PHOENIX, Arizona -- While the upstart Los Angeles Lakers were trying to thwart the Phoenix Suns and Charles Barkley in the first round of the NBA playoffs, another prominent group was in town. Doctors from as far away as Hong Kong and Australia had come to this desert community in the Valley of the Sun for the International Chiropractors Association's 67th annual convention April 6-9.
The ICA bestowed its highest honor during the convention -- Chiropractor of the Year -- to Dr. John Hofmann, ICA representative to the Council of Chiropractic Education (CCE).Several other ICA members also received deserved accolades:
Dr. Hofmann, a Logan College graduate who practices in Allen Park, Michigan, was the 44th recipient of the ICA's Chiropractor of the Year award, first presented in 1950.
A powerful advocate for chiropractic during the past year, Dr. Hofmann testified as the ICA's expert witness at Congressional subcommittee hearings on HR 608, the bill to commission chiropractors in the military. His was a compelling voice for chiropractic, as Dr. Hofmann served in Vietnam with the Marine Corp 1969-1971 and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V for valor.
His cogent testimony before the Senate and the House was certainly a contributing factor in the passage of the bill by the 102nd Congress.
In his statements to Congress, Dr. Hofmann pointed to the misguided approach of the military in not taking advantage of what chiropractic has to offer and the potential for "full cooperation between health professions, as a team effort, to provide optimal services to the patient at the highest level of quality."
Serving on CCE's board of directors and currently secretary to the Commission on Accreditation (COA), he was recognized in 1991 by the ICA for Distinguished Service as their representative to the CCE, and was reappointed that same year to serve as ICA representative for another three-year term.
Dr. Hofmann is also co-chairperson of both the legislative and political action committee of the Michigan Chiropractic Council (MCC). The MCC has twice named him Chiropractor of the Year, and his awards for distinguished service are numerous.
A successful practitioner and a staff member of New Center Hospital in Detroit, Dr. Hofmann is author and co-author of several well-known office management procedures, practice manuals, and videos. He is a dynamic and motivating speaker and has made several TV appearances on national and local networks on behalf of chiropractic.
Convention Highlights
The convention opened with the awarding of a pair of 1994 Superbowl tickets donated by King Koil Sleep Products. Special friend of chiropractic Mark May, who has played in three Superbowls and is now with the Phoenix Cardinals, was the appropriate choice to draw the name of the winner.
The educational portion of the convention included:
"It's exciting when an event such as this comes together so successfully, said ICA President Dr. Jim Gregg. "Though we had a larger than usual turnout, we wish more could have shared the camaraderie we experienced here."
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.
On Feb. 1, 2024, two more legislators – John R. Carter (R-Texas) and Robert “Bob” Good (R-Va.) – co-sponsored the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2023, bringing the co-sponsor total to 155, two more than the total achieved over the entire two-year congressional cycle in which identical legislation last appeared (2021-22).
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.
