HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1985-12-11, Page 35Page 4 Regional Value Spotter, December 11, 1965
it's controversial topic
Continued from page 1
you're spending a lot of time
in school and, on top of that,
you have homework and all
the research and paperwork
to do."
Harvey said medical doc-
tors comprised 15 to 20% off
the college's staff when he
was there. In addition, the col-
lege brought in specialists to
team teach or eve guest lec-
tures in their area of
expertise.
"That's one of the biggest
misconceptions about
chiropractors. Most people
don't realize that we go to
school, we go to university,
just like a medical doctor
does, and our course is as long
as a medical doctor's is. We
intern for about a year and a
half. There is an outpatient
clinic at the college as well as
a clinic in downtown Toronto.
We work as we might out in
our own practice but licensed
chiropractors supervise us
and make sure the patient's
best interest is kept in focus
the full time. If there is
anything people should know,
it's that we have a very strong
basis for our education, and a
very strong intern program to
make sure we are well
prepared for practice."
Harvey said he feels most
medical doctors are unaware
of the educational
background and don't really
understand what chiropractic
is about.
"Medical doctors seem to
think that the chiropractic ap-
proach is just a philosophical
one and that is not a correct
perception. It's an art, and a
.philosophy, and a science,
just like medicine is. I't's just
a different perspective.
"The biggest problem is
just a lack of understanding -
what chiropractic is, what
chiropractic involves, what
the educational aspects are,
what the goals are.
"I've made it my role ever
since I got into practice to
confront medical doctors
when we have a patient whose
care we are both supervising
and making them aware I'M
not a witch doctor, I'm not a
boogey man, I put my pants
on one leg at a time just like
they do, and I'm as concern-
ed for the patient's well-being
as they are. The' only dif-
ference' between us is that my
perception of how a patient's
problem should be handled is
different."
"I'm not . saying his is
wrong• and mine is right or
mine is wrong and his is right.
It's that we can both work
together in a patient's care
and the patient will do better
than they would with just one
or the other."
Howard S. Cameron, an Or-
thopaedic Surgeon in private
practice until five years ago,
is a Clinical Professor of Or-
thopaedics at the University
of Western Ontario, and a
Regional Medical Advisor
with the Worker's Compensa
tion Board, He disagrees a
lack of understanding is the
root of the controversy bet-
ween the two professions.
"Most physicians realize
the chiropractic training is
quite thorough - it involves
four years at the chiropractic
college in Toronto which, I
believe, has high standards,"
said Cameron. "The medical
profession feels differently
about the cause of illness.
Chiropractors believe it
originates with problems in
the spine while the medical
profession believes there are
other causes."
Cameron said changes
within the chiropractic pro-
fession itself has affected the
way they are now seen by
physicians.
"The medical profession
feels differently about
chiropractors than it did
,twenty years ago. Personally,
I feel there is a much better
rapport between chiroprac-
tors and doctors today.
"The days of the mail order
chiropractor are over. Their
educational standards are
much higher than they used to
be - at one time, it was possi-
ble to become a chiropractor
in the United States by taking
a correspondence course.
They also use more discretion
in determining what types of
illnesses they will treat.
"They are of course
recognized by the Ministry of
Health and the Worker's
Compensation Board. An in-
jured worker, if his claim is
accepted, has the choice of us-
ing them as his initial treating
agent, although there is a
limit on the amount of
coverage."
Cameron• said chiropractic
licensing and review boards
have contributed to their in-
creased acceptance. "I
believe their review board is
quite strict."
In this province, a
chiropractor must pass both
Canadian and Ontario board
examinations before being
allowed to practice. The
Chiropractic Review Com-
mittee, under the Ministry of
Health, polices the profession
but the Board of Directors of
Chiropractic also investigates
complaints of misconduct.
Harvey said the profession
has to be very strict with its
members because they are
still battling' an image
problem.
The American Medical
Association, he said, had a
council on quackery around
the early 1960's which
resulted in some chiroprac-
tors being • jailed "just,
because they were chiroprac-
tors. In some states, they
simply changed a law and.
said they were practicing
medicine without a license."
Chiropractic still suffers from
the quackery label,
"People have many
reasons for not liking their
doctor, or lawyer, or teacher, •
or what have you. If they are
- truly unsatisfied, it behooves
them to seek out someone else
in the profession, not to con-
demn the whole ,profession
because of their experience.
And this is what chiropractors
suffer from. This has been the
biggest cloud over the profes-
sion. Someone has a bad
ex-
perience and, automatically,
the whole profession is
quackery. How many times
has a medical doctor made an
error? And yet, medicine is
not quackery. It still does a lot
of great things for a lot of
people."
Harvey added his profes-
sion has been further
hampered because, unlike
medicine, chiropractic has
not had the funds to promote
its successes and innovations.
The profession has grown
over the years through"word
of mouth" and this is largely
the way most people still
come to "experience
chiro•sratic care."
"They hear about it from
another patient, or from a
talk you've given," said
Harvey. "We also have a cer-
tain number who are referred •
by their family doctors. I
have a few medical,doctors as
patients - and I have them as
patients because we've talk -
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