When former Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander declared that SCASA would not be recognized by the government as an accrediting agency, it was a gut wrenching time for students at the SCASA schools of Sherman, Southern California, and Penn. Straight. What would be the fate of those students who weren't graduating before the secretary's deadline?
While the three SCASA colleges have applied for membership with the Council for Chiropractic Education, there are no assurances in this process.
In Pennsylvania, however, new legislation (H.B. 1416) sponsored by Rep. Mark Cohen (D-Phila.) allows SCASA students who are "bona fide Pennsylvania residents" to be eligible for the chiropractic licensing examination in Pennsylvania. The only stipulation: enrollment before the June 4, 1993 deadline, and graduating by the end of 1996.
"This law will prevent an injustice to those men and women who began their studies in good faith," stated Rep. Cohen, Democratic majority whip in the House. "It was totally unforeseen that they might not be allowed to remain in or return to Pennsylvania to sit for their exam and to practice.
The bill was signed into law July 2 by acting Governor Mark Singel.
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.
