When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
NBCE Goes International
At the annual meeting of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) in Orlando, Fla., the board of directors approved an official name and trademark for international activities, which are currently administered as a committee of the NBCE. Approval was given by the board to register the new name and trademark.
It has been reported previously that the NBCE has had ongoing discussions with Mexico; Brazil; Chile; South Africa; and Japan. In Orlando, those discussions yielded an initial commitment from the NBCE to produce a SPEC-type exam for Brazil that could be administered through the two chiropractic colleges in Brazil. A tentative agreement also was forged with Chile for the NBCE to develop a pretest that would be administered through SCUHS Chile.
Dr. James Badge, NBCE vice president and International Committee chair, and Dr. Martin Kollasch, NBCE international liaison, represented the board at the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) meeting, held in Orlando in conjunction with the NBCE meeting.
Dr. Badge was appreciative of the opportunity to be available to so many representatives of foreign countries. "I am pleased that the NBCE Board of Directors reaffirmed the importance of assisting international colleagues in developing legal, defensible standardized examinations in chiropractic," he noted.
NBCE President Dr. Peter Ferguson presented research awards at the WFC meeting. The research awards were funded through a $15,000 contribution by the NBCE. Dr. Ferguson commented: "I am extremely proud to fund the WFC research awards as part of our ongoing commitment to the future of worldwide chiropractic."
Also during the annual meeting, the NBCE Board of Directors elevated the title of Horace C. Elliott from "executive director" to "executive vice president." NBCE delegates and alternate delegates approved this change, along with other changes to the bylaws. Mr. Elliott's title change was deemed necessary to more accurately reflect the level of responsibility delegated to him by the board.