Best Chiropractic Practice in Portland

Posted on by Dana Schatz

Equilibrium named best chiropractic practice in Portland by Willamette Week

Clinic is owned and staffed by UWS alums and faculty

Willamette Week recently released the Best of Portland 2016 list – as voted on by readers. A big winner was Equilibrium, an integrated health care clinic, that provides chiropractic services as well as acupuncture and massage. The clinic is owned by University of Western States (UWS) class of 2000 alums Nicole Bhalerao, DC, and Shireesh Bhalerao, DC, MCR, CCSP. Class of 2015 alum, Cydney Keller, DC, also serves as a staff chiropractic physician.

Dr. Shireesh Bhalerao, associate professor at UWS, teaches chiropractic and clinical sciences. He believes that the clinic’s focus on a more evidence-based model has helped differentiate Equilibrium from other integrative health clinics.

“We strive to incorporate the best available research evidence into our clinical decision-making. Many patients have complimented us on our efforts to do so. They appreciate the extra effort our practitioners make to find relevant, high-quality research and apply it to their care,” said Dr. Bhalerao. “This approach has also led to a strong referral network with local medical physicians.”

Dr. Bhalerao believes there is a more important differentiator.

“Our patients have always been our central focus. Winning this award means that they recognize this,” said Dr. Bhalerao. “They appreciate the care they receive at Equilibrium. This means a lot to me and the rest of the staff.”

Health Plan Covers Integrative Medicine

Posted on by Dana Schatz

Oregon Health Plan to cover chiropractic care and other integrative medicine services in the treatment of back pain

UWS alumnus served on committee and a faculty member provided research supporting an integrated approach to pain management

oregon health plan saboe

University of Western States alumnus Dr. Vern Saboe, serving as a member of the Back Lines Reorganizations Task Force of the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Health Evidence Review Commission (HERC), helped to change policy that will now provide coverage under the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) for chiropractic care, acupuncture, cognitive behavioral therapy, osteopathic manipulation, physical therapy and occupational therapy in the treatment of back pain. The new policy changes became effective July 1, 2016.

In his role as a member of the task force, Dr. Saboe reached out to the integrated health care community for research and evidence that supported the importance of conservative and integrative care. UWS faculty member Dr. Daniel Redwood, director and faculty member in the UWS Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine degree program, worked with Dr. Saboe to help provide a valuable evidence-based critique of the initial draft. The previous guidelines placed more emphasis on pain medication and surgery. Dr. Redwood’s critique, according to Dr. Saboe, was critical in shifting the group’s focus to a more integrated approach.

According to the OHP Back Policy Changes Fact Sheet, “The HERC based its decisions on new evidence, including a bio-psycho-social model designed to help people with back problems resume normal activities. This model will help people manage their pain with less reliance on medication and fewer costly surgeries. Until now, the OHP has limited treatment to patients who have muscle weakness or other signs of nerve damage. Beginning in 2016, treatments will be available for all back conditions. Before treatment begins, providers will assess patients to determine their level of risk for chronic back pain, and whether they meet criteria for a surgical consultation.”

The OHP states that in 2013, about eight percent of OHP recipients saw a provider for back conditions, and more than half of those individuals received narcotic medications, often for many months. Providing conservative and integrative options for patients will help reduce the chance of opioid addiction and the costs to both the individual and the community, associated with such addiction.

“This type of integrated care approach is going to help patients with back pain reduce dependence on medication, avoid surgery and increase their overall quality of life. We are excited Oregon has embraced this shift in care,” Dr. Joseph Brimhall, president of University of Western States said.

The decision to cover integrated pain management care came after four years of exhaustive policy work by the task force, comprised of a neurosurgeon, a chiropractic physician, an acupuncturist, an orthopedic surgeon, a primary care physician, a physiatrist, physical therapists, specialists in mental health and addiction, a health plan medical director, pain specialists, and a national expert in the evidence on treatments for back pain. As part of their process they reviewed a large body of evidence about the effectiveness of various treatments and the potential harms of certain therapies.

The Oregon Collaborative for Integrative Medicine (OCIM) will assist the OHP in implementing this policy shift. University of Western States, a founding member of OCIM, will be partnering to help operationalize this change at the OHP.

 

Faculty Member Scored Most-Read Study

Posted on by Dana Schatz
HNFM adjunct faculty member had the most read study regarding medicine on research website

Tim Sharpe, a Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine (HNFM) adjunct faculty member at University of Western States (UWS), recently had the distinction of his paper “Evaluation of the Efficacy of LactiGo™ Topical Gel as an Ergogenic Aid,” being ranked as the most viewed paper on ResearchGate under the category of “medicine.” Sharpe was also the most read author in the United States in August, with more than 50,000 reads since debuting in June.

The paper is based on a study Sharpe and co-author Chad Macias did using a carnosine gel on athletes. Carnosine is a compound of two amino acids, most commonly found in red meat. There are hundreds of peer-reviewed studies that show the potential for carnosine as having profound impact in many areas, including anti-aging, pain, a variety of medical conditions and sports performance. Sharpe and Macias learned of a transdermal carnosine gel (LactiGoTM) and decided to try it on athletes at the Institute for Human Kinetics. Their athletes earned four gold and one silver medal at the Rio Olympics.

In June 2016, they published a peer-reviewed study to examine the supplement in more detail.

“We had eleven professional soccer players perform two different tests designed to test first maximal aerobic capacity (lower intensity) and second to test more anaerobic performance (higher intensity),” Sharpe said. “We compared their performance before using the gel and after using the gel. The performance increases seen were very impressive, averaging around five percent in the lower intensity testing and around four percent in the higher intensity testing. Maximum improvements of up to 15 percent were seen.”

The paper was first published on June 1, 2016. Since then, Kansas University did their own double-blind placebo-controlled trial showing similar results. Sharpe and Macias are planning to conduct two more studies on LactiGoTM planned for publication within the next eight months.

UWS HNFM student Jennifer Warstler Kryvicky helped with the statistical analysis for the paper. She is currently conducting her own double-blind placebo-controlled study on LactiGoTM gel as her capstone project.

sharpe study

UWS and Siker Imaging Announce Affiliation

Posted on by Dana Schatz

University of Western States and Siker Imaging Announce Imaging Affiliation

Partnership gives UWS diagnostic imaging residency students more training opportunities

In August 2016, University of Western States (UWS) entered into a collaborative agreement with Siker Medical Imaging and Intervention (SMI), a private outpatient diagnostic imaging company founded in 2004 in Portland, Oregon. SMI provides high-resolution MRI, CT scans, diagnostic ultrasound and digital X-ray services.

As part of this newly-founded relationship UWS radiology residents will be on site at one of two Siker Imaging facilities for educational observation as well as hands-on clinical learning through participation with a variety of technologists, radiologists and patients.

“This is such an exciting educational opportunity for our residents,” Dr. Beverly Harger, director of radiology at UWS said. “Our relationship with SMI will give our residents direct access to advanced imaging modalities such as MRI and CT, enhancing their development of skills necessary for comprehensive imaging interpretation.”

Another part of this agreement is that UWS imaging center staff will be interpreting x-ray studies for patients referred to SMI from Portland-area chiropractic physicians.

“Siker Imaging and our referring DCs value the UWS imaging team for its expertise in interpreting digital x-rays,” Sean Callaghan, chief operating officer at SMI said. “This is a great addition to our array of sub-specialty services.”

“This really is a great opportunity for University of Western States and Siker Imaging,” Dr. Harger said.  “While providing SMI with a valuable service, we are also providing excellent learning opportunities for our residents. The affiliation also gives us direct contact with referring chiropractic physicians in our community, not only our alumni but also those not affiliated with the university. This is a great way to foster our relationship with these important groups.”

siker imaging

Research Publishes on Headache Study

Posted on by Dana Schatz
UWS Center for Outcomes Studies publishes paper on protocols for headache study

For the past five years, the University of Western States Center for Outcomes Studies has been conducting a randomized control trial (RTC) to assess how manual adjustments can alleviate cervicogenic headaches. The trial was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. It is a community-based, observer-blind RTC and the first full-scale RTC assessing the dose-response of spinal manipulation therapy outcomes for cervicogenic headaches.

The Center for Outcomes Studies has recently published an in-depth paper that describes the protocols used in this RTC with the intention to guide other researchers on how to effectively structure and recreate a similar multiyear, multi-million dollar randomized control trial.

Results of the study have not been published yet because there are still active patients in the study. Once the patients have completed the study, the Center for Outcomes Studies will analyze the data and start publishing results.

headache study

#UWSruns Hood to Coast

Posted on by Dana Schatz

By: Bradley Crowe, 8th quarter DC Student and participant in Hood to Coast

The Hood to Coast relay is an annual event where teams of runners race from the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood all the way to the town of Seaside on the Oregon coast. Every year the route changes slightly, but the race covers approximately 199 miles each year. Teams consist of twelve runners divided into two vans. The race is set up so that the six runners in van one take turns running and then hand over to the runners of van two. It continues to alternate throughout the race, so that the van that is not currently running can try to get food or some sleep before taking over running duties once again. Runners each run three legs of anywhere between four and eight miles distance, for a total of 36 legs.

hood to coast

University of Western States was lucky enough to get a team into the race this year. The team was called the Western States Running Club (WSRC). It consisted of, in order of running legs: Jimmy Westover, Natasha Smith, Matt Botcher, Savannah Shortz, Brad Crowe and Kelsey Woodland in van one; and Rachel Wysocki, Kaitlyn Haese, Sissel Holloway, Cornelius Van de Wall, Ryan Takagi and Parker Pratt in van two. The team wouldn’t be complete without our amazing drivers, who took time out of their weekends to support the team: Raquel Osborn and Dr. Jenny Nordeen in van one, and Hank Hirsh in van two. Thank you so much!

The race started on Friday, August 26 at noon. It was beautiful and clear, with temperatures trending up into the 90s. Gorgeous, but not ideal temperatures for running. The first leg was a fast and steep descent down Timberline Highway, ending at the Government Camp rest area. The transition area was chaotic with vans, spectators and runners everywhere. After the exchange, the race followed Highway 26 down the mountain. It was almost completely exposed, so the heat took a major toll on runners. Thankfully, many supporters left out bottles of water or hoses for people to douse themselves as they ran by.

The race continued along Highway 26 all the way to Sandy High School – the first major exchange between vans. It was amazing to be able to look back up to Mt. Hood and see how far we had actually run. Van two continued mostly along the Springwater Corridor bike trail, all the way to the Hawthorne Bridge. This was the second major van exchange, and it was crazy. The Portland to Coast race also starts here so there were hundreds of people and hundreds of vans everywhere. And it was dark! Fortunately, the teams had flags to help identify so we were able to connect seamlessly. The next section crossed the Hawthorne Bridge and then headed up to Highway 30. In the full darkness, it was an amazing sight. The stars were out, with hundreds of blinking lights bobbing off into the distance. This was the second section for van one, so many runners were slowing and struggling in this section, but the WSRC ran strong and were able continue pushing ahead of many teams that had started earlier in the day.

The next major van exchange was at the Columbia County Fairgrounds in St. Helens at roughly the halfway point of the race. Now it was true chaos, with hundreds of vans converging in the darkness as both van one and van two rejoined each other after more than 100 miles of running. Van two took over to run through the dead of night along country roads out to Highway 47. The temperatures cooled significantly, but the WSRC continued to run strong and pass teams throughout the night.

The fourth major van exchange took place near the town of Mist. Hundreds of vans were parked throughout the fields with tarps and tents laid out everywhere as runners desperately tried to capture even just a few moments of sleep. With the sun just rising, the exchange back to van one took place around 6 a.m. Van one continued to run down teams in front of them as they cruised along Highway 202 toward the coast.

The final major van exchange took place near Olney, where runners were again trying to grab whatever scraps of sleep they could. With that, van one’s job was done and it was up to van two to bring the race home to Seaside. Overcast skies made for perfect running conditions and WSRC runners felt strong right to the finish. The team finished their 199 mile run in 27 hours, 13 minutes and 58 seconds. This earned them a 9th place finish in their category, out of more than 130 teams, and an outstanding 97th place overall.

Thank you to University of Western States for the support in making this happen. Huge thank you specifically to Raquel Osborn and Pete Szucs, who were instrumental in helping to organize the team. And thank you again to Osborn, Dr. Nordeen, and Hirsh for being amazing and volunteering to drive. And a final thank you to our gracious volunteers: Leah Sartison, Kim Nicks and Tricia Clements. Congratulations to everyone who participated!

hood to coast 2016

New HNFM Elective Course

Posted on by Dana Schatz

Nutrition Practice Strategies

The Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine program just added an exciting new elective course: Nutrition Practice Strategies.

This new course helps prepare students for success by emphasizing advanced nutrition counseling techniques, case analysis tools and practice building strategies. While even experienced clinicians will find useful concepts and methods in this course, students without a prior clinical background will receive a powerful head start on their practice development by learning how to effectively create a management plan and guide their clients or patients to better health.

The instructor for this course is a Master of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine graduate, Kathy Harrington, whose first-hand experience in starting a successful nutrition practice without a prior health care degree is included as a key component of the course’s approach.