History
"...manipulation is safe and effective for patients in the first
month of acute low back symptoms..."– The Clinical Practice Guideline, 1994
Chiropractic has been
practiced in America for over 100 years, but has an ageless place in the
evolution of health care. Hippocrates, the "father of modern medicine,"
utilized "manipulation" in his treatment techniques. The early Chinese are
also said to have included "manipulation" thousands of years ago. The role
of chiropractic in our health care system is well-established.
Chiropractors are licensed in all 50 states with many accredited chiropractic
universities nationwide. There are over 1,500 licensed Chiropractors in
Wisconsin.
Chiropractic History Dates
- 1895 D.D.
Palmer commences practice as a "chiropractor" in davenport,
Iowa.
- 1897 The Palmer School of
Chiropractic, the first chiropractic institution, opens.
- 1905 Minnesota
becomes the first U.S. state to recognize and license the practice of
chiropractic. Louisiana became the last state to in
1974
- 1923 Alberta
becomes the first province to license chiropractic in Canada. Ontario
follows in 1925.
Newfoundland is the last province, in 1992.
- 1933 The U.S.
council of State Chiropractic Examining Boards is established with a mandate
to provide unified standards for licensure. Renamed the Federation of
Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) in 1974.
- 1939 The Canton
of Zurich, Switzerland, becomes the first jurisdiction outside North America
to license the practice of chiropractic.
- 1944 The
Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) is established and,
to the present time, is the profession's foremost agency for funding of
postgraduate scholarship and research.
- 1963 The U.S.
National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) is established to promote
consistency and reciprocity between state examining boards.
- 1974 The U.S.
Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) is recognized by the federal
government as the accrediting agency for schools of chiropractic. This
leads to the development of affiliated accrediting agencies in Canada, Europe
and Australia/New Zealand.
- 1979
Chiropractic in New Zealand, the report of the NZ Commission of
Inquiry into Chiropractic, is published. This was the first government
commission to adopt a full judicial procedure, hearing evidence on oath and
subject to cross-examination when examining patients, chiropractors, medical
doctors and others on the role of the chiropractic profession. The
Commission's recommendations strongly endorse chiropractic services and call
for medical cooperation. The report has a major impact
internationally.
- 1987 Final judgement in the Wilk
vs American Medical Association case entered, opening the way for much greater
cooperation between medical and chiropractic doctors in education, research
and practice in the U.S. and, as a result, internationally.
- 1988 World Federation of
Chiropractic (WFC) is formed. The WFC, whose members are national
associations of chiropractors in over in over 70 countries, is admitted into
official relation with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a
non-governmental organization or NGO in January 1997.
- 1993 The
Magna Report in Canada, the first government-commissioned report by health
economists looking looking at the cost-effectiveness of chiropractic services,
recommends a primary role for chiropractors with back pain patients on grounds
of safety, costeffectiveness and patient preference, and concludes this will
save hundreds of millions annually in direct health care costs and work
disability payments.
- 1994
Government-sponsored expert panels developing evidence-based guidelines for
the management of patients with back pain in the U.S. ( Agency for Health Care
Policy and Research) and the U.K. (clinical Standards Advisory Group)
provide the first authoritative reports that manipulation is a proven and
preferred treatment approach for most acute low-back pain patients.
- 1996 U.S.
government begins official funding support for an ongoing agenda for
chiropractic research. To continue this agenda the Construal Center for
Chiropractic Research is formed in 1997, compressing chiropractic schools,
university research departments and federal government agencies, and is based
at Palmer College of Chiropractic.
REFERENCE- Chapman-Smith, David.
"The Chiropractic Profession." NCMIC Group Inc. 2000:
pp12.
