WFC conference on Philosophy in chiropratic education

Journal of the American Chiropractic Association, Jan 2001

The World Federation of Chiropractic, in conjunction with the Association of Chiropractic Colleges, recently brought together a broad spectrum of opinions about the place of philosophy in chiropractic, what chiropractic philosophy is, and even whether there is any such thing as "chiropractic philosophy." The conference brought forth both heat and light, providing a lively forum for discussion. A display of flags of participants' countries underlined the importance of this topic to chiropractors around the world.

WFC president Bruce S. Vaughan, DC, said he hoped the conference would bring participants closer to agreement on a shared core set of beliefs: "The philosophy or paradigm of chiropractic health care remains a source of dispute amongst chiropractors. This is a fundamental problem. Given that they receive mixed messages and are confused, members of the public and other health professions have diminished understanding, and therefore make reduced use of chiropractic services. This problem is aggravated by the current international growth of chiropractic education. Unless there is agreement on the philosophical basis and principles of chiropractic, chiropractors of different cultures, races, and nationalities will redefine chiropractic for themselves." Standing before the participants on a beautiful fall Florida Saturday, Dr. Vaughn said that chiropractic's enemy is discord in the political arena, discord in clinical approaches, and discord in philosophical views, and that this conference should lay the groundwork for change. "We don't ask people to think alike," he said, "but to work in harmony to offer what's best to the patients of chiropractic."

These are excerpts from some of the papers and talks given in Ft. Lauderdale.