Palmer's International Reach: from the Caribbean to India

I should be judged as a captain who went from Spain to the Indies ... -- Cristobol Columbo, letter to Dona Torres, Oct. 1500

Christopher Columbus was a great adventurer, but a little confused when it came to geography. When he came upon the islands of the Caribbean, he was sure he had reached the fabled Indies.

Nowadays most of us are clear on those geographical distinctions. In an expedition that would have made Columbus envious, Palmer College of Chiropractic sent students and faculty members this past October to the Caribbean, and another group to the great Indian subcontinent.

"The international program at Palmer has made a dramatic transition," noted Don Betz, PhD, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Palmer College of Chiropractic. "There are multiple opportunities for Palmer students and faculty to participate in international trips," he added.

Palmer College first had to obtained government approval from India and the Grenadines to bring free chiropractic care to the people. "To organize an expedition from Palmer to a particular country, we contact the appropriate government officials, receive approval to adjust patients, and also meet with legislators to discuss chiropractic and implementing chiropractic laws," explained Garry Krakos, liaison for international affairs for Palmer.

Road to India

India, about a third the size of the U.S., but with nearly four times the population, is not acquainted with chiropractic.

Three Palmer College faculty members and 18 students set up a temporary clinic at the Princess Durru Shehva Children's Hospital in Hyderabad. They used four portable adjusting tables, plus examination tables from the hospital. The patients were divided according to gender, as is customary in India. "The women chiropractic students adjusted the women patients, and the men adjusted the men," noted Ann Marie Pushies, one of the Palmer students on the Indian expedition.

Case histories were taken, with the help of two assigned nursing students for each Palmer student, and more that 700 patients were adjusted. The room became so overcrowded sometimes that policemen had to hold people back from the adjusting rooms.

A second temporary clinic was under tents in a nearby rural village, where the faculty and students adjusted about 300 patients. In the evening hours lanterns and lighting supplied by generators had to be employed, as electrical power had failed.

While in India, the Palmer group was also able to observe traditional Indian health practices in hospitals and clinics, including nature cure, bonesetting, homeopathy, unani, aryuveda, and yoga.

The Palmer students and faculty had the distinct honor of meeting several key Indian leaders, including Dr. K.R. Narayanan, who was elected the 11th president of India this past July. Dr. Narayanan, who was educated in economics, and worked as a journalist and lecturer before joining India's foreign service to work abroad on three continents, was elected to the Indian parliament for three successive terms, and has been a member of the Indian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.

The Palmer delegation also met Saleem Sherwani, minister of state for external affairs; Chandra Babu Naidu, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh; and Dr. P. Janardhan Reddy, health minister of Andhra Pradesh.

"If chiropractic is legalized in India, a huge patient population exists for chiropractors to serve," said Moin Ansari, PhD, the leader of the Palmer expedition. Dr. Ansari was born in Hyderabad, India, and arranged these meetings with the Indian leaders.

In the Grenadines

There are a handful of practicing DCs scattered about the Caribbean, but because of the vast number of islands, their geographical spread, and the diversity of cultures, chiropractic is hardly a household word in the islands.

Two Palmer faculty members and six students set up clinics on the Caribbean islands of Bequia and St. Vincent. St. Vincent, all of 18 miles long and 11 miles wide, is the chief island of the Grenadines, a chain of 600 islets (only 16 sq. miles of land) over 60 miles of ocean stretching from St. Vincent (to the north) to Grenada (to the south).
The clinics on Bequia and St. Vincent adjusted 800 patients over six days. "The people on Bequia were very receptive to chiropractic care," reported Palmer student Tim Suszko, who visits his family's home every year in Bequia. "We felt we made a difference," Tim said, recalled one older woman kissing their hands and blessing them for coming.

The Palmer doctors, whether those traveling to India or the Grenadines, saw many patients with acute and chronic musculoskeletal problems, but also saw frequent cases of paralysis, spinal cord injuries, TB, and malaria.