GREELEY, Colorado - The board of directors of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) unanimously voted at their fall 1999 meeting not to raise the exam fees for this year. Dr. Paul M. Tullio, NBCE president, noted that fees for the NBCE written examinations (Parts I, II and III) have remained at $200 per part since 1992, and individual subject exams at $50; the "special purposes" examination for chiropractic has remained at $500 since its introduction in 1993.
The Part IV national practical examination will remain at the $850 level for both the May and November administrations. "The Part IV examination is an expensive examination to develop and administer," the NBCE asserted in an official statement.
More Exam Fees Will be Waived
The NBCE board has announced it will increase the exam fee-waiver program to benefit 160 students, and to include Part IV in the program. The fee-waiver program began in 1997, but was limited to 40 student per year. Beginning with the spring 2000 testing, each college can select one student recipient for each of the four parts to receive the fee waiver.
Dr. John Tierney, the NBCE treasurer, said the new program will result in the waiver of $58,000 in exam fees this year.
Job Analysis of Chiropractic 2000 Coming Soon
The NBCE's Job Analysis of Chiropractic 2000, a methodical survey of approximately 3,300 practitioners, will soon be available for distribution. The NBCE will use the document to set test specifications for the Part III and Part IV examinations.
The report is an overview of the profession, including the percentage of part-time and full-time practitioners and the average hours worked per week. It profiles chiropractic patients; specific adjustive procedures; adjunctive care; the conditions chiropractors see in their practices and the frequency of those conditions; educational/licensing requirements; and an extensive review of and summary of the literature concerning the status and recognition of the chiropractic profession.
Cuba and Chiropractic: A Victim of the U.S. Boycott
A group of chiropractors participated in a multidisciplinary group of doctors studying alternative medicine in Cuba for 10 days in December. The DCs were Bill Sisson and Art Annis (both of Wilmington, North Carolina); Dan Tintor (Redwood City, Calif.); Paula Murphy (Willets, Calif.); and Jim Fallon (Oregon, Illinois).
The DCs observed that the Cuban model of health care education emphasizes family medicine, including training in acupuncture, herbal remedies and homeopathy.
Drs. Sisson, Annis, Tintor and Fallon were able to treat patients in two of the alternative medicine clinics in Havana. The patients did not know about chiropractic, but displayed a keen interest in the manipulations of the doctors.
Drs. Fallon and Sisson were invited to give a presentation and demonstration of chiropractic at an orthopedic hospital. Over 100 doctors, nurses and technicians were present to hear the tenets of the profession and observe treatments. Several of the physicians were among those treated.
That chiropractic has not made inroads in Cuba is hardly surprising, given the 40-year economic boycott of Cuba by the U.S. government and the restriction on U.S. citizens traveling to the island.
