As the winter slowly takes hold in the Northern Hemisphere with its cold wind and freezing temperatures, the summer in Australia is just starting with beautiful hot days, and for those who live by the ocean a chance to go in for a dip. When we last left you we were going to report on the Chiropractors' Association of Australia's annual conference from Adelaide where Dr. Pran Manga spoke about his report for the Ontario government. His speech was well received and it will be interesting from Australia's perspective whether his recommendation gets accepted or not.
In Australia, the push for chiropractic services in our Medicare scheme, while not on the current government's agenda, has been put to the current minister of health. These meetings have been positive and now the CAA has good contacts with the minister and her advisors. The opposition party's shadow minister of health is opposed to the recognition of chiropractic services within the public health system. She maintains that chiropractic's best interest lies through the "extension of services within private health care." A government supported, publicly funded chiropractic initiative is currently being positively explored with ministerial support and the department of health's assistance. More of this proposal will be detailed in following articles.
Sports chiropractic in Australia has achieved many successes, but now Australia's two chiropractic schools, RMIT (Melbourne) and Macquarie University Centre of Chiropractic, offer chiropractors the chance to have qualifications in graduate diplomate and master's of chiropractic sports science. The course at Macquarie University run by Dr. Henry Pollard has currently eight chiropractors doing the course.
Dr. Noel Patterson has been the chiropractor for the last three Commonwealth Games for Australia. Dr. Patterson, past president of the Federation Internationale de Chiropratique Sportive, has been a great spokesperson for sports chiropractic in Australia. Despite his efforts, the Australia Sports Medicine Federation (ASMF) did not allow chiropractors to treat the Australian athletes at the Barcelona Olympics. With Dr. Patterson's persistence and the fact that now Australia will have university graduates getting their degrees in sports chiropractic, the ASMF should allow chiropractors to be a part of future Olympic teams. We hope this will happen for the 1996 games in Atlanta. This would give sports chiropractic a good foothold when Sydney hosts the 2000 Olympic Games.
Note: We were very pleased to have had Dr. Keith Innes, Dean of MPI faculty, Down Under for a seminar February 18-19. He'll return later this year, August 12-13 and August 19-20 for more seminars.
Please look for our articles in upcoming issues of "DC."
George Dragasevich, DC, BSc
Orazio Trevisan, DC, BSc
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?
