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News in Brief

Editorial Staff

NYCC Now Offering Master's Program in Clinical Anatomy

The New York State Education Department recently approved New York Chiropractic College's (NYCC) Master of Science in Clinical Anatomy (MSCA) program. The program has been established with support from two medical schools: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York City, and State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Health Science Center. The intent of the MSCA program is to give doctors of chiropractic a chance to enhance their education in anatomy and/or prepare them to teach the subject in secondary educational settings.

The new curriculum will be overseen by Robert Walker, PhD, who saw that such a program was badly needed in order to maintain a pool of professionals adequately trained to teach gross anatomy at advanced educational levels. Dr. Walker, who was an integral part of the program's development, sees the program as jointly beneficial for NYCC and the participating medical schools: "It will give our [NYCC] students excellent teaching experience while providing the other institutions with well-trained laboratory professionals."

The program will begin in the fall of 2007, with instruction taking place at NYCC's Seneca Falls campus. Teaching practicums will be held at NYCC, SUNY and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. A master's thesis and defense are required for graduation.

J. Clay McDonald DC, JD, executive vice president of academic affairs at NYCC, looks forward to the launch of the new program. "I am very proud of Dr. Walker's many accomplishments and am excited by the possibilities this program offers our students."


UBC Awards Chiropractic Research Professorship

Jean-Sebastien Blouin, DC, has received the Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation Professorship in Spine Biomechanics and Neuro-physiology at the School of Human Kinetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The professorship is the result of cooperative efforts by the British Columbia Chiropractic Association (BCCA), the UBC School of Human Kinetics and the Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation.

"It is an honour and a privilege for our profession to participate in the distinguished research tradition of this great university," said Dr. Don Nixdorf, executive director of the BCCA. "We are obviously grateful to the Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation, but even more importantly, to all of the individual family chiropractors who support research and education in B.C."

Dr. Blouin received his doctor of chiropractic degree from the University of Quebec in 1999, and his MSc and PhD degrees in kinesiology from Université Laval in 2001 and 2004, respectively. Since April 2004, Dr. Blouin has held another prominent research post at UBC: The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and Canadian Institutes of Health Research Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Neurophysiology and Biomechanics.


Colorado Chiropractic Association Celebrates Unity

Unity was the focus of the Colorado Chiropractic Association's (CCA) 72nd annual convention, held Sept. 15-17, 2006 at the Four Points Sheraton Denver Southeast. In August, the CCA and the state's two other chiropractic associations, the Colorado Chiropractic Society and the Colorado Chiropractic Wellness Alliance, agreed to merge, following meetings by the Color-ado Chiropractic Unity Committee, comprised of representatives of the three associations.

All members of the Colorado Unity Committee and past presidents of the three state chiropractic associations were recognized during the convention. Terry R. Yochum, DC, DACBR, who chaired the unity committee, opened the CCA convention with an inspiring presentation of "The Chiropractic National Anthem." The Unity Celebration Lunch, held on Sept. 16, featured photos of the new chiropractic billboards and presentations from several distinguished guests, including Gene Veno, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Chiropractic Association. Veno, who assisted several states (including his own) in unifying their chiropractic associations and was an active member of and contributor to the unity committee, spoke about what to expect with unification.


FCER Announces 2006 Fellowship Support

The Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) has, for many years, honored the need for chiropractic to develop its own research infrastructure, providing financial assistance to scholars who wish to study various aspects of chiropractic methods of care. This year, three doctors of chiropractic join the growing list of FCER fellowship recipients: Drs. Steven Passmore, Paul Nolet and Sydney Rubenstein.

Steven Passmore, DC, MS, is pursuing a Doctorate in Human Biodynamics at McMaster University. Before graduating from New York Chiropractic College (NYCC), Dr. Passmore earned a Masters of Science in Kinesiology, specializing in human motor behavior, and was therefore able to design an IRB-approved research study while at NYCC. He intends his current program's thesis to focus on developing appropriate quantitative measures to evaluate chiropractic intervention based on patient performance.

Paul Nolet, DC, is pursuing a Masters in Public Health at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Nolet would like to utilize the data from the Saskatchewan Health and Back Pain Survey to conduct a prospective, longitudinal cohort study evaluating neck pain and headaches in the general population versus those with a history of neck trauma due to motor vehicle collision.

Sydney Rubinstein, DC, is pursuing a Doctorate in Epidemiology at the Institution for Research in Extramural Medicine, one of the research institutes at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He plans to examine why the medical profession views cervical manipulation as dangerous in the absence of definitive information.

Providing financial support for the 2006 fellows are Foot Levelers and the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. In order to obtain an FCER fellowship, applicants must show financial need in addition to providing satisfactory documentation that establishes superior transcripts; detailed, insightful and enthusiastic letters of recommendation; and a feasible, lasting interest in research. The purpose of the award program is to provide the chiropractic profession with a steady supply of high-quality, dedicated researchers and to increase the research base of the profession.

"Nothing less than the future of chiropractic research rests with these individuals who have chosen this demanding yet rewarding career path," commented Anthony L. Rosner, PhD, director of research and education. "Their achievements at this stage already rival those of far more senior faculty, and we are as proud [and] hopeful that these fellows show every indication that their contributions to the research literature will be recognized for years to come."

Information on the FCER, its programs, funded research, products that support further research and more is available online at www.fcer.org.

September 2006
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