DC Begins Fellowship at NavalMedical Center

This month, an attending clinician from Texas Chiropractic College's Moody Health Center began a yearlong fellowship in hospital-based military medicine at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, Md.

Joanna Hudec, DC, who has served at the Moody Health Center for two-and-a-half years, will train in a hospital setting utilizing multidisciplinary patient care. By collaborating with the hospital-based military medical system, Dr. Hudec will observe and participate in diverse levels of care in a multispecialty setting.

"This is the spearhead that will drive chiropractic into military medicine," said James Giordano, PhD, director of research at TCC. Envisioned by Dr. Giordano and NNMC attending chiropractic clinician William Morgan, DC, the fellowship aims to offer structured training in a mainstream hospital setting. Dr. Hudec also will instruct other treatment providers, who can, in turn, spread chiropractic's unique approach to health care to others.

"This is an incredible opportunity for me and for TCC, and I'm honored to have been selected," said Dr. Hudec. "I'll be representing chiropractic first, TCC second, and myself third."

For the first time, two presidential cabinet members addressed the chiropractic profession at the American Chiropractic Association's (ACA) annual National Chiropractic Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson both made positive comments about the contributions DCs make to U.S. health care.

"It's wrong to wait for people to get sick, or so sick they can't work and be productive," said Thompson, who added that chiropractic was a "smart investment" and "something we should be doing more of." Principi, who was presented the ACA's "Patient's Champion Award," added that he would consider any recommendation from the chiropractic advisory committee, including direct access to chiropractic care. "Chiropractic care is a way for us to bind up the wounds of those who have done battle."

Life University presented diplomas to 14 chiropractic students who have graduated since a federal injunction reinstated the school's accreditation in February. [See "Life Gets Preliminary Injunction, March 10 DC: www.chiroweb.com/archives/21/06/09.html.] The school's 73^rd commencement ceremony, held March 21 at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, Ga., was Life's first since the injunction.

Dr. Ben DeSpain, keynote speaker and Life president, emphasized the importance of this class: "Graduates, you are part of a special and very unique group."

Last June, when the Council on Chiropractic Education stripped Life of its accreditation, many students left the university for other institutions. A three-member panel refused to lift Life's revocation on appeal, but when the university filed a lawsuit against the CCE, it was granted an injunction to reinstate the school's accreditation by Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Moye, until the lawsuit is resolved. The CCE is now appealing this decision.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Cleveland Chiropractic College recently appointed Tom Nichols, DC, to the position of chairperson of the department of diagnostic sciences.

Nichols brings over 20 years of chiropractic education experience to his new position, having been a faculty member in Cleveland's diagnostic sciences and chiropractic sciences departments, and a clinician in its health center.

Dr. Nichols is a third-generation chiropractor: both his parents graduated from Palmer College (his alma mater); Overall, there have been eight DCs in his family.

The National Library of Medicine recently announced it will include The Spine Journal, (TSJ) the official journal of the North American Spine Society (NASS), in MEDLINE/ Index Medicus following rigorous scrutiny.

TSJ is an international, multidisci-plinary journal that publishes original, peer-reviewed articles on spine research and treatment, including basic science and clinical investigations. The new Index Medicus recognition should help the journal attract a greater number of quality manuscripts.

Praising the quality of the journal and its editors, NASS President David A. Wong, MD, said, "Getting indexed in only its second full year of publication is a testament to the excellent articles published in The Spine Journal."

In late February, chiropractors were able to aid in the recovery and success of nearly 1,000 runners in the Chattahoochee Challenge 10K Road Race and Peachtree Qualifier in Roswell, Ga. Thanks to the efforts of Georgia CAM/ chiropractic network HealthPart-ners, Inc., numerous athletic events are welcoming chiropractic care, many for the first time.

Launched in 2001, HealthPartners helps sponsor athletic events and coordinates chiropractic participation in them. Television news and radio coverage are generally on-hand at the events, giving public exposure to how chiropractic benefits athletes.

"No other chiropractic network that I've seen delivers such a professional presence to chiropractic care," said Jay Hammer, DC, an Atlanta-based Health Partner member. "At the Chattahoochee Challenge, I treated three athletes who had never been to a chiropractor before. That speaks volumes for the profession."

Another participating DC, Jay Di Vagno of Alpharetta, Ga., added: "The presence of chiropractic and managed care at events such as this is increasing the exposure and utilization of chiropractic care."

In March, HealthPartners was on hand at the Downtown Dash for Diabetes, and last October, members treated participants of the Marine Corps Marathon. This June, the network will provide chiropractic treatment at the 2003 Dannon Duathlon Championship Series in Alpharetta.