After opening remarks by outgoing FCLB President D. Brent Owens, DC, the FCLB conference heard from Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton. Ms. Norton addressed the importance of chiropractic licensing boards working with their attorneys' general and all agencies of law enforcement.
The keynote address was given by Rick Germroth, supervisory special agent with the FBI's Health Care Fraud Subunit. Agent Germroth presented the various health care fraud issues that are plaguing the United States and sought the assistance of the state boards (please see related article, "FBI & FCLB -- Working Together" in this issue on page XX).
The Federation next unveiled "CIN-BAD" (Chiropractic Information Network-Board Action Databank). This is a computer network that will link the FCLB home office with each of the state licensing boards. (Please look for a special article in the next issue on CIN-BAD.)
Next came the "3rd Annual Joseph Janse Lecture" presented by Andre Audette, DC, past president of the Canadian Federation of Chiropractic Regulatory Boards. Dr. Audette's subject was "Regulatory Challenge from across the International Border."
The first day was wrapped up with a program presented to the Association of Chiropractic Board Administrators. Jim Carr, assistant attorney general for Colorado; and Eric Werner, director of Examination Services, Colorado Division of Registrations presented to the administrators.
The second day featured a tour of the FCLB and NBCE headquarters in Greeley, a little more than an hour's drive north of Denver. The $2 million 25,000 sq. ft. two-story modern facility, situated on 10 grassy acres, was dedicated on May 18, 1991. The headquarters is truly a showcase for the chiropractic profession, and worthy of a visit.
This was also the day of the NBCE's annual business meeting. The development of the Special Purposes Examination for Chiropractic (SPEC) was presented. SPEC is designed as a "uniform means of addressing postlicensure needs." The results and completion of the Job Analysis of Chiropractic and the Practical Exam studies were also presented.
Saturday, April 24th, the third day of the conference, began with two presentations: William Dold, DC, past president of the Colorado Board of Chiropractic Examiners on "Procedures for Practical Testing: Redefining the Concept"; and Russell D. Porter, PhD candidate, adjunct assistant professor of the Medical College of Virginia, and David E. Brown, DC, member of the Virginia Board of Medicine presented "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Licensing Boards: Challenges Posed by the Virginia Study."
The FCLB business meeting followed. Dr. Brent Owens called for the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) to more vigorously apply standards to their member colleges and to take a hard look at the entrance requirements for students, with a consideration of possibly a chiropractic entrance examination.
The annual budget was next presented by Treasurer Robert Vaughn, DC. The FCLB has grown substantially in the past five years, from a budget of approximately $15,000 in 1987 to $218,000 in 1992.
There were three resolutions presented, all of which were passed without dissent (please see resolutions at the end of this article). The resolutions reflect the direction of the FCLB for the future.
Among the many committees that presented reports was the Task Force to Determine the Feasibility of a Prechiropractic Entrance Examination. This task force is comprised of Chairman Paul Tullio, DC; William Dallas, DC, president of Western States Chiropractic College; District 3 Director Vincent Greco, DC; and Lawrence Gerstein, DC, president of the Missouri Board of Examiners.
The task force reported limited consensus for a prechiropractic exam from not only the licensing boards, but also several of the chiropractic college presidents. While other professions are using the MedCAT (Medical College Admissions Test), the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), and the ACT (American College Test), the exam that would most closely meet the needs of the chiropractic profession is the Dental Admissions Test (DAT).
The exam would be four parts:
- survey of natural sciences
- perceptual ability
- reading comprehension
- quantitative reasoning
The test would be approximately four and one-half hours long and could be administered by the colleges themselves or the NBCE. The FCLB voted to endorse the work of the task force of developing a proposal and submitting it to the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) and the CCE.
1993-94 Election Results: FCLB Board of Directors
President: Carroll H. Winkler, DC -- North Dakota
Vice Pres: Robert M. Vaughn, DC -- North Carolina
Treasurer: Meredith H. Bakke, DC -- Wisconsin
Immediate D. Brent Owens, DC -- Maryland Past Pres:
Executive Board of Directors:
District 1 Director -- Tony Lammers, DC -- South Dakota
District 2 Director -- Peter Ferguson, DC -- Ohio
District 3 Director -- Vincent Greco, DC -- New Hampshire
District 4 Director -- Philip Pierce, DC -- Arizona
District 5 Director -- John Tierney, DC -- North Carolina
Award Ceremonies
Among the many awards given out at the conference was the first annual "Outstanding Chiropractic Licensing Board," going to the state board which exemplifies those elements that define the highest standards. The first recipient is the Florida Board of Chiropractic for:
-- consistently supported high standards in chiropractic education; -- enacted model regulation with chiropractic assistant requirements and continuing education in AIDS; -- first to require a bachelors degree prior to entering chiropractic college; and -- publishing of the boards actions have made their newsletter "a model for all other states."The George W. Arvidson award was given "for meritorious service to chiropractic licensure." Dr. Arvidson was past president of the Federation who strove for excellence in service for chiropractic licensure. The award was initiated last year and presented to Dr. Arvidson's widow Norma and his sons. This year the award was given to Donald M. Petersen Jr., for his work through MPI's publication Dynamic Chiropractic.
The third day concluded with two presentations: Meredith Bakke, DC, member and Romona Weakland Warden, executive director of the Wisconsin Examining Board on "Regulating for Competence -- Procedures for Scope of Practice Issues"; and Stanley Heard, DC, member of the Arkansas Licensing Board who gave a presentation on the work of the National Chiropractic Health Care Advisory Committee for President Clinton's task force for national health care reform (please see front page of this issue.)
On the final day of the conference, the FCLB held an open board meeting to plan next year's agenda. All DCs are encouraged to attend the annual conferences of the FCLB and NBCE. Next year's conference will be in Washington, D.C. For more information, please call the FCLB at (303) 356-3500.
FCLB Resolutions:
RESOLUTION #1
Submitted for Consideration
by the
Bylaws and Resolutions Committee
Denver, Colorado
April 24, 1993
WHEREAS, The Federation's Certificate of Incorporation was registered in the state of Wyoming in 1974 to serve as a foundation for the purposes and structure of the corporation; and
WHEREAS, The original Certificate of Incorporation did not envision the positions of Federation officers which were later added through the bylaws; and
WHEREAS, The officers in most nonprofit organizations are charged with representing the interests of the general membership in partnership with the Executive Board of Directors which represents the membership's geographical regions; and
WHEREAS, The officers currently do not have a vote on the Federation's Board of Directors, and this unusual situation has been identified by several parliamentary experts as contrary to standard organizational structure; and
WHEREAS, The District Directors are elected by their member boards and officers are elected by the membership as a whole; and
WHEREAS, Officers should vote to represent the membership as a whole and offer that perspective and insight from their positions; now therefore be it
RESOLVED,
That the Federation membership direct the Executive Board of Directors to amend the Certificate of Incorporation with the state of Wyoming to allow officers of the FCLB to have full voting privileges by unifying the Officers and Executive Board of Directors as the FCLB Board of Directors, and
That the FCLB bylaws be amended appropriately effective with the 1994 annual business meeting to reflect these changes, in accordance with Article XI describing the procedures for amendment, and
That the amendments to the Certificate of Incorporation and the bylaws shall take effect at the close of the 1994 annual business meeting.
RESOLUTION #2 (revised version)
Submitted for Consideration by:
Titus Plomaritis, DC Former Chairman -- New Hampshire Board of Chiropractic Examiners Past President -- NBCE Co-chairman -- NBCE/FCLB Clinical Competency Development Committee
Denver, Colorado
April 24, 1993
WHEREAS, The Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards is incorporated for several purposes including promoting greater uniformity of educational standards; and
WHEREAS, There may exist certain problems inherent in the current system governing continuing education requirements for licensed doctors of chiropractic; and
WHEREAS, The qualifications and credentials of instructors who teach in continuing education and postgraduate programs are diverse and difficult to verify; now therefore be it
RESOLVED
That the Federation membership urge the accredited chiropractic colleges to research and verify the credentials for all college postgraduate instructors, and
That the Federation membership inquire whether the CCE Standards address this issue, and if not, to urge the CCE to consider this as soon as possible, and
That the Federation empanel a task force to develop model standards for licensing boards to reference in their acceptance of continuing education credits, and
That the task force also investigate the feasibility of the Federation creating and maintaining a national registry of instructors whose credentials are verified as authentic and meeting appropriate standards, and
Said task force shall report to the membership at the April 1994 meeting in Washington, D.C.
RESOLUTION #3
Submitted for Consideration by:
District II
Denver, Colorado
April 24, 1993
Professional Boundaries Training in Continuing Education
WHEREAS, It is the responsibility of state chiropractic licensing boards to protect the health, safety and welfare of chiropractic patients, and
WHEREAS, State licensing boards are responsible for pursuing complaints regarding substandard doctor/patient communication and allegations of inappropriate contact, and
WHEREAS, Professional boundary education provides for increased awareness regarding the elements of the doctor/patient relationship that may lead to misunderstanding and has inadvertently caused patients to consider themselves abused,
BE IT RESOLVED, that the FCLB encourages state licensing boards to provide for dissemination of information regarding professional boundaries and require boundary training in states with mandatory continuing education.
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