Bio: Sharron Fuchs, DC, was born in Ontario, Ore. and moved to Salem, Ore. when she was 10 years old. Upon graduation from Oregon College of Education in Monmouth, Ore., she went into the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, West Africa where she met her husband, Richard, who is from Vermont. After living in Vermont for a year, they moved to Portland in 1978 for her to begin attending UWS, then Western States Chiropractic College (WSCC). Dr. Fuchs and her husband have two sons, one who was born during her second year at WSCC. Having been active in ballet and gymnastics in her youth, the focus on the neurological, muscular, skeletal and facial systems interested her in the field of chiropractic. The help that chiropractic care provides for pain and disability in an integrated format is what inspires Dr. Fuchs the most.
What inspires you to donate to UWS?
I donate to UWS to strengthen and expand what is taught by the university. I am excited to see UWS directly and primarily involved in defining our scope of practice for the Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners (OBCE).
Share some things you are most passionate about, including other charitable causes.
I am passionate about our scope of practice and the expansion of chiropractic care into our laws for the benefit of both the public and the profession. I am involved in my Neighborhood Association Land Use Committee and a relatively decent gardener; I have a personal mission to donate plants to my community.
Tell us about your professional endeavors since graduation. What aspect(s) of your career are you most proud of?
I was involved in a car accident three months prior to my graduation from WSCC. I injured my neck and my shoulder, which precluded me from practice. Fortunately, I was able to find work in a plaintiff’s personal injury law firm, from 1982 to the present, where we help severely injured people and their families. I served on the Rules Advisory Committee for the Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners for a number of years. I continue to be active in board happenings, as I want to make sure our scope of practice is kept broad and not improperly restricted due to lack of understanding of our history, lack of understanding process, lack of understanding of our education and lack of understanding of our absolute right to evolve professionally given our statutes.
When you look back on your experiences at UWS, what sticks out as memorable? How did your time at UWS prepare you for your career/life?
I had an undergraduate degree in the natural sciences – biology major and physical chemistry minor when I entered WSCC. With the strength of my pre-professional education, my time at WSCC allowed me to relax and learn the things that truly interested me. I enjoyed the campus and peaceful surroundings of WSCC. I had a child after my second year of school and we had a daycare center on campus. I took my son into the dissection lab and to some classes during the summer session – he is now a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. The teachers at WSCC were the stalwarts of chiropractic in Oregon. I truly wish I could go back and learn more of our history from them.
What do you hope to pass on to the world through your charitable giving (or mentoring or volunteering)?
I want to see the chiropractic profession expand not contract. In order for that to happen, we must continue to support our chiropractic colleges, be smart, be brave and be forward-looking. The public will be the ultimate beneficiaries.
