This was the third meeting of the National Chiropractic Leadership Forum (NCLF), and was convened by the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA). The NCLF is comprised of representatives of the profession's political, academic, research and business communities. The representatives declared their governing board's endorsement of a code of conduct (the St. Louis Principles), a "declaration of chiropractic professional responsibilities," and participated in subgroup status reports.
Group Chairman Dr. Mario Spoto challenged each organization to share its endorsement and commitment to these unifying principles. Each of the three internal workgroups reported on its progress, and the philosophically divergent group agreed to move forward on several projects, including:
- the USPS chiropractic postage stamp;
- establishing a library program;
- the Boy/Girl Scout merit badge for chiropractic;
- increasing public awareness through an aggressive national press release campaign;
- compiling a list of mutually agreed-upon chiropractic terms and definitions; and
- raising $2.5 million annually to support chiropractic's research infrastructure.
The ACC Paradigm, which comprises the Chiropractic Paradigm and the Chiropractic Scope of Practice, serves as the NCLF's founding principle. The NCLF's May 2001 meeting saw the participating organizations formally recognize the ACC Paradigm, as did members of the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC), which represents national associations from 77 countries, including the ACA and ICA.
"The ACC Paradigm now assumes major significance,"observed WFC Secretary-General David Chapman Smith, "because it has been duly and democratically adopted internationally as an appropriate guide to the development of chiropractic education and practice, and to the role of chiropractors within health care."
Participating organizations and their representatives included:
American Chiropractic Association:
Drs. Darryl Wills and James Edwards
Association of Chiropractic Colleges:
Dr. William Dallas, David O'Bryon,CAE
Congress of Chiropractic State Associations:
Drs. Tom Klapp and Kevin Donavan
Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters:
Drs. George McClelland and John Pammer
Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards:
Dr. Wayne Wolfson and Ms. Donna Liewer
Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research
Dr. Anthony Rosner and Ms. DeAnna Beck
International Chiropractors Association
Drs. D.D. Humber and Roy Mitchell
National Board of Chiropractic Examiners
Dr. Peter Ferguson and Mr. Horace Elliot
World Chiropractic Alliance
Drs. Patrick Gentempo and Matthew McCoy
Additional participants included Drs. Spoto and Carl Cleveland, NCLF Unity Commitee chairman; D. Henry Leavitt of the ChiroCode Institute; Don Petersen Jr., publisher/editor of Dynamic Chiropractic; Kent Greenawalt, president of Foot Levelers, Inc.; and Rick Flaherty of Leader/Leander Health Technologies.
A major objective of the NCLF is to provide a format for open discussions among chiropractic organizations. As can be expected with such diverse groups, several issues met with heated discussions. While participants agreed that the quest for unity did not require sacrificing institutional autonomy, their collective attitude suggested a desire to overcome past differences and move forward as a group.
Dr. Spoto expressed his thanks to "all those dedicated professionals and the organizations they represent for caring enough about the chiropractic patient to work together for a stronger chiropractic profession."
The next summit of the NCLF is scheduled for April 2002 in Chicago, Illinois. For more information about the NCLF, go to the COCSA website (www.cocsa.org).
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