The board of directors of the National College of Chiropractic, which had previously announced its intentions to convert to a university system, will officially become the National University of Health Sciences on September 1, 2000. The intention of this change, according to National president Dr. James Winterstein, is to create a model of education in which chiropractic and other natural approaches to health care can reap the benefits of placement in an integrated setting.
"The new name emphasizes our institutional goal to offer integrated educational programs in alternative and complementary medicine so that our graduates will be fully prepared to work with other professionals within the health care community for the benefit of the patient," said Dr. Winterstein. He added that the goal of all health providers "must be to optimize human health, which is a higher goal than prevention and treatment of disease."
The new university model will be structured to provide resources and support for three colleges:
The College of Professional Studies will offer a professional doctoral degree in "chiropractic medicine." The college will also offer a master's degree in acupuncture and a doctoral degree in naturopathic medicine in the near future.
Lincoln College of Postprofessional, Graduate and Continuing Education will provide for residency, specialty, and academic master's programs for doctors of chiropractic and other health care professionals.
The College of Allied Health Sciences will offer certification in massage therapy, a chiropractic assistant program, and a bachelor's degree in human biology.
The matriculation requirement into any of the university's professional degree programs will be a bachelor's degree.
It is National's intention to further appreciation and understanding between different forms of health care to the extent that future students enrolled in different degree programs will study courses together when feasible, and in some instances will pursue dual degrees.
"The various members of the complementary medicine community must learn at the outset to appreciate each other for their various skill sets and to work in an integrated fashion for the best interest of the patients whom we all serve," concluded Dr. Winterstein. "We must develop an atmosphere of interprofessional harmony, or we will face a future of never-ending turf wars."
