ORLANDO, Florida - With Governor Jeb Bush's signature to the state budget, the establishment of a chiropractic college at Florida State University (FSU) was approved, the first in the nation to be located at a "major" state university. (See "chiropractic College in Denver to Open this Fall" DC June 12, 2000 (http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/18/13/03.html).
According to a study conducted by the Florida Board of Regents, which governs the tax-supported state university system, more than 700 Floridians leave the sunshine state each year to pursue a chiropractic education. It is this need, and the lack of ready access for minority students to a chiropractic education that necessitated the establishment of a chiropractic college in the state university system.
The college has been a vision and a goal of the Florida Chiropractic Association (FCA) and its leadership for many years. The process began in the late '70s as a long-range goal of the FCA. "Each of our members can take pecial pride in seeing this project come to fruition," said FCA CEO Debbie Minor Brown. "This is a landmark day for the profession."
Representative Dennis Jones, DC, the Florida House Speaker Pro Tem from Pinellas County and past president of the Florida Chiropractic Association, helped shepherd the effort through the legislature. "When I realized so many students must leave Florida to pursue their career dreams and that there was such a pressing need for the creation of a chiropractic college," said Rep. Jones. "I promised that I would not stop until this need was met."
The effort intensified in the 1999 legislative session, with the achievement of an appropriation and mandate for a feasibility study by the Florida Board of Regents. It culminated in the just-concluded 2000 session, with a one-million dollar appropriation that requires the FSU to present a plan to the legislature and governor by the end of this year to accomplish the following goals:
The FCA has a long history of supporting higher education initiatives. In the last three years, the FCA led a fund- raising drive that resulted in the one million dollar endowment of the Lincoln College Chair for Chiropractic and Biomechanical Research at FSU.
There are still many details to work out before the first chiropractic enrollments in the fall of 2002. FSU officials have already held planning meetings and begun the work to accommodate that time line.
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."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
