Editor's Note: The following is excerpted from Dr. Terry Yochum's tribute to Dr. Jack Dolbin, which runs in the November issue of DC.
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of a very close friend and outstanding chiropractor, Dr. Jack Dolbin, who died on Aug. 1st, 2019. ... He is survived by his devoted and loving wife, Jane, and his children: Josh, Christian, Jill and Rachel.
Jack was a graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he majored in physical education and played football from 1966 to 1970. In 1972, he enrolled at National College of Chiropractic in Chicago, graduating with his Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and his DC degree in 1977.
Jack's outstanding athletic career led to a keen interest in sports injuries, and the treatment of athletic injuries became his chiropractic specialty. He served as the sports medical director for his hometown Pottsville High School beginning in 1996, as well as the staff DC for Villanova University from 1993 to 2003. He was the team DC for the University of Maryland gymnastic team from 1997 to 2002, and for one year, in 2001, he served as team DC for the U.S. Pan American Weightlifting team.
The first time I met Jack Dolbin, he was a student in my bone pathology class while I was a resident at the National College of Chiropractic. I quickly discovered that he had been a running back and wide receiver at Wake Forest University before coming to National. As a quarterback for the last-place Chiro Sigma Chi Fraternity flag football team, I knew we needed a spark, and Jack lit the fire. With the speedy Dolbin on the squad, we went from last place to first place, finishing the season winning the championship...
Later, I encouraged him to try out for the Chicago Fire of the now-defunct World Football League when the team had public tryouts at Soldier Field in 1974. On that day in Chicago, 150 athletes tried out for roster spots, but only two people were to make the cut. Jack was one of them. ... He went on to become a force to be reckoned with during his short, one-year WFL tenure and when the WFL folded, the Denver Broncos came calling. From 1975-1980, Jack started 67 consecutive games for the Broncos, including Super Bowl XII against the Dallas Cowboys.
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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A central challenge in creating our identity is that chiropractic is a method of care, not a technique or procedure. This is an important concept for us to promote. Our patients are treated with lifestyle modification, exercise, nutritional supplements, diet and a whole-body approach to accelerate the natural healing process. We are not simply CMT providers.
The results of a global survey released late last year (2023) unveiled some startling findings among medical and nursing students. The “Clinician of the Future: 2023 Education Edition” surveyed 2,212 students, of which 446 were in the United States, from 91 countries.
