News / Profession

Members of the American Black Chiropractic Association and the Jamaican Chiropractic Assoc.

Editorial Staff

Dr. Cal. Whitworth, ABCA president.

Dr. Alfred Davis Jr., the ABCA's "Chiropractor of the Year."

American Black Chiropractic Association Makes Splash in Jamaica

Jamaican Chiropractic Association Launched

The American Black Chiropractic Association (ABCA) held its 15th annual national convention Aug. 14-18 in Jamaica, that verdant isle in the West Indies that rises out of the Caribbean Sea some 90 miles of blue water south of Cuba.

The tropical setting of the ABCA's first off-shore convention was an appropriate backdrop for the convention's health and fitness theme, inspiring many of the attendees to take early morning runs along the beach, and indulge in water sports.

The convention saw the launching of the Jamaican Chiropractic Association, and organization composed of U.S. and Jamaican-based DCs with a mission to organize the chiropractic profession on the island. On hand for that event were Dr. Christian, an MD who heads the Jamaican Medical Association, the mayor of Ocho Rios, and Jamaica Governor-General Howard Cooke.

The conference featured:

  • DCs Paul Jaskoviak, William Austin, and Dave Tresch, MAEd., speaking on the chiropractic-sports connection.

     

  • Scientific papers were presented by DCs Jean Davis, Glenton Smith, and Mark Smith, addressing women's health, scoliosis, cervicogenic headache, low back pain, and emergencies in sports medicine.

     

  • A political action forum and roundtable discussion featured: Hubert Whelchel, DC, a member of the ABCA Board; William Dallas, DC, president of the Council on Chiropractic Education and Western States Chiropractic College; Reed Phillips, DC, DACBR, PhD, president of the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic, and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges; Shelby Elliot, DC, president of Texas Chiropractic College; Matthew Givrad, DC, vice pres., Cleveland College of Chiropractic; Lowry Morton, DC, ACA chairman of the board; and Robert Dark, DC, who chairs the ACA's political action committee.

Dr. Cal Whitworth, a native of Jamaica who now resides in the northerly climes of Boston, Massachusetts, was re-elected ABCA president.

Dr. Alfred Davis Jr., immediate past president of the ABCA, was presented the "Harvey," the association's chiropractor of the year award.

The convention concluded with a banquet and a rousing keynote address by Portia Simpson, Jamaican minister of labor, welfare and sports.

September 1996
print pdf