India, roughly the size of California and the second most populous nation in the world, is a country where 252 children are born every minute, and people pay rent just for the right to sleep on a hard piece of sidewalk at night. It's also a place where chiropractic has gone virtually unnoticed for more than a century.
In June of 1997, Life University made its first visit to this ancient country to look for a site to open a chiropractic center. They also initiated talks with representatives from India and the World Health Organization in Geneva to help investigate the proper way to bring chiropractic care to India.
"India is an important part of Life University's goal to take chiropractic around the world," said Dr. Sid Williams, the university's president and founder. "A presence there will provide an excellent clinical experience and cultural exchange for our participating doctors."
With the help of Drs. Rod Handly and Gary Auerbach, the Life team found just the type of building they were looking for in the city of Bangalore. Located just south of New Delhi, in an area known as the "Silicon Valley of India," team officials found a modern facility perfect for the university's needs. Currently, the site is being studied and is pending official approval.
Dr. Handly views the opening of the clinic as just the tip of the iceberg for providing chiropractic care around the world. "A facility in India will be a starting point for Life's new program allowing student clinicians and externs to work in other nations," Dr. Handly said. The new program, known as Life Around the World (LAW), will send student clinicians and faculty supervisors to China and Egypt in the near future, with Africa, Russia, Indonesia and others scheduled at later dates.
Once in place, these centers will be supplemented with mobile units to help provide chiropractic care to the more remote areas of the world. "All of the facilities around the world will be a place for field doctors who are looking to take a few weeks or months sabbatical from their practices to come and share their experiences and expertise with students," said Dr. Handly.
When I graduated from chiropractic college in 1981 and started practice, I heard it all, and very little was positive. “You are a quack; you do not know what a subluxation is; you couldn’t get into a real health care program, so you chose the one that is slightly above a mail-order degree; you have no proof that chiropractic works; Are you really licensed?”, and so much more.
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A central challenge in creating our identity is that chiropractic is a method of care, not a technique or procedure. This is an important concept for us to promote. Our patients are treated with lifestyle modification, exercise, nutritional supplements, diet and a whole-body approach to accelerate the natural healing process. We are not simply CMT providers.
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