| I am pleased to announce that Gene G. Veno, president and CEO of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, is the author of this month's "unity" column. Mr. Veno also serves as the executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Chiropractic Association and was responsible for unifying six chiropractic associations into the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors. Gene Veno invites and encourages volunteers in every state to work with the foundation. He can be reached via e-mail at gveno@foundation4cp.com or by fax at (717) 724-4563. ~ Kent Greenawalt |
In the past year, I have received many calls and letters from various chiropractic leaders commenting on what "really" took place in New Jersey that resulted in unification of many diverse associations. The questions and compliments I have heard from people across the country still continue to make me proud to this day of the many individuals I worked alongside. These individuals are the ones who deserve the accolades and high honors! They accepted a challenge and made it happen! The future of their state now rests in their hands.
This article is not about how one association has accomplished unification. The message I am sharing with the chiropractic profession is one of individual doctors heeding the call to unify their beliefs, so that the future of this great profession can unfold naturally. You see, unity is not about you! Unity is about supporting someone or something that has value. Does your profession give you the value you are looking for? If not, think about what you can do to make your profession increase in value; not for you, but for the next generation of chiropractors to come.
Think about the past 110 years and what your forefathers had to endure to practice in their communities. Think about the challenges this profession had to endure to obtain inclusion in health plans. Think about the resolve your profession maintained during so many legal and legislative challenges, to allow you the simple right to practice in this country.
Think about what they must have experienced, and then ask yourself the question, "Have I done my part to secure the next 110 years for this profession?" If you are not a member of an association, nationally or statewide, you are not doing your part to advance or maintain the existence of the chiropractic profession. If within the past year, you have not responded to a request from your college or profession to contribute to a cause, you are not doing your part to protect your profession. If you do not read the current happenings affecting this profession on both state and national levels, you are not doing your part to protect this profession ... your profession!
It has always been my desire to see our profession achieve the recognition it so richly deserves. By unifying our message to the public, we can create value for the profession. We need to build on the solid foundation that has allowed this profession to grow thus far - but we would be ever so foolish to think for one moment that "value" will be achieved by sitting back waiting for the next individual to do something great for the profession. Greatness is not won; it is earned.
The profession needs to build goodwill from within before we can achieve the respect and integrity that comes from years of hard work and perseverance. It is at this juncture that the future of our profession will be forged.
So think about it! Think what you have done for your profession today and what you plan to do
tomorrow to improve our standing in the health care arena. If we work to unify our national message for the public's sake and not for individual doctors of chiropractic, you will achieve the greatness that I write about.
Join the profession in some capacity. Offer your time and resources to your state association and national associations. Contribute to a cause; just think, if we all work with this thought process, we will obtain a unified message that will implant chiropractic for all the right reasons in the mindset of the public.
We need to look 50 years into the future and begin at this very moment to write the history of this profession. We cannot allow the media or the health care industry to record our history. We need to develop positive articles and positive messages about this profession. The future is now in your hands, just as the future was in the hands of the first-generation chiropractors who opted for greatness by never quitting, because they saw what this profession could become if they maintained their commitment to chiropractic. We owe so much to these great men and women; now it is your turn to give back, so that 50 years from now, someone else will read what you did to improve upon what was given to you.
I ask you to accept the challenge. And if you are willing, please write me at gveno@foundation4cp.com and join the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. Become an advocate for your profession!
Gene Veno
President/CEO,
Foundation for Chiropractic Progress
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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