Bangalore, a city of nearly five million inhabitants, is in the "silicon plateau" of India (the city sits atop a 3,000 meter elevation plateau).
Coincidentally, Life College is in the process of establishing a chiropractic clinic in Bangalore (see "Life to Open New Clinic in India," News in Brief, DC, 5-18). The modern facility that Life College has selected for its Bangalore clinic is pending official approval. (Editor's note: Life College and Dr. Gentiluomo have no connection whatsoever.)
The MDs Dr. Gentiluomo will be teaching will pay an undisclosed amount for their chiropractic education, which will include time in a clinic Dr. Gentiluomo intends to open. Also teaching with Dr. Gentiluomo will be Colorado DCs Victoria Lee and Thomas Close.
Dr. Gentiluomo retired from practice in 1995, and has since done consultant work for several Ohio DCs. He called Dynamic Chiropractic looking to get copies of old motion palpation videos. The reason: to learn about motion palpation before teaching the diagnostic modality to his MD students.
Drs. Gentiluomo, Lee and Close intend to rotate their teaching assignments every 2-6 months. Because of the lack of educational structure and expertise, Dr. Gentiluomo admitted this would be "an ad-lib situation." He said he got the idea of the six month education from a friend who is a medical surgeon. The surgeon told him: "Vince, I could take a smart person and teach them everything I do in six months."
Dr. Gentiluomo expects the MDs to learn quickly, explaining that "They could be practicing in a week, they could be practicing in three months, they could be practicing in six months." After the program gets going, they hope to appeal to a wider group of potential students: "Eventually we'll start taking in laymen off the street as the curriculum expands."
When asked if he wasn't concerned that teaching MDs would essentially eliminate the possibility of there ever being a chiropractic profession in India, Dr. Gentiluomo responded: "If it comes down to that, it (the profession) will probably be called something else."
Dr. Gentiluomo has been attempting to gather support for his project, but he's found none. The World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) put him in contact with one of their member groups with an interest in India, but a relationship was never established. The specialty councils in the U.S. didn't provide any assistance either. "I contacted many of the chiropractic colleges in June, not one of them called me, none of them had any interest."
Dr. Gentiluomo admits that he isn't qualified to provide the education needed to make MDs into effective chiropractors: "I'll be the first one to admit it. I'm not qualified." But he has a firm determination that he can do what he wants regardless of how it might affect the rest of the profession: "You gave me the knowledge (of chiropractic), now I can do anything I want with it."
Why do individual DCs still insist on selling chiropractic to the medical profession? And why must it be done at a substandard level in countries where chiropractic has yet to be established? Some of these questions will be addressed at the Conference on the Internationalization of Chiropractic Education (see the front page of this issue) scheduled for this September.
The World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) has a membership of more than 60 national chiropractic associations and continues to expand chiropractic's international reach by establishing the vital contacts with government representatives and legislators of countries around the world. Those efforts are being subverted by rogue chiropractors and groups that have the potential of damaging the diplomatic efforts of the WFC and the chiropractic institutions accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education.
Dynamic Chiropractic editorial staff members research, investigate and write articles for the publication on an ongoing basis. To contact the Editorial Department or submit an article of your own for consideration, email
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