[Times art]
To poke fun at Florida State University's bid for a chiropractic school, an FSU professor has created a new campus map. Opponents of the proposed school say more than 500 faculty members have signed petitions against it.
Posted on 01/01/2005 7:13:21 AM PST by aculeus
Some threaten to resign over the proposed school.
A growing number of professors in the Florida State University College of Medicine are saying they will resign if FSU administrators continue to pursue a proposed chiropractic school.
"I would no longer wish to volunteer my teaching energies to FSU medical school, should it encompass a school of chiropractic," wrote Dr. Ian Rogers, an assistant professor at FSU's Pensacola campus, in a Dec. 15 e-mail. "This is plainly ludicrous!!!!"
The threatened resignations - at least seven to date, all from assistant professors who work part time - reflect a belief among many in the medical establishment that chiropractic is a "pseudo-science" that leads to unnecessary and sometimes harmful treatments. Professors are even circulating a parody map of campus that places a fictional Bigfoot Institute, School of Astrology and Crop Circle Simulation Laboratory near a future chiropractic school.
But the professors' stance has a political aim, too.
Opposition is clearly mounting as the chiropractic school heads for crucial votes in January before the FSU board of trustees and the state Board of Governors.
In fact, the school is now seen as a test case for the fledgling Board of Governors, which critics have accused of kowtowing to Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature on the higher education issues it is supposed to oversee.
FSU was closed for the holidays Tuesday. FSU president T.K. Wetherell, provost Larry Abele and John Thrasher, chairman of the FSU board of trustees, could not be reached for comment.
But Sen. Dennis Jones, the Treasure Island Republican who spearheaded legislative support for the school in the spring, said the professors were "overreacting."
He accused anti-chiropractic groups from outside the state of stirring faculty opposition at FSU.
"If they resign, so be it," said Jones, a chiropractor himself. The instructors don't deserve to teach at FSU, he said, "if they're putting their credentials with people known for promoting professional bigotry."
The Legislature appropriated $9-million annually for the chiropractic school, which was pushed by Jones and then-Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, an FSU graduate. It would be the only school of its kind in the country.
As supporters envision it, more than 100 new faculty members would train legions of chiropractors, with a special emphasis on Hispanic and African-American students. The school would also draw lucrative federal grants in alternative medicine.
Planning began years ago, but criticism didn't ramp up until after the legislative session.
Some opponents see the school as an end run around the Board of Governors, which oversees the state's 11 universities but has yet to consider the chiropractic school. Last week, a group headed by former university system chancellor E.T. York filed a lawsuit against the board, accusing it of failing to flex its constitutionally granted muscle and pointing to the chiropractic school as a prime example.
But some FSU faculty members are upset, too, fearing the school will shatter FSU's academic reputation. The list of critics include FSU's two Nobel laureates - Robert Schreiffer, a physicist, and Harold Walter Kroto, a chemist - and Robert Holton, the chemistry professor who developed the cancer-fighting drug Taxol, which has brought FSU tens of millions of dollars in royalties.
In recent weeks, more than 500 faculty members have signed petitions against the chiropractic school, including about 70 in the medical college, said Dr. Raymond Bellamy, an assistant professor who is leading the charge against the proposal. The medical college has more than 100 faculty members.
Some of them say they're willing to do more than sign a petition.
"I teach wonderful medical students from Florida State University here in Orlando," Dr. James W. Louttit wrote in an e-mail to Bellamy, who shared it with the St. Petersburg Times. "If they decide to start a chiropractic school I would no longer be able to support this program."
"It should come as no surprise that no major medical institution in this country, public or private, has embraced chiropractic medicine," wrote Dr. Henry Ho, a Winter Park physician and FSU assistant professor, in another e-mail. "If Florida State University were to do so, its fledgling attempt for credibility as a medical institution of stature would be severely jeopardized."
The situation at FSU isn't the first time chiropractors have sought to tie themselves to an established university.
In the late 1990s, faculty at York University in Toronto - one of Canada's largest schools - considered plans to affiliate with Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. The plan would have brought York millions of dollars in new facilities and donations and given the chiropractic school academic credibility.
After a bitter, years-long fight, York faculty narrowly vetoed the plan in 2001.
At FSU, faculty have not officially voiced their concerns about the chiropractic school. Bellamy said they fear retaliation from lawmakers if they do.
"Everybody wants somebody else to kill it," he said.
Ron Matus can be reached at 727 893-8873 or
matus@sptimes.com
© Copyright 2003 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved
[Times art]
To poke fun at Florida State University's bid for a chiropractic school, an FSU professor has created a new campus map. Opponents of the proposed school say more than 500 faculty members have signed petitions against it.
A Chiropractic School would be better next to the Law School.
Note the large building in lower right hand corner.
As long as they don't try to treat allergies with spinal manipulations or advocate coffee enemas, they're fine with me.
But of course--when my hip & back get gimpy, my chiropractor fixes me right up with one $25 office visit and no drugs. I'm in & out in 15 minutes & that's allowing for time spent chewing the fat. Medical establishment can't have that.
I love these guys! I have only marginal respect for SOME chiropractors.
I worked with a man who took a mail order course in Chiropractic. Before he was through with the course he made offers to fellow employees to "cure" anything from cancer to bed-wetting by a simple "adjustment."
He left his regular job to be a full time chiropractor. Lost track of him but I don't doubt that he had plenty of customers.
Professors break back of Chiropractic school.
I'm all for tolerance toward goofy people and nutty beliefs, but the prof is right in trying to maintain SOME standards as an institute of higher learning.
I once toured a "Chiropractic College"... There was no library (or any need for one).
Right you are. See post 10.
My own experience parallels yours.
Incidentally my last chiropractor went to prison for insurance fraud. He had a number of MDs working with him to "doctor" claims.
Any competent Osteopath could do that for you.
Chiropractic is the first and easiest step on the slippery-slope to homeopathy. Too bad the 'physician' in the article has forgotten the difference between anecdote and science and between 'feeling good' and medicine. By the standard illustrated in the article, we should all be feelin' gooood smokin' a doobie
"A Chiropractic School would be better next to the Law School."
Yes, Chiropractic fraud cannot exist without ambulance chasing attorneys arranging and setting up insurance fraud schemes with clinics and chiros.
I've met some (OK, most) who were quacks. They claimed to cure diabetes, measles, etc., by spinal manulipation.
I've also mea a few who only claimed to be a sort of masseur. One told me his entire course was two years of anatomy but he didn't claim to do more than relieve stress. Most of his clients were long-haul truckers and football players.
Sorry...not 'article' but previous post.
PUBLIC LAW 107-135 – JAN. 23, 2002
Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care
Programs Enhancement Act of 2001
...
SEC. 204. PROGRAM FOR PROVISION OF CHIROPRACTIC CARE AND SERVICES TO VETERANS.
(a) REQUIREMENT FOR PROGRAM- Subject to the provisions of this section, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a program to provide chiropractic care and services to veterans through Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers and clinics.
(b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS- Veterans eligible to receive chiropractic care and services under the program are veterans who are enrolled in the system of patient enrollment under section 1705 of title 38, United States Code.
(c) LOCATION OF PROGRAM- The program shall be carried out at sites designated by the Secretary for purposes of the program. The Secretary shall designate at least one site for such program in each geographic service area of the Veterans Health Administration. The sites so designated shall be medical centers and clinics located in urban areas and in rural areas.
(d) CARE AND SERVICES AVAILABLE- The chiropractic care and services available under the program shall include a variety of chiropractic care and services for neuro-musculoskeletal conditions, including subluxation complex.
(e) OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS- (1) The Secretary shall carry out the program through personal service contracts and by appointment of licensed chiropractors in Department medical centers and clinics.
(2) As part of the program, the Secretary shall provide training and materials relating to chiropractic care and services to Department health care providers assigned to primary care teams for the purpose of familiarizing such providers with the benefits of chiropractic care and services.
(f) REGULATIONS- The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section.
(g) CHIROPRACTIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE- (1) The Secretary shall establish an advisory committee to provide direct assistance and advice to the Secretary in the development and implementation of the chiropractic health program.
(2) The membership of the advisory committee shall include members of the chiropractic care profession and such other members as the Secretary considers appropriate.
(3) Matters on which the advisory committee shall assist and advise the Secretary shall include the following:
(A) Protocols governing referral to chiropractors.
(B) Protocols governing direct access to chiropractic care.
(C) Protocols governing scope of practice of chiropractic practitioners.
(D) Definition of services to be provided.
(E) Such other matters the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
(4) The advisory committee shall cease to exist on December 31, 2004.
My car got hit in a parking lot and I was about 200 yards away. Shortly after taking it to the body shop I started getting calls from lawyers and chiropractors. Sheesh...
"...Jones, a chiropractor himself [stated]The
instructors don't deserve to teach at FSU...
if they're putting their credentials with
people known for promoting professional bigotry."
One has to wonder just what self-benefit Jones is promoting! Getting a chiropractor's "degree" doesn't
take much time or education to acquire. In the 70's
you could get it in 6 months. Quite a few MED SCHOOL
drop outs have gone into that field. Show me a
MED SCHOOL GRADUATE who went on to become a
Chiropractor!
If I had input into this debate I'd vote for a school
of acupuncture rather than chiropracty.
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