The World Health Organization (WHO) held its 71^st Assembly May 21-26, 2018 at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. WHO is the directing and coordinating authority on international health, and uses the annual Assembly to set norms and standards for ethical and evidence-based healthcare policy. I had the honor of attending the Assembly this year as part of the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) delegation. Over four days of plenary sessions, committee meetings, and technical briefings, I observed an impressive breadth and depth of operations at WHO—and a chiropractic profession that is primed for more meaningful engagement with the broader public health community.

In her open letter to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Healthcare, ACA Senior Scientific Advisor Christine Goertz, DC, PhD, offers suggestions to NCCIH on how to meet some of today's pressing healthcare challenges and, in particular, how complementary and integrative health care can play a role. She writes, "We desperately need a healthcare delivery system 1) that is able to consistently provide evidence-based, patient-centered care to the right individual at the right time, 2) for which the patient care trajectory for chronic conditions begins with the safest, most conservative, effective option available and, 3) that empowers patients and providers with the knowledge and tools they need to make informed decisions that are deeply rooted in disease prevention and health promotion. Much work lies ahead in identifying how CIH practices can best contribute to this effort."

Anticipation for the McAndrews Leadership Lecture at this year’s National Chiropractic Leadership Conference (NCLC 2018) was heightened by the mystery surrounding the title of the talk – “Grilled Cheese, Candles and Beer”—and what it could possibly have to do with leadership. Presenter Stephen M. Perle, DC, MS, a respected author, journal editor, lecturer and professor of clinical sciences at the University of Bridgeport College of Chiropractic, not only served some valuable lessons based on his personal experiences and observations on leading “from the middle,” in the end he gave all gathered plenty to chew on.

The inclusion of chiropractic practitioners into various collaborative health systems has increased over the past decade. The addition of chiropractic within these multi-disciplinary settings has been embraced by many as a way to manage spinal conditions, such as back and neck pain, using noninvasive therapies. However, taking a patient-centered approach to such integration involving various health care practitioners leads to new questions and challenges and requires novel research to optimize patient outcomes in these settings.

Integrating high-quality evidence into our clinical acumen is a crucial aspect of the evolution of the chiropractic profession. However, we must also continue to respect and include expert consensus, based on years of clinical experience. Papers like this help us achieve this valuable combination! Dr. Cheryl Hawk and colleagues give us a great overview of the literature pertaining to chiropractic care for children, incorporating evidence and consensus-based advice you can apply in your practice…enjoy! -- Shawn Thistle, DC, RRS Education