In this post, ACA President Michele Maiers, DC, MPH, PhD, shares recent progress made toward ACA’s strategic goals. She writes, “With the backdrop of a global pandemic, it is an understatement to say that the past year has presented a few challenges to the American Chiropractic Association and its members. But what could have been a year lost has turned out to be a year of gains. This is no coincidence: ACA’s leadership, members and staff pulled together, adapting in large ways and small, to ensure there would be progress toward the goals that support our Strategic Plan."

The International Consortium on Manual Therapies (ICMT) and its conferences are for manual therapy practitioners with inquisitive minds who are not afraid of asking questions. The ICMT is for practitioners who are willing to work together, through the challenges of communication, to come up with and answer meaningful questions regarding manual therapy’s role in health care.  By being an organization that supports communication and collaboration, ICMT will help advance the understanding and provision of more effective manual therapy.

Americans living in rural areas often have higher incidences of disease or disability, higher mortality rates and lower life expectancies, all of which indicate health disparities—differences in health when compared to the overall population. James J. Lehman, DC, MBA, recently presented a webinar titled “Rural Health Disparities and the Chiropractic Solution” through Learn ACA, ACA’s online education platform. In his presentation, he discussed health disparities in America’s rural areas and opportunities for doctors of chiropractic to get involved in rural health clinics.  

Aging and disabled populations face special challenges in the healthcare arena, both as patients and as practitioners. To shed light on how doctors of chiropractic can work more effectively with these groups, Karen Konarski-Hart, DC, MSDPEM, FACO, FICC, DAAPM, will present a webinar on June 8 at 1 p.m. entitled “Do You See ME? Ableism and Ageism in Healthcare” through LearnACA, ACA’s online learning platform. “More than 25 percent of adults in the United States have some form of disability,” Dr. Konarski-Hart explained. “Two in five people over the age of 65 have a disability, and by 2030, one in five U.S. residents will be 65 years of age or older.”

A virtual force of advocates landed on Capitol Hill May 6 for ACA’s Advocacy Day. About 350 doctors of chiropractic and students—armed with data as well as stories of patients who have benefitted from chiropractic care—entered the halls of Congress via virtual meetings to urge support for H.R. 2654, the Chiropractic Medicare Modernization Act. The bill was introduced in late April with 16 original cosponsors, but thanks to the efforts of the chiropractic advocates it won additional support and, to date, features 43 congressional cosponsors.

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has selected Dana Lawrence, DC, MMedEd, MA, to serve as its representative on the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) Board of Directors. Dr. Lawrence will join 12 other representatives nominated or elected from each of WFC’s seven world regions. He replaces Michele Maiers, DC, MPH, PhD, who steps down from the WFC board on May 5 to focus on her new role as ACA President.

It was not so long ago that conversations about the value of diversity and how to achieve it were uncommon in chiropractic and other healthcare professions. But things are changing thanks to ACA members such as Nakiesha Pearson, DC, ND, vice chair of the ACA Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). ACA Blogs caught up with Dr. Pearson to learn what drives this dedicated advocate to “do the work” to promote diversity and challenge disparities in health care. 

Many students in chiropractic colleges across the nation find the field of sports chiropractic alluring but are often unsure or unaware of steps they can take to set themselves up for success in the profession. While there are countless routes to take to establish yourself within this specialty, here are four key guidelines that can help put you on the right path toward a future working with athletes.

The American Chiropractic Association’s (ACA) 2021 George B. McClelland Researcher of the Year Award was presented to Kenneth A. Weber, II, DC, PhD, of Palo Alto, Calif. As a postdoctoral researcher and instructor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, Dr. Weber’s work is not only interesting, but significant in improving patient outcomes. Inspired by many professors and colleagues throughout his career, he has developed a passion for mentoring others who aspire to careers in research.

With the new year and the first session of the 117^th Congress now underway, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) is ready to tackle several important legislative issues on behalf of ACA members, patients and the chiropractic profession. The ACA Legislative Committee met recently and established priorities for the new congressional session.