The official announcement came from Quebec Minister of Higher Education and Science Lucienne Robillard at a Nov. 16, 1992 press conference: a five-year chiropractic program, fully integrated into the regular university curriculum, taught in French.
The Canadian chiropractors involved in bringing chiropractic to the university believe the new program will go a long way toward gaining greater recognition for chiropractic in academic circles.
The university expects to enroll 45 students for the first year of the program, with classes beginning this September. The new chiropractic building at the university, with its modern research laboratories, is scheduled for completion in the fall of 1994. The Quebec government will be investing $8.6 million to cover construction costs of the new facility; Quebec chiropractors are contributing $1.5 million over a 20-year period. Until construction is completed, the coursework will be taught in various existing university buildings.
The university will seek official recognition of the Council on Chiropractic Education for the new chiropractic program. The Conference of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities (CREPUQ) will ensure that courses taught under the new program will meet or exceed all standards set by the CCE in the U.S. and Canada.
The CREPUQ has conducted an examination of the courses to be taught at UQTR. Three DCs with expertise in chiropractic education were consulted: John Triano, MA, DC, chief of clinics staff and director of the Ergonomics and Joint Research Laboratory at National College of Chiropractic in Lombard, Ill.; Michael Wiles, M.Ed., DC, director of the Department of Chiropractic Science at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto; and S. Scott Coghlin, DC, Ph.D., (neurology) from Montreal.
The Canadians acknowledge strong lobbying opposition from the Quebec medical community to prevent the opening of the program. There were efforts to discredit Minister of Higher Education and Science Lucienne Robillard, and university authorities, accusing them of introducing an unscientific discipline. Medical factions accused the university of giving into the pressure from the chiropractic lobby.
The University of Quebec is currently hiring professors for the new program. Forty percent of the basic-science staff for the chiropractic college will come from professors already teaching at the university. Minimum requirements for professors are a Ph.D. or obtaining a doctorate during the first three years of teaching. It's projected that 12 DCs will be hired to round out the teaching staff.
Tuition for chiropractic students will be the same as for other university students - $1,200 per year.
The chiropractic doctoral program will automatically gain access to the university's research fund that exceeds $2 million annually. In addition, Quebec chiropractors have set up their own research foundation and launched a public fundraising program. After only one month, the new foundation had already raised $50,000.
Inquires about the program may be directed to Claude Picard at (514) 878-9996.