Conversation with Dr. William Meeker
William Meeker, DC, MPH
Palmer West Dean of Research Dr. William Meeker, educator, practitioner, researcher and 1982 Palmer West graduate, asserted in a recent interview at the college that chiropractic research will remain an "infant science" until there is a "profession-wide consensus that much greater resources and energy must be devoted to the long-term development of the chiropractic research infrastructure." He noted that most chiropractic colleges do their best on their limited budgets.
Dr. Meeker was involved in the creation in the mid-1980s of the Consortium for Chiropractic Research (CCR) and is its current president. He warned that the highly visible research findings on chiropractic in the past few years has "given chiropractic research a false aura of success and allowed us to overlook our very real scholarly weaknesses."
Dr. Meeker added that the research productivity of chiropractic has increased, and that the quality of that research has improved dramatically. Still there is much to do and his personal commitment is to nurture chiropractic's growing research via the Consortium.
Dr. William Harris Advises Students to Set Goals
Well-known chiropractic philanthropist William Harris, DC, a 1938 Palmer College alumnus, recently spoke to the PCCW's Practice Development class, and gave a practice development presentation for the entire student body. Dr. Harris offered advice culled from his long and prosperous career in chiropractic. "My greatest piece of advice to future doctors is to be prepared and set goals, for goals are dreams with a deadline."
Dr. Harris also passed on advice from Bartlett Joshua: "Persistence is the key to lasting achievement."
PCCW President Peter Martin, DC, joined a distinguished group of Palmer College of Chiropractic alumni when his alma mater named him a Fellow in the Palmer Academy of Chiropractic at the alumni luncheon of PCC's homecoming program in August. The honor exemplifies devotion to the profession and Palmer College.
In presenting the award, Dr. Virgil Strang, interim president of PCC, chronicled Dr. Martin's chiropractic career: lauding such noteworthy achievements as the fund-raising campaign which generated over $1 million to defeat proposed anti-chiropractic legislation while Dr. Martin served as president of the California Chiropractic Association (CCA). Dr. Strang commended Dr. Martin for his devotion to the profession and supporting his alma mater.
Dr. Martin is also a Distinguished Fellow of the ICA and a Fellow of the International College of Chiropractic.
For the second year in a row, PCCW students and faculty volunteers helped register phone pledges for San Jose-based KTEH-Channel 54 (public TV station) during their annual membership drive. The pledge drive also served as an opportunity to promote the college. Each of the Palmer West participants wore PCCW T-shirts.
PCCW clinicians and interns provided team services at a variety of recent athletic events in the San Francisco bay area:
Fireman Olympics -- California firemen competed in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, track and field, and triathlon events;
Morgan Horse Show -- More than 200 people, including riders of all ages, competed in this 55-event competition and riding exhibition of Morgan horses. The interns also conducted spinal screenings.
National Aerobic Competition -- The first of 10 regional US competitions leading up to the aerobic finals in Houston next January.
A team of 35 LACC student interns, supervising doctors, and field doctors, treated participants of the 1994 International Karate Championships (IKC), August 20-21, in Long Beach, California. The IKC is the largest open karate tournament in the world and draws between 4,000-6,000 competitors. LACC faculty member John Scaringe, DC, CCSP, served as the on-site supervising sports physician.
LACC has participated in the event the last three years. The team was founded in 1991 by Dr. Phelan and Joe Verna, DC. "Typically, we treat about 300 injured athletes for conditions that vary from sprains and strains to fractures and head injuries," said Shawn Phelan, DC, chairman of the medic team steering committee.
Interns at Cleveland Chiropractic College of Los Angeles (CCCLA) performed health screenings during a children's health fair on campus in September. The fair helps educate children and their parents about nutrition, child safety, first aid, learning disorders, dental and visual care, emotional health and physical fitness.
The children's health fair committee members in charge of organizing the event were Dr. Katherine Wells, CCCLA assistant professor; Georgeanne Gaulden, CCCLA director of student services; Felicia Jones, CCCLA records coordinator; Dr. John Raithel III, CCCLA assistant professor and a 1985 CCCLA graduate; and Joanne Buettner (VII), CCCLA Delta Tau Alpha past president.
CCCLA has announced the promotion of faculty members Drs. Tony Gonsalves and Leila Iler.
A 1991 CCCLA graduate, Dr. Tony Gonsalves has been promoted from a part-time to a full-time faculty position in the department of chiropractic sciences, and has also received the rank of assistant professor.
Dr. Leila Iler, associate professor, has been named assistant dean of instruction at CCCLA. She recently received her doctorate in education from Pepperdine University.
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.
The results of a global survey released late last year (2023) unveiled some startling findings among medical and nursing students. The “Clinician of the Future: 2023 Education Edition” surveyed 2,212 students, of which 446 were in the United States, from 91 countries.
