In a historic meeting on May 10, for the first time, editors of the leading chiropractic research journals met for a day devoted to confronting the issues related to the publication of research-related information. The meeting was the result of a decision made at the June 1989 meeting of the board of trustees of the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) to establish the Chiropractic Research Journal Editors' Council (CRJEC).
This was the first of what will be annual meetings to be held in conjunction with FCER's International Conference on Spinal Manipulation (ICSM). Results of the meeting were significant and far-reaching.
In an effort to establish common standards among the publications, guidelines were established for the peer review process, and the editors voted to adopt the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. This document, established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, contains guidelines for a standardized format for preparing manuscripts, as well as issues related to ethics in publishing.
A resolution was also passed to encourage FCER to bring together all existing indices of chiropractic literature to create one common chiropractic index for the profession. By doing this, information would be made more accessible to those interested in chiropractic research.
A formal document representing the deliberations and outcomes of the meeting will be published in the CRJEC members' journals.
Members of the CRJEC are editors whose journals are primary source, peer reviewed publications that publish new knowledge that adds to a chiropractic-relevant database. Editors attending the meeting were: Thomas Bergmann, D.C., Chiropractic Technique; Mary Ann Chance-Peters, Journal of the Australian Chiropractic Association; Wolfgang Gilliar, D.O., Manual Medicine; Eric Griffiths, D.C., D.C. Tracts; Robert Hazel, D.C., Chiropractic Sports Medicine; Roy Hilderbrandt, D.C., American Journal of Chiropractic Medicine; Grace Jacobs, D.C., Journal of Chiropractic Education; Dana Lawrence, D.C., JMPT; Simon Leyson, D.C., European Journal of Chiropractic; Silvano Mior, D.C., Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association; and Robert Wagnon, Ph.D., Chiropractic -- The Journal of Chiropractic Research.
Invited guests were: Donald Petersen, Jr., Dynamic Chiropractic; and Reed Phillips, D.C., Ph.D., Clinical Chiropractic Report (publication forthcoming). Also in attendance, representing FCER, were: Doris Bitler, M.A.; Spinal Manipulation, FCER's quarterly review of research literature; and Steve Wolk, Ph.D., FCER's deputy executive director for education and research who convened the meeting and acted as facilitator.
ICSM Proceedings: An Investment in Your Future
The amount of research being conducted in the field of chiropractic is increasing daily; the issues confronting the profession, meaningful and complex; and the new focus of chiropractic colleges on research, unprecedented. With the demands of a busy practice, how can a dedicated chiropractic professional stay current with this rapidly changing field?
The Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research's (FCER) 1990 International Conference on Spinal Manipulation (ICSM), gave leaders in the field of chiropractic research a forum to explore the crucial topics that affect the profession. Now, the 1990 ICSM Proceedings offer those who were unable to attend, a cost-effective way to become current on the critical research and professional issues facing chiropractic. An investment of only $35 (Canada please add $9 shipping) will help make you a more effective practitioner by increasing your knowledge of the research and issues that will shape the future of chiropractic.
No other document or publication in chiropractic provides such a comprehensive overview of the current state of chiropractic research. The 1990 ICSM Proceedings contain 73 original papers covering 15 scientific and clinical topic areas covering such salient issues as: low back pain treatment efficacy; diagnostic imaging of the spine; occupational health and treatment cost-effectiveness; measurement and analysis of the cervical spine; and the biomechanics of the lumbar spine.
In addition to scientific papers, the 1990 ICSM Proceedings contains papers on approaches to the development of standards of care in chiropractic. These papers reflect the activities and opinions of doctors of chiropractic and researchers who have been involved in one of the most important issues facing chiropractic today: the definition of its standards of care for health conditions treated by chiropractors.
The 1990 ICSM Proceedings also reflects the level of development of chiropractic colleges in fostering an atmosphere for research and allocating the necessary resources for research activities. Position papers submitted by four influential college presidents give valuable insight into the role of research on the chiropractic college campus. The Proceedings contains papers by the following presidents: John L. Miller, D.C., president, Palmer College of Chiropractic-West; James W. Parker, D.C., president, Parker College of Chiropractic; Sid E. Williams, D.C., president, Life Chiropractic College; and James F. Winterstein, D.C., president, National College of Chiropractic.
Many relevant diagnostic signs are not performed deliberately by the examiner or by the patient at the examiner’s direction. They are observed as the patient reacts to their condition. Fortin’s finger sign, Minor’s sign, and Vanzetti’s sign are three examples of this principle.
Spearheaded by burgeoning scientific and clinical research literature, psychedelics have reached a level of media coverage and popular interest that has not been seen for over half a century. By “psychedelics,” we are referring to the unique class of substances that includes psilocybin (the active compound found in so-called “magic mushrooms”), LSD, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ayahuasca, 5-MeO-DMT, and mescaline – each of which occurs in the natural world (except for LSD, which is a semi-synthetic compound).
While working at the Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., one of the primary care physicians stated that imaging every patient prior to receiving chiropractic was not medically necessary. It was at that point I reconsidered the need for the imaging of every patient to avoid malpractice.
