It's my pleasure to be able to write this guest article for such
an international magazine as "DC". As the new incoming President
of the Federation International de Chiropractique Sportive
(FICS), I would like to take this opportunity to give an updated
report on FICS and our goals for the next four years.
When FICS began in 1986, I did not think it possible that four
years later we would have 48 nation members. In fact, there are
only two other chiropractic nations of any numerical significance
that have not joined the FICS, and both have now indicated their
desire to join this international world governing body on sports
chiropractic.
The saying, "There is strength in numbers" is very true; this is
one of the reasons why FICS was founded. It is a truly
international body. By representing 48 different nations, doors
open for the FICS, which is not the case with individual sports
chiropractic associations. FICS already has hundreds of
individual members, but within a year this will swell to over a
thousand individual members. However, it should be noted FICS is
completely apolitical and is involved only in sports
chiropractic. The statutes (laws of the FICS) prevent any one
country controlling the FICS. Each country has a senator; it is
the senate that controls the FICS. On the FICS commissions there
are some of the top scientists and educators in the world, and
they are working harmoniously for the benefit of chiropractic.
The FICS is officially recognized by many world agencies, such as
the Soviet Sports Committee and the Supreme Council on Olympic
Committees of Africa. Several of our member's national
associations enjoy close working relationships with their
national Olympic committees. We have already had formal
discussions with the International Olympic Committee and a formal
submission for IOC recognition is now pending. FICS is accepted
as a International Federation Member "Category B" by the
International Council of Sports Science and Physical Education
(ICSSPE) which is itself recognized by the International Olympic
Committee and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
FISC also has a very close working relationship with the other
truly international chiropractic body, the World Federation of
Chiropractic (WFC).
During its first four embryonic years of international life, FICS
naturally had many teething problems. However, FICS has solved
these problems and is now "up and running." Sports chiropractic
is the fastest growing area of chiropractic and the FICS is now
established as the world governing body of sports chiropractic.
The FISC will help give consistency to the chiropractic
profession in regulating the standards of sports chiropractic.
All properly trained DCs are eligible to join the FICS as an
associate member. To become full members they must reach a
required skill level. This standard is set by the FICS Education
Committee. Associate membership can be achieved through post
graduate sports chiropractic education; experience as a team
doctor; attending accredited educational seminars, or writing
articles in referee journals, etc. Once a DC has reached the
full member status, the FICS knows they can function as a team
doctor for any level of sports, anywhere in the world.
The FICS now receives many invitations to send DCs to act as team
doctors for major sporting events around the world, hence the
importance of having the consistency of high standards for its
members. This is one of the biggest advantages of becoming a
FICS member, as previously very few people ever had the
opportunity of being a team doctor at an international sports
event. The FICS has also been invited to such places as the Soviet
Union and China to participate in sports lectures; this has
opened further doors for chiropractic. Sports chiropractic has
by far the greatest potential to obtain excellent public
relations for chiropractic as up to 25 percent of our daily media
deals with sports, and the FICS is there to use the sports media to
promote the chiropractic profession.
The subspeciality of sports chiropractic is a natural branch of
the profession, as chiropractors are already trained to give
emphasis to drug-free enhancement to enable the body to maximize
its potential in performance. Sports chiropractic is based on
the same chiropractic philosophy that has enabled our profession
to prosper against all odds in the last 95 years.
To sum up, it's the intention of the new FICS Executive Council
to see that the FICS goes from strength to strength in this fast
expanding area of sports chiropractic.
Noel J. Patterson, MIR, B.Sc, DC
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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