February 2004

Proud to be part of this 'band of brothers and sisters'

by Dr. Terry A. Rondberg

This year, the World Chiropractic Alliance will celebrate its 15th anniversary. Not bad for an organization that some people predicted wouldn't manage to stay around for more than a year or two. That's probably what many critics said about D.D. Palmer's idea of a profession called chiropractic.

It's not surprising that the WCA was attacked when it was first formed. After all, as Henry David Thoreau once said, "New ideas come into this world somewhat like falling meteors, with a flash and an explosion, and perhaps somebody's castle‑roof perforated."

The WCA did perforate a few castle roofs and the keepers of the status quo weren't happy about it. But, just as criticism never deterred D.D. or B.J. from doing what they felt was best for chiropractic, it didn't stop the WCA either. Slowly but surely, we attracted more and more doctors who were looking for an organization that would champion the principles of true chiropractic while offering hope for a 'cease‑fire' among warring chiropractic factions.

The WCA saw no contradiction in its steadfast dedication to subluxation‑centered chiropractic and its "live and let live" philosophy. We still don't. If we all work together to protect chiropractic as a whole, we can build a prosperous and meaningful future for all chiropractors.

Naturally, I have very definite ideas on how best to protect chiropractic, as do the members of the World Chiropractic Alliance. We don't feel that the future lies in us becoming second rate medical practitioners, dispensing treatment for a variety of neuromusculoskeletal ailments. M.D.s, D.O.s, P.T.s and a dozen other health care professionals already do that. We don't think we should be hidden in a back room waiting for a medical doctor or nurse practitioner to decide if a patient can see us.

We don't believe, as Louis Sportelli, D.C., past president of the American Chiropractic Association once said, that "the writings of B.J. could have been right at the time they were written, but are in error today." Or, that David Chapman‑Smith of the World Federation of Chiropractic was correct when he suggested we disown the concept of subluxation because we can't "sell it" to the public.

The fact is, no other profession in the world addresses the problem of vertebral subluxation. That's our unique niche as doctors of chiropractic, and my fellow WCA members share the conviction that correcting subluxation is the most valuable service we can provide the people of this world. More valuable than treating their low‑back pain with "manual medicine" or pumping them full of vaccines and other drugs.

In the 15 years the WCA has been working with and for chiropractors around the globe, we've logged an impressive list of accomplishments, and we're still growing ‑‑ a trend that is unusual, if not unique, among major chiropractic organizations.

True, we're still not the biggest group around and we definitely don't have the most paid members. (We probably allow too many doctors and students to get involved in our work even if they can't afford the membership dues, but we value their participation more than their money.)

Yet, most reasonable people realize that ‑‑ despite what our e‑mail spam says ‑‑ size isn't the only thing that counts. What good is it to claim thousands of members, if an organization still can't seem to accomplish much of importance for our profession?

Do you remember the story about Henry V's battle on St. Crispin's day? Henry's army faced off the French army at a field near Agincourt. His relatively small force was outnumbered 3‑1. Yet, when the smoke cleared, they had won the battle at least in part because they felt a greater sense of passion for their mission.

In Shakespeare's play, Henry V refers to his troops as "We few, we happy few, we Band of Brothers," and I understand just how he felt. I'm proud to be part of that small band of brothers ‑‑ and sisters! ‑‑ who stand up for what they believe.

Of course, size isn't the only thing the WCA is criticized for. Some people still can't accept the fact that our Bylaws allow the Board of Directors to elect the WCA president and other officers, rather than the membership at large.

They love to say that I'm the "President for Life." I kind of like the ring of that, but it just isn't true. I am, however, willing to remain president as long as the organization needs me to financially subsidize it.

As one critic recently pointed out, our membership dues in 2000 totaled just $94,000. That didn't pay for a lot of lobbying, public relations, and member benefits. I paid for the rest out of the profits of my other businesses, including The Chiropractic Journal and Chiropractic Benefit Services ‑‑ a total of about $300,000 that particular year. In fact, that's why a lot of D.C.s get their malpractice insurance through CBS ‑‑ because they KNOW it will help the WCA and, therefore, help chiropractic.

Oddly enough, WCA members don't seem to have a problem with the leadership structure or the fact that the WCA and CBS work hand in hand. They judge the organization by what it does ‑‑ not by how big it is or who gets to use the title "President." That's one of the many things I love about our members. They know what's really important to the profession!

In a few weeks, we'll be releasing the Report to Members on the work of the WCA during 2003. When you read it, I think you'll feel that same pride, since you'll see what we've been doing to protect and promote chiropractic as a unique health care system. You'll realize we've never betrayed chiropractors or taken the easy way out in order to gain "acceptance." And you will hopefully want to join our band of brothers and sisters united for chiropractic.