Chiropractic as one of four "Philanthropists of the Year" for 1997. This past December, Texas Chiropractic College added to the list of accolades he has received, honoring him with the "Doctor of Humanities" degree during TCC's commencement ceremonies.
The degree was bestowed upon Dr. Harris to recognize the many gifts he has bestowed on the chiropractic profession, and for his humanitarian endeavors. TCC Provost Dr. Don Ellis noted: "The honorary degree of doctor of humanities is reserved for those individuals who through their generosity demonstrate evidence of their care and concern for humanity ... It is very appropriate that a chiropractor would receive this recognition as they are in the humanity helping business."
Medsite.com Offers Free E-mail Accounts to Health Care Professionals
Medsite Publishing has just launched a free e-mail service known simply as Medsite Mail. The service gives all health care professionals, doctors, nurses, students, researchers and those in the media, their own personal e-mail accounts at Medsite.
Users can register for a free e-mail account by accessing Medsite (http://www.medsite.com) and clicking on the medsite e-mail icon. The process involves choosing a user name and password, and providing certain personal information. Once registered, a user gets an e-mail address (e.g., user-medsite.com) and can begin using it immediately.
As Medsite's President Sundeep Bhan says, "Having easy access to your e-mail from any computer, via any web browser, anywhere around the world is invaluable. Users can now have their very own personal Medsite e-mail account, even if they now have no private account elsewhere." This is particularly useful for students or interns who graduate and move to another state, or for doctors who frequently travel across the country. Doctors who do not own a personal computer can access their Medsite e-mail from a library, a "virtual cafe" or any other venue that provides Internet access.
Users who register with Medsite's e-mail also receive links to Medsite.com's medical search engine. For more information, visit Medsite.com's website, or send an e-mail to info-medsite.com.
Life West to Host Annual AHC Conference
The 18th annual Association for the History of Chiropractic will be held this year at Life Chiropractic College West from February 20-22. The conference will feature several papers and authors who will discuss the history of chiropractic, in addition to paper awards and the presentation of the 1998 Lee Homewood award.
For any details concering the conference, contact Annette Osenga at (510) 276-9013, ext. 290.
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