In late August, Texas Chiropractic College (TCC) hosted "Current Concepts in Clinical Assessment," a landmark two-day conference that focused on methods to educate and assess the clinical skills of chiropractic students and practitioners. The conference featured diverse representation from prominent chiropractic educational institutions and organizations, including Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, National University of Health Sciences, Northwestern Health Sciences University, Palmer College of Chiropractic (Davenport and Florida), Southern California University of Health Sciences, and TCC.
The event proved to be an ideal setting for productive discussion, with attendees deliberating the possibility of collaborative efforts to fortify the future of chiropractic education. Connections were established in which attendees will continue to work independently and collaboratively.
"One of our goals was to provide an environment for collaboration and to increase research potential in chiropractic education," stated Steve Foster, DC, who, along with Alan Adams, DC, envisioned the conference last year. "Based upon attendees' reactions, this conference has already beena success."
Conference speakers and workshop leaders included world-renowned faculty and researchers from health sciences education programs. These multidisciplinary experts provided attendees witha wide variety of useful clinical assessment strategies.
Plenary presentations included: "Historical Evolution of Clinical Performance Assessment Within the Health Professions" by John Littlefield, PhD; "Using Standardized Patients in Health Professions Education: Current Trends" by Karen Szauter, MD; "Threats to Validity of Performance Exams: What Can Go Wrong and How to Fix It" by Steven Downing, PhD; and "Clinical Skills Assessments: External Drivers and Internal Benefits" by Delia Anderson, MS. Workshop presentations included: "Defensible Standard Setting Methods for Performance Exams" by Steven Downing, PhD; "Developing Cases for Objectively Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs)" by Karen Szauter, MD; "Technical and Software Considerations for Assessment Centers" by Balazs Moldovanyi, MS; "Determining Competence to Practice: The Role of Assessment Centers" by Drs. Adams and Foster; and "Creating and Maintaining a Standardized Patient Program: Nuts and Bolts" by Delia Anderson, MS.
Dr. Adams hopes that the conference "highlights the clinical assessment trends in higher education so that we can better incorporate these methods into professional development and training at our chiropractic colleges" and that "future meetings will continue to strengthen the quality of clinical assessment and training in chiropractic education."
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Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
