B.J.’s final words, that we have a “sacred trust” and should “guard it well,” are often quoted. Ironically, the generation of chiropractors since B.J. has done the worst job in the history of the profession in preserving what the Palmers handed down to us. Our efforts, myself included, have been so poor that the “sacred trust” is precariously close to being lost to the profession. For many in the chiropractic profession, that would be a great day. For most of the profession, it would pass with little if any notice, and for the few of us who consider ourselves guardians of that trust, we will probably do what we are doing now, blame it on outside factors or circumstances beyond our control.
We all share equally in the problem, some by commission and some by omission. A few years ago we had pockets of small groups all over the country working to protect the principle. Now we are fortunate if we have one or two people in any geographical area or any organization or institution that is committed to the philosophy of chiropractic.
Less than 20 years ago, we had three straight schools as well as a straight accrediting agency recognized by the federal government as equivalent to the CCE. Today that accrediting agency is gone as are two of the three schools and the third is desperately trying to hold on to their philosophy despite it slipping further through their fingers every day. The national organization is no longer the force that it once was and some of the straightest of chiropractors will not even support it. Practice management consultants for the most part, are more interested in helping chiropractors make a lot of money than in giving them the tools to perpetuate real chiropractic. They are teaching practitioners to either get their money while they can, or to have a “chameleon practice” that can adapt to whichever way the profession goes.
Those who claim to still adhere to and promote the chiropractic philosophy seem to me to fall into two groups. The first is the intellectual philosophy crowd. These are the chiropractors who know what chiropractic is and who are guarding it well by locking it away in the reinforced steel safe of their minds. They may take it out on occasion to show it to a practice member or to share it at a convention but for the most part they want nothing to do with anyone in chiropractic, sadly, not even each other. They have no enthusiasm, little, if any, burning desire to share chiropractic with the world outside of their practice/community and even less desire to share it with the profession. For the most part chiropractic philosophy is an academic endeavor and evokes no emotion or enthusiasm. I must admit that I have been a part of that group and while I can list my reasons and excuses, the profession is less because of it.
The second group that claims to adhere to the philosophy is what I call the enthusiasm crowd. They are what I have previously referred to as traditional chiropractors. The intellectual crowd will not associate with them because their philosophy does not meet the strict parameters of non-therapeutic/objective straight chiropractic. They have a few seminars which seem to be well attended but only reinforce that “chiropractic is an alternative to medicine” and the “chiropractic gets sick people well” mentality. They produce enthusiastic chiropractors but they have little foundation in their philosophy and a profession without substance to its philosophy cannot go on forever depending solely upon charismatic speakers and a pep-rally mentality. Eventually that enthusiasm will fade.
So there we are. We have one group with a rational, logical philosophy that can be argued academically, but lacks the enthusiasm and inclination to sell it to the profession and then the public. The other group has enthusiasm but lacking a clear and defensible philosophy. They appear to most of the profession to be pseudo-religious cultists.
There are numerous other problems that confront us, not the least of which is third-party pay, the prospects of socialized medicine, waning enrollments in our colleges and the “health science universities” inference that you cannot make a living just practicing chiropractic. Everything we seem to be doing, all our efforts to promote our profession appear to me to be self-destructive, things like combining medical and chiropractic practices and research (See Research-The Greatest Threat to the Future of Chiropractic).
So what is the answer? Well, the traditional chiropractors need to get some philosophy, give up their therapeutic, “chiropractic corrects the cause of disease” and get a little non-therapeutic philosophy. However, they do need to keep their enthusiasm. We, the non-therapeutic chiropractors need to get excited about what it is we do. When a terminal cancer patient gets well in your office, that can get you excited, real excited. However, when the next five do not get better, your enthusiasm wanes very quickly. We need to get excited about what we truly do. We allow the innate intelligence of the body to express itself to a greater degree. That occurs in every person every time they receive an adjustment. If we cannot get excited about that and about the possibilities that can occur as a result, in every person, young or old, with symptoms or without, then we need to better understand what this chiropractic thing is all about. Are there enough young chiropractors (at heart or in years) out there to pick up the ball that my generation has fumbled? I really do not know. If there are, I sure would like to know it. Do me a favor, email me at jstraussdc@f-a-c-e.com and let me know. Just say, “I am still excited about what I do as a chiropractor” or some other short note. I promise I will not ask you for anything in return or try to sell you something. I just want to know if there are still some people out there who are interested in seeing chiropractic turn around and reach the level it was meant to reach and serve humanity as it was intended. V24n1