Donald M. Petersen Jr., BS, HCD(hc), FICC(h), Publisher
Dear Dad:
It's been almost 25 years to the day since we last saw each other. I still remember our last time together on vacation in Mazatlan, Mexico. A lot has happened since then. Chiropractic is now 118 years old; Dynamic Chiropractic is almost 31. That means we have been serving the profession for more than one-fourth of chiropractic's history.
There is a great deal happening right now in health care– some of it new, some of it not so new. Something called Obamacare is about to be implemented in the United States. It is the latest effort to reform health care. There seem to be opportunities for chiropractic to benefit from this model.
You will remember when managed care came into existence a few decades ago. There were lots of promises about reducing the cost of health care – but in the end, doctors and patients are the ones who lost out, while insurers got richer – much richer. Hope the same thing doesn't happen again.
There is a move within the chiropractic profession to gain some level of prescription rights. The idea seems to be that being able to prescribe drugs will support our status as primary care doctors. This probably sounds somewhat ironic to you, given the health care environment when you were a practicing DC. I remember that in California, there were numerous chiropractic hospitals and DCs could do many things, including minor surgery and delivering babies. As I remember, you were there when I was born because you were considered a primary care doctor with those kinds of privileges.
Not sure where this whole drug thing will go, but it doesn't seem like a natural part of chiropractic. This is definitely not consistent with the chiropractic philosophy you instilled in our family. It also doesn't seem to make sense considering how many people get sicker (or die) when taking medication.
On a different note, Dynamic Chiropractic is now published not only on paper, but also as an "iPad app" (essentially a digital version of the print publication, viewable on a small, portable tablet computer with dimensions less than half that of the print version – about 10 inches by 7 inches). Can you believe it?
We will be adding additional tablet devices in the next few months. This will ultimately allow us to present chiropractic news and information in both print and video forms.
In fact, this particular article will feature a video introduction in the iPad app version. I will take about 45 seconds (a good deal of time on a video) to share information on your vision for starting DC and how we are expanding on that vision today. I think you will like it. We will try to replicate this video concept in future app editions, allowing some of our columnists and periodic contributors to participate.
Overall, things are both extremely exciting and extremely busy here at the office – much as they were when you were here. I continue to understand why you always set aside time to go on vacation with us. I'm so glad you did. I encourage all DCs to get away every year to spend time with the ones they love. You never know when that time will be your last.
This is our 739th issue of Dynamic Chiropractic. I hope you like what you see. We will hit 1,000 issues in another 10 years or so. I believe that is more than any other chiropractic publication has ever published. As always, we look to continue to carry out your vision of being: "Committed to bringing unity without uniformity to the chiropractic profession through increased knowledge and tolerance."
Thank you, Dad.
Love,
Don
Read more findings on my blog: http://blog.toyourhealth.com/wrblog/. You can also visit me on Facebook.
