The 9th annual International Jerusalem Sports Medicine Symposium represented a first for chiropractic: Jan Corwin, D.C., CCSP, became the only doctor of chiropractic ever invited to present papers at this international symposium. Papers were presented primarily by orthopedic surgeons from around the world, including Germany, Bulgaria, Belgium, Finland, Israel, and the United States.
Dr. Corwin, a 1976 graduate of National College of Chiropractic who resides in Oakland, California, presented "What is Chiropractic?" and "The Chiropractor's Role in Treating Athletic Teams." Dr. Corwin noted his papers were well received and felt they helped inform the international sports medicine community that "chiropractors can and do play a major role in providing care to athletes of many countries and at all levels of competition."
While in Israel, Dr. Corwin also presented a two-day lecture on sports injury diagnosis and treatment to the Israeli Chiropractic Organization (ICO).
Israel, about the size of New Jersey with a population of some 4,371,000, has one of the highest ratios of MDs per capita in the world, one physician for ever 345 persons (1:410 in the U.S.). There are however only 20 DCs in Israel. David Greenblatt, D.C., is the ICO president; he has been in practice in Israel for 13 years. It's interesting to note that most of the Israeli chiropractors have received their educations at one of four schools: National College of Chiropractic, New York College of Chiropractic, Los Angeles College of Chiropractic, or the Anglo European Chiropractic College.
While chiropractic seeks to gain increased status with the Israeli Ministry of Health, chiropractic is not yet part of the country's socialized medical care program available to all citizens.
But some Israeli chiropractors are elbowing their way through the medical crowd and gaining acceptance: Drs. Nimrod Liram and Rachel Ganik work part-time in hospitals. Dr. Liram is actively involved in a large research project in a hospital's orthopedic department, and Dr. Ganick is working in a preventative medicine program.
While DCs in the U.S. enjoy greater governmental acceptance than DCs in Israel, DCs in Israel are not the object of military discrimination. Dr. David Naiss, for instance, is currently commissioned in the Israeli Army as a chiropractor. There is however an obligation: practitioners here have the duty to serve one month in the Army per year.
The obstacles that DCs face to gain acceptance in Israel's socialized medicine is not the only government obstruction: Israeli citizens pay 60 percent of their income to taxes -- that's a lot of shekels.
Steve Kelly
assistant editor
