Reviews - Title: Chiropractic: The Science and Art

Reviews

By Steven Eggleston, DC

Title: Chiropractic: The Science and Art Category: Educational Lectures Author: Arthur Croft, DC Publication: Slide presentation Publisher: Spine Research Institute of San Diego, (800) 423-3084

There is a new slide presentation available from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego. It is very professional and modern, something to consider if your slides look like they are from the 1970s. If you are giving presentations using just flip charts or a plastic spine, it will be difficult to impress a generation raised on MTV and video arcade games. If you have seen Dr. Croft's Emmy-nominated video "Whiplash: The Epidemic," you can believe that this slide presentation is of the highest quality.

The 52 slides come installed in a carousel and ready to use. Included with the program is an audio cassette of Dr. Croft making a presentation while using the slides. There is also a thorough set of notes which show each slide in order and the dialogue next to it, so you can practice without getting out the projector.

Finally, in the tradition of Dr. Croft's thoroughness, he includes copies of 27 referenced articles and research papers that are cited in the slides (about 150 pages). If anyone in your audience questions something you say, you have a copy of the original research to back you up.

I was very impressed with this program. It is a complete package that will allow even the novice lecturer immediate success. Most importantly, owning it allows you to be prepared to give a 30-90 minute presentation at any time to any group. Some of the best opportunities for me have been the last minute phone calls asking me to fill in for a speaker who has cancelled. I strongly recommend you purchase this program and use it to deliver your message of chiropractic. It is a phenomenal tool to get new patients on a regular basis.

Eggleston Rating: 10

References

Throughout the years, students at Palmer College and New York Chiropractic College have discovered that I love to use humor and self-incriminating stories as part of my lectures. So it was with great anticipation of new material that I picked up the little book Humorous Subluxations by Dr. Ken Alley. The book is filled with stories from the author, as well as contributions from DCs and office staff across the country. The author's 20-year practice experience in Oklahoma and Nebraska seems to have provided ample opportunity for mishaps, missteps and misstatements which occur with any prolonged contact with humans. The result is a delightful collection of verbal misunderstandings, physical faux pas, and comical observations of office life. Dr. Alley also uses his lighter observations to summarize those mistakes one ought NOT to make and words better left unsaid.

Of concern, however, was the pervasive overtone of sexuality in many of the stories in this collection. I am not known as being inordinately sensitive to jokes or stories with sexual innuendo, however the cumulative effect of stories based on sexual statements or actions and unnecessary, pejorative qualifiers (such as "little old lady"), raised my feminine hackles. In the current climate of concern about sexual harassment and gender bias, trigger phrases such as "third leg" and "turn me on," while representative of patient dialogue, do not merit repetition. Sensitivity to the emotional response to these terms cannot be dismissed. What comes to mind is the admonishment of Dr. Fred Barge that the patient must perceive the doctor as "involved, inhuman, asexual, kind and compassionate." Unfortunately, it was hard for me to appreciate some of the funnier aspects of these stories because of the prevalent sexual overtone.