We had an idea late in 2000 to explore the concept of a virtual national chiropractic association. We dubbed it "Our Virtual Chiropractic Association" (OVCA). The "our" did not refer to Dynamic Chiropractic, but to all doctors of chiropractic interested in participating.
This was not an attempt to start a new association, but a virtual one, an exercise in "What if?" With 85 percent of the profession not being members of our two national associations, we thought it would be worth the effort to see what chiropractors in the field would do if given the opportunity to create their own national association. Who would they choose to lead the association? What priorities and goals would they set? What would be their blueprint for the future of the profession?
To answer the question about leadership, we asked for your nominations for the OVCA in the October 2, 2000 issue. You submitted the names of 55 doctors. In the November 15 issue, we presented your nominees and opened the polls. You had the option of voting via our website (www.chiroweb.com), via fax, or regular mail. The election was unique in that you were voting not only for a candidate(s), but also voting against a candidate(s).
To keep the election fair, those who voted on line were required to use a user identification and password. The polls closed December 15.
The Tally, Please
The online votes were tallied with the votes via fax. As there were "Yes" and "No" votes for each candidates, the no votes had to be subtracted to give the final tally. For example, a candidate who received 50 "Yes" votes and 20 "No" votes had a weighted score of 30.
In tabulating the votes (hand counted, no less), we are once again reminded of how important an individual's vote can be. The top two candidates were separated by only three votes.
The top five vote getters were:
- Daniel Murphy,DC,DABCO - member of the Life Chiropractic College West faculty; resides in Auburn, California; Western States graduate (1978) magna cum laude; whiplash seminar instructor.
- Guy Riekeman,DC - president, Palmer University; cum laude graduate of Palmer.
- Christopher Kent,DC - president, Council on Chiropractic Practice; Palmer graduate; the ICA's 1994 "Chiropratic Researcher of the Year."
- Chester Wilk,DC - Chiropractic's most famous plaintiff. Dr. Wilk still practices in the Chicago area, and is always busy appearing on radio programs across the country to tell chiropractic's story.
- Gerard Clum,DC - president of Life West Chiropractic College West.
The OVCA is starting to take shape. We know your selections for leadership and can now move forward to phase two: the policies and goals of Our Virtual Chiropractic Association. Stayed tuned.
