On October 12, 1995, Texas Chiropractic College (TCC) and Universidad Simon Bolivar (USB) in Mexico City, established an alliance by signing a memorandum of agreement to implement what according to TCC would be the first chiropractic program in Mexico or at any Latin-American university. TCC will act as a mentor and sister college to USB.
Mexico, with a population of nearly 92 million, has only 50 bona fide chiropractors practicing. It is this dearth of chiropractors south of the border that has prompted Rector Montoya, the USB board of trustees, and TCC to plan to introduce a chiropractic program in Mexico.
USB was founded in 1944 as a school for elementary and secondary education. It began offering university instruction in 1981, and now has 850 students at the university level, and 3,000 in the preparatory program. The university offers eight specializations. If plans go as anticipated, this August, chiropractic will become the ninth degree specialization at USB. Armando Banos, MD, DC, a TCC alumnus and former instructor, has been appointed director of the program at USB. He previously was a practicing surgeon in Pachucha, Mexico.
Dr. Banos and the other instructors have created a five-year curriculum which will include students participating in hospital rotations, and training for six months in small towns in a "social service capacity."
Now that the agreement is official, TCC will be assisting USB in making sure that the program complies with the standards set by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE). Once the chiropractic school has opened at USB, there will be academic exchange programs between TCC and USB, including: summer sessions; full semesters of study abroad programs; lectures; conferences; colloquiums; symposiums; and discussions between students and faculty on clinical matters.
Dr. Elliott announced the collaboration between the two schools at a reception on the TCC campus. He stated: "TCC's only goal is to help USB by working and acting as a sister college to promote chiropractic throughout world."
