Right now, in chiropractic college classrooms, students are taking exams, studying techniques, and working to earn their degree. Tomorrow, many of these same students will be leading the profession. They'll be the college professors and deans, the organizational presidents and directors, the publication editors, the political movers and shakers.

There's no need to wait until you graduate to become involved in the profession, or to hone or exercise your leadership qualities.

The World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) invites you to join the Student World Chiropractic Alliance (SWCA). We think you have what it takes to make powerful changes in your profession now. Best of all, with the SWCA, you can take your place at the forefront of the subluxation-based chiropractic community.

We are currently forming student chapters at all chiropractic colleges, and need the support and active participation from all students who believe chiropractic should remain a unique and non-medical form of health and wellness care. The SWCA is for students who want a grounding in chiropractic philosophy, and who know that chiropractic should never be limited to low-back pain or promoted as merely another medical therapy.

Some campuses welcome philosophy-centered organizations and activities, but some take harsh steps to ban any group like the WCA, since they see it as a threat to the medical paradigm they follow.

"We realize that it will be difficult for some students to stand up and declare themselves as supporters of subluxation-based chiropractic," Dr. Terry Rondberg, D.C., admits. "It'll take guts, but we know there are courageous students throughout the world, just as there have always been brave doctors willing to face down the opposition for the sake of the profession."

As an SWCA member, students receive special discounts on WCA membership, reduced registration to the annual WCA Summit, and access to mentoring services and other help offered by WCA staff and members.

The WCA is also establishing a network of field doctors willing to act as "sponsors" or advisors to the college chapters, and many of these D.C.s will be available to help students make the transition from classroom to office.

Student chapters at Palmer, Parker and Life University have already been set up, and we hope soon to have chapters at every college.

If you are looking forward to a career as a prosperous and successful subluxation-based doctor, get a head start by joining the SWCA now.

********

Medical press releases don't tell the whole truth

Medical journals used to be thought of as the last bastion of scientific honesty -- the repository of objective truths about the state of medical research. In recent years, however, that reputation has been repeatedly soiled by incidents of greed, dishonesty and carelessness.

Journals have admitted publishing research reports funded by and biased in favor of drug companies, not checking author's credentials, and allowing monetary considerations influence their publishing decisions.

A recent study shows that these journals, and the researchers published in them, are issuing press releases that deliberately try to deceive the public about the importance of their findings.

In addition, the press releases usually do not highlight limitations of the study that could call into question the validity of those findings, or include information on funding of the research, according to researchers in the June 5, 2002 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Steven Woloshin, M.D., and Lisa M. Schwartz, M.D., of Dartmouth Medical School and the White River Junction Veterans Affairs Outcomes Group examined the medical press release process at several high-profile medical journals and reviewed recent releases to evaluate how study findings are presented and whether limitations and potential conflicts of interest are acknowledged.

While medical journals are supposed to take steps to ensure accuracy and acknowledgment of limitations in articles, press releases seldom reflect these efforts, say the authors. Medical journal press releases are perhaps the most direct way that journals communicate with the media. Although journalists rely on press releases -- and many newspapers run them almost verbatim -- there is little scrutiny of the release process or quality.

For this study, the authors conducted telephone interviews in January 2001 with press officers at nine prominent medical journals and analyzed 127 press releases about research articles, for the six issues of each journal preceding the interviews.

Seven of the nine study journals routinely issue press releases: Annals of Internal Medicine, British Medical Journal (BMJ), Circulation, JAMA, Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), The Lancet and Pediatrics. The Annals of Surgery and the New England Journal of Medicine do not routinely issue press releases.

The researchers found that of the journals that routinely issue releases, "in each case, the editor with the press office selects articles based on perceived newsworthiness and releases are written by press officers trained in communications.

"Journals have general guidelines (e.g., length) but no standards for acknowledging limitations or for data presentation. Editorial input varies from none to intense. "Of the 127 releases analyzed, only 29 (23%) noted study limitations and 83 (65%) reported main effects using numbers; 58 reported differences between study groups and of these, 26 (55%) provided the corresponding base rate, the format least prone to exaggeration. Industry funding was noted in only 22% of 23 studies receiving such funding."

The researchers noted, "A number of authors have criticized the accuracy and balance of the news media in reporting on medical science. As a direct means of communication between medical journals and the media, press releases provide an opportunity for journals to influence how the research is translated into news."

To correct these deficiencies it was suggested, "Editors might develop presentation standards for releases analogous to the structured abstract format used by many journals, and might include a section putting results in context (e.g., are the results consistent with other studies, is there a corresponding editorial), a limitations section, and a statement about potential conflicts of interest."

"The public and many physicians often learn about new medical research through the news media, rather than medical journals. We think that journals can and should do more to enhance the quality of medical reporting," the researchers admonished.

The same issue of JAMA also included two related reports.

The first revealed that information from abstracts presented at scientific meetings are widely reported in major media outlets, even though the information may be preliminary and may have undergone limited scientific review. "The current press coverage of scientific meetings may be characterized as 'too much, too soon,'" the authors noted. "Results are frequently presented to the public as scientifically sound evidence rather than as preliminary findings with still uncertain validity."

The second related report warned that the views included in research papers often do not represent the opinions of all scientists who participated in the study. The author, Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, reviewed a number of research reports published in his journal and contacted the original researchers.

"Important weaknesses were often admitted on direct questioning but were not included in the published article," he noted. "Contributors frequently disagreed about the importance of their findings, implications, and directions for future research ... I have found evidence of censored criticism; obscured views about the meaning of research findings; incomplete, confused, and sometimes biased assessment of the implications of a study; and frequent failure to indicate directions for future research. ... What was striking was the inconsistency in published evaluations, especially regarding weaknesses."

SOURCES: "Media Coverage of Scientific Meetings — Too Much, Too Soon?" by Lisa M. Schwartz, M.D., et. al., Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), June 5, 2002. "Press Releases: Translating Research Into News," by Steven Woloshin, M.D., et. al., (JAMA), June 5, 2002.