The National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) has made an extraordinary $1 million donation to the RAND Corporation, which will enable RAND to establish a Center for Collaborative Research among chiropractic and other Complementary and Integrative Health (CIH) colleges.
The Shortcomings of Current Chiropractic Research
Although research in chiropractic is at an all-time high both in terms of funding dollars and number of studies being funded, little of this research is occurring in the colleges.
The loss of in-house research programs can have serious long-term consequences for both the colleges and the profession. This is particularly significant for maintaining the colleges as professional institutions of advanced learning, as opposed to technical training institutions.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) offers several training grants for researchers, and these have been effective in training practitioners to be researchers. Unfortunately, these practitioners generally have to leave their institutions for research training and degrees, and without robust research centers at the CIH institutions, they are rarely able to go back.
The RAND Center for Collaborative Research: Breaking Down the Details
Ian D. Coulter, PhD, and Patricia M. Herman, ND, PhD, both of the RAND Corporation, have been working on a potential solution. They developed a proposal for a Center for Collaborative Research in CIH housed at RAND that will provide a research platform for chiropractic and other CIH institutions and their researchers.
RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution whose mission is to help policymakers make decisions based on the best available information. RAND has a tradition of objective, high-quality research and analysis, a long history of collaborating across diverse organizations, extensive policy and health services research experience, and substantial research infrastructure. It also has maintained a robust research program in chiropractic continuously for the past 25 years.
The new Center for Collaborative Research will focus on policy-related research that benefits chiropractic and other CIH professions. As such, it is not intended to supplant the colleges' other research efforts, but to enhance what this research can do for the profession.
The NBCE, whose job is to ensure the competence of chiropractors to practice including their ability to interpret and use research, has made a $1 million donation to fund the center. Dr. Daniel Côté, NBCE president, said: "When we were approached to donate the seed money to initiate this project the Board felt that it was an excellent opportunity not only to stimulate current research but also to generate years of future funding for CIH research through the teaching institutions."
The center will establish a research network with numerous resources including datasets; discussion group forums; webinars covering methods and new and ongoing research; posts on newly published research; lists and links to possible funding sources and RFAs (Requests for Application); and links to other resources of interest. It will provide a platform for collaboration with the guidance and support needed to train researchers and help them stay at their institutions.
Profession, Doctors, Students: How the Center Will Help All Three
The center's primary objective is to design and obtain funding for research that collectively supports the policy goals of chiropractic and other CIH professions. This type of health services research is what RAND does best. Studies conducted through the center have the potential to impact future health policy and provide the chiropractic profession with greater exposure in this arena. This will not only create opportunities for researchers interested in this field of study, but also give chiropractic students more avenues for future professional studies.
NBCE's $1 million donation will provide the necessary funding for initial health policy research. The center is also seeking seed money for development of the preliminary studies needed for research grants from other organizations.
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