Written by: Stephanie Halloran
University of Western States SACA Immediate Past President

Two years ago, I decided to go to the National Chiropractic Leadership Conference (NCLC) as a 2nd quarter student. Part of the reason was the opportunity to leave school for three days, but mostly it was an attempt to appease my older sister. She was in her third year studying law at Florida State University and constantly telling me to be more active in the efforts to change health care laws and regulations instead of gripe about them. My thought process: go lobby one time and you’ll forever have a free ride to complain.

NCLC, for those who are not familiar, is a chiropractic conference that centers around three or four important issues identified by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) that are addressed in individual meetings with legislators. The weeks leading up to NCLC are spent learning about the issue briefs, why they are important and how to talk about them with Congress. The first year I attended I was dating a veteran, so it made sense for me to gravitate toward the brief addressing veterans access to chiropractic care. As of right now, chiropractic physicians are only in 50 out of 1,200 Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities around the country. At the same time, the opioid epidemic is skyrocketing in this demographic because a majority of the musculoskeletal complaints are being managed through pharmaceutical treatment and surgery. By the end of lobbying day, presenting that brief became less about proving a point to my sister and more about fighting for the rights of our servicemen and women.

Following my inaugural attendance at NCLC, I was determined to get more students involved. In 2015, we were able to bring 19 students and in 2016 we took 38 students and one alumnus. Our campus support and participation throughout the year has been unparalleled, as was demonstrated when we took home SACA Chapter of the Year at the welcome meeting. Not only that, we were also the chapter to raise the most money for the ACA-PAC, the Political Action Committee of the American Chiropractic Association, and placed third at the SACA’s Got Talent show.

Ignoring all the awards and accolades, why is NCLC so important? Being able to talk about your profession to a layperson is one of the most valuable tools in promoting it. Chiropractic medicine is very misunderstood in the public and can be difficult for even established doctors to communicate about what it is we do exactly. We train our attendees how to describe chiropractic and its benefits in a short and concise way that is not defensive or derogatory toward other health professions. NCLC also offers an avenue for students to connect with other students and doctors at a national level. It is very easy to get trapped in the UWS bubble for three years and this conference prevents that bubble from forming. The people who show up for NCLC are some of the most driven and inspirational people in our profession. They are the ones working tirelessly to make the chiropractic future so bright, and helping to drive it into the future.

Chiropractic medicine is a service profession. We are being trained to treat the public and enhance the quality of life for our patients. This year we fought for veteran’s access to care, our inclusion in TRICARE, consideration for the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and National Public Health Service Corps, as well as started a petition to change the coverage we have under Medicare. A majority of these issues are occurring due to lack of knowledge by the public as well as lawmakers and chiropractic physicians themselves.

I encourage current students to attend NCLC at least once while you are still in school. I promise you, the educational experience you have following your trip will forever be changed and you will have a renewed inspiration for what you have set out to do. If you are alumnae, I challenge you to reconnect with the ACA community as well as your local SACA chapter and offer your services. Your passion breeds our passion and our passion will breed the passion of future chiropractic generations. Our growth will inherently allow us to serve more of the population and help change the discriminatory laws we currently face.

Next year, I will be returning to Washington D.C. as an alumnus of UWS and nothing would give me more joy than to see 80 UWS students surrounded by fellow alums. Don’t be defined by what you did not know or did not do. Be proactive and be the change you wish to see in the world. And always – #SACAup!

Thanks in large part to Dr. Vern Saboe (class of 1979) and the Oregon Chiropractic Association, SACA received $3,500 in donations to help get them to the conference.

View more photos from the conference.

By Freya Moran

Of the 29 students who attended the Leaps into IM training, five of us were considered alternative care practitioners: a herbologist, a naturopath, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, an acupuncturist and myself. Near the end of our stay the faculty asked the five of us to sit as a panel and discuss alternative care, and what took place was irreplaceable.

At the beginning of the week, I found the conversation (regarding medical practice) between professions to be cautious at best. During the osteopathic demonstration, I was asked to demonstrate my own skills from the chiropractic perspective regarding the general physical and postural exam. After sitting through a week of presentations on documented research and evidence regarding the efficacy of various practices (including yoga, acupuncture, tai chi, etc.), people had a more open mind and even more questions regarding chiropractic care. So when we sat down for our panel discussion, it was no surprise the room was abuzz with questions.

During the panel discussion we tried to keep things informal by opening the floor to questions from the medical doctor (MD) and doctor of osteopathy (DO) students and faculty. The questions were cordial and included how exactly to refer, how to read chart notes and what conditions would merit a referral. Then one of the DO students carefully asked the difference between chiropractic and osteopathic practice, and when it would be appropriate for a DO to refer to a DC? Oh, and what the heck is a subluxation?

If, as a student, you’ve never asked yourself these questions then now is a good time to sit down and talk about it. And then talk about it some more. Then meet up with a mentor or shadow a chiropractic physician and talk about it with them too. I cannot say enough about the importance of constantly refining your thoughts on your position in medicine.

And then just to keep your mind busy (with all your vast amounts of free time), keep up with the research, the case studies and the trials. Use those research conclusions and your clinical experiences to continue to shape, change and refine your idea and philosophy of patient care and your place in human health. Don’t allow yourself to stay stagnant – push yourself to have the awkward conversations, change your approach, and surround yourself with people who don’t share the same opinions. How can we continue to grow as individuals and as a profession if we do not meet the needs and answer the questions we aren’t comfortable with answering?

These hard questions led to a robust and informative discussion about respect. After the student alternative care panel, we went to lunch and I suddenly found myself surrounded by curious young doctors, genuinely asking me what a chiropractic treatment approach would be for diabetes, cardio metabolic disease and osteoporosis. How would I co-manage obesity? Could I look at a shoulder sometime that evening? It was amazing how open and interested this group of MDs and DOs were regarding conservative management of the most common lifestyle diseases in America.

As a 7th quarter student, I definitely did not have all the answers. I haven’t read all the research. I’ve never written an essay on the history and philosophy of subluxation. I know that I can’t possibly accurately represent the views of so many in our immense profession, but what I do know is that I’m going to spend the rest of my career learning and continuing to have these amazingly brave conversations with my fellow health care providers and patients.

I have learned that there is no lecture, lab or seminar you can take to develop your individual philosophy – it obviously takes years of clinical experience and constant questioning – but being involved in LEAPS has offered me some insight into my future of answering questions about my profession and has inspired me to keep searching for answers.

This is the third and final installment of Freya Moran’s blog series regarding her experience as the first chiropractic student at the Leaps into IM annual leadership program in Oceanside, Calif.