When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
Michele Maiers,DC, Awarded Fellowship
Michele Maiers,DC, a research fellow at Northwestern Health Sciences University's Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies, has been awarded the first postdoctoral Fellowship in Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) from the Minnesota Consortium for CAM Clinical Research. The fellowship, supported through a grant from the NIH, began in September 2001, and is available for up to three years. It provides full-time support for Dr. Maiers' postdoctoral studies at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health, where she focuses on CAM clinical research.
Dr. Maiers, a 2000 graduate of Northwestern, has worked with Gert Bronfort,DC,PhD, and Roni Evans,DC, MS, on three different clinical research trials funded for $3.4 million by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study low back and neck pain. (See "Northwestern - $3.4 Million in Federal Research Grants in 2001" in the Feb. 25, 2002 issue, or on line at www.chiroweb.com/archives/20/05/11.html.)
"Dr. Bronfort, Dr. Evans, and Dr. Chuck Sawyer have opened up many professional opportunities that are available through the research conducted here," explained Dr. Maiers. "Northwestern is currently conducting three of the largest clinical research trials of chiropractic anywhere in the country, and we have one of the best research programs in the United States."
"It is critical for Northwestern to help young clinicians who have an interest in research find an opportunity for graduate education," said Dr. Sawyer.
Dr. Christensen Receives "Leadership" Award
Kim Christensen,DC,DACRB,CCSP, president of the Council on Chiropractic Physiological Therapeutics and Rehabilitation (CCPTR), received the 2002 "Recognition of Leadership" award during the ACA Rehabilitation Council meeting March 3-4 in Orlando, Florida. A member of the ACA Council on Sports Injuries and Physical Fitness, Dr. Christensen has been in practice over two decades, and writes the "Adjunctive Therapies to the Adjustment" column in Dynamic Chiropractic.
Dr. Christensen is the postgraduate program director of the chiropractic rehabilitation program for Cleveland Chiropractic College of Kansas City and Parker College of Chiropractic, and is the only chiropractic member of the Therapy Review Program of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Jan Sharp,DC,DACRB, of Malvern, Pennsylvania, a fellow CCPTR member, was honored for his service to the council and profession. Dr. Sharp has been a licensed nurse since 1972 and in chiropractic for nearly two decades.
Spirit of America Benefit Concert for Scoliosis Care Foundation
The Spirit of America benefit concert for the Scoliosis Care Foundation (SCF), a new nonprofit organization founded by Gary Deutchman,DC, of New York, was held March 30 at Caesars Atlantic City. The taped-for-television concert starred Daniel Rodriguez, the New York policeman who has sung at the Olympics and the White House. The featured guests included recording artist and Broadway star Linda Eder; four-time Grammy winner Arturo Sandoval; platinum recording artist Phoebe Snow; opera soprano Aprile Milo; and a 40-piece orchestra conducted by composer, arranger and producer Tom Scott.
"The Scoliosis Care Foundation was founded to engage in scientific research into the cause, detection and nonsurgical correction of scoliosis," explained Dr. Deutchman. The SCF helps train health care professionals around the world about early-detection methods and correction of scoliosis, and works to increase public awareness about the importance of early detection and the treatment options for scoliosis.
"We were very pleased that Daniel Rodriguez and his co-stars gave their time to support us at this very special event," Dr. Deutchman added.
The Scoliosis Care Foundation is on line at www.scoliosiscare.org, or can be reached by phone at 800-427-LIFE.
TRIAD Accredited
TRIAD Healthcare, Inc., has been accredited for Health Network by URAC (also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission). URAC is recognized nationally for setting standards of quality for managed-care organizations.
TRIAD is an independent practice association (IPA) network that develops national managed-care contracts for doctors of chiropractic and integrated health care providers participating in managed care. TRIAD matches employee health benefits programs with TRIAD network health care providers.
"Accreditation by URAC assures our clients that TRIAD has the ability to provide high-quality chiropractic services," said Dr. Marino Passero, the company's chief executive officer.
URAC is a nonprofit organization that has issued over 2,000 accreditation certificates to over 500 managed care organizations doing business in the U.S. and Canada. URAC-accredited companies provide health care to more than 150 million Americans.
TRIAD is a subsidiary of NCMIC Group, Inc., which offers a variety of insurance and financial products and services to health care professionals. The NCMIC Insurance Company insures more than 50 percent of all doctors of chiropractic in the United States for professional liability.
Colorado DCs Donates Gear and Services
The Colorado Chiropractic Association's Doctors Who Care (DWC) program, through a grant from the Chiropractic Health Information and Research Organization (CHIRO), recently donated a new chiropractic adjusting table, therapy equipment, and vitamins to the Denver Rescue Mission's clinic.
DWC was founded in 1997 to bring chiropractic care to those who couldn't afford it. Nearly 60 DCs volunteer 300 hours per year to treat residents of the mission. The CCA estimates that nearly half of all Colorado DCs donate two to four hours per month with some type of professional service, or about 1,000 hours of charitable time each month.