Chiropractic is widely respected in the world of dance. Just like professional football or baseball players, dancers use chiropractic care to keep their bodies feeling pain free and able to perform at their full potential. The American Chiropractic Association just happens to have two members who are former dancers now studying to become doctors of chiropractic while also serving on the Student American Chiropractic Association National Board. These are the unique journeys of James Walters and Holly Stephens, and how their experiences as dancers led them to pursue a career in chiropractic.

The Interprofessional Collaborative Spine Conference, set for Nov. 8-9 in Pittsburgh, Pa., will bring together members of the chiropractic, osteopathic medicine and physical therapy professions to tackle topics related to manual therapy and its use in treating low back pain and other conditions. As part of the presentation “Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) Competency, Safety and Risk Management Presentations,” Michael Seffinger, DO, a professor at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, discusses the osteopathic approach to ensuring the appropriateness and safety of cervical spine manipulation for patients.

This year, National Chiropractic Health Month focuses on how improved musculoskeletal health leads to strength, stability and ultimately the success of a life lived more fully and actively. The 2019 campaign, “Strength. Stability. Success.”, offers the public steps to take toward bone, muscle and joint health, low back pain prevention, better posture, and improved balance. In this blog post, ACA offers chiropractors steps to take to launch their local NCHM campaign participation.

A new cohort of residents has joined the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system’s Chiropractic Residency Program this fall. Several chiropractors participating in the program will continue ACA’s blog series on the residencies over the next year, sharing their experiences and lessons learned working as part of an integrated hospital team. The residencies were launched in 2014 to provide participants with advanced clinical training in complex case management. 

Christine Goertz, DC, PhD will be joining Duke Health’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in October 2019 as a professor and director of system development and coordination for spine health. As the American Chiropractic Association’s (ACA) senior scientific advisor, she has served as a trusted counselor to ACA leadership in respect to research affecting the association’s legislative, regulatory and payment policy initiatives. She also serves as the chair of ACA’s Committee on Quality Assurance and Accountability.

ICSC presenter Carolina Cancelliere, DC, PhD, is a clinical epidemiologist who serves as research chair in knowledge translation for the Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation and as a faculty member in health sciences at Ontario Tech University. She and her team are working to demonstrate how chiropractic care can be applied to help patients suffering from disabilities related to spinal disorders. At ICSC, she will participate in the session “Translating Spinal Care Research into Practice." In this ACA Blogs post, she answers questions about her upcoming presentation.

The Interprofessional Collaborative Spine Conference (ICSC) will bring together members of the chiropractic, osteopathic medicine and physical therapy professions to tackle topics related to manual therapy and its use—amid the opioid epidemic—in treating low back pain and other conditions. In his presentation, “Implementation Science/Knowledge Translation Session: Osteopathic Perspective,” Michael Seffinger, DO, a professor at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, unpacks the sometimes conflicting and sometimes incomplete evidence using his osteopathic lens.

In Part 2 of our conversation with ACA’s NextGen members, they share their experiences to date with life and practice, post-graduation. There are many lessons to be learned and questions to ask as you embark on a career in chiropractic; here's what the next generation of chiropractors have taken away from their first few years in practice. 

As chiropractic students get ready to graduate and enter the workforce, eager to make their mark in an ever-evolving healthcare world and help patients get well, it's normal for them to be excited and nervous at the same time. There is nothing wrong with needing a little guidance, and luckily, ACA’s NextGen members are here to help. Having graduated within the past five years, NextGen members are fairly new to the workforce, and the struggles and successes of chiropractic college are fresh in their memories. In this first of a two-part series, NextGen members share the best advice they received as students...and what they want YOU to know before venturing into practice.

Anthony Delitto, PT, PhD, FAPTA, dean of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, will be the keynote speaker at the Interprofessional Collaborative Spine Conference (ICSC), Nov. 8-9 in Pittsburgh, Pa. In his presentation, “Non-Pharmacological Back Pain Management: Collaborative Solutions,” Dr. Delitto will discuss how, in the wake of today’s opioid crisis, there is an elevated value placed on chiropractic, physical therapy and osteopathic therapies. He will review the evidence surrounding non-pharmacological treatments and spinal manipulative therapy for back pain, and how manual therapy providers implement this kind of pain management—including how they educate patients about pain.