Subluxated Chiropractic Curricula in North America

A recent study published in the journal Chiropractic & Manual Therapies¹, sought to “examine current North American English language chiropractic college academic catalogs and determine the prevalence of the term subluxation in the respective chiropractic program curricula.” This paper (more of an editorial with limited data) authored by Drs. Timothy Mirtz and Stephen Perle perfectly reflects the growing chasm splitting our profession into halves.

A little background on the authors seems relevant. Dr. Timothy Mirtz has been an outspoken critic of the chiropractic profession as it exists outside his vision. Mirtz was lead author on an article from the National Association for Chiropractic Medicine (NACM) published in 2002.² This group of crusaders has perceived ties to Stephen Barrett, MD (of quackwatch fame) through one of Barrett’s websites, chirobase.com, of which Charles DuVall, Sr. is a founder. Dr. Stephen Perle, of course, is the self-appointed chief of the ethics police within the chiropractic profession. We at the AJCC proudly espouse sound ethics within chiropractic practice. However, reading through Perle’s never ending poppycock, it becomes apparent that he firmly believes subluxation based chiropractic is itself an ethical problem.

In their most recent diatribe, the minds of Mirtz and Perle¹ come together to report on a review of internet catalogs and academic bulletins of 18 North American Chiropractic Colleges to record the prevalence of subluxation as a term. These authors discovered that all but 3 of the colleges included the term “subluxation” in their college course descriptions. The 3 colleges, comprising the vast minority (20%), that have removed subluxation from their curricula were:

1. Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College,
2. Southern California University of Health Sciences, and
3. National University of Health Sciences.

After a tirade about the shortcomings of the “theoretical construct” of the subluxation, these authors¹ reason that the 80% of colleges using the term “subluxation” are the ones with the quandary being non-evidence based. Accroding to Mirtz and Perle¹, somehow, what the majority of chiropractic schools teach the majority of chiropractic students in North America is non-scientific, non-evidence based, and not 'Chiropractic'.

In contrast, the astute reader / reviewer, would find that since 15/18 of the North American Chiropractic Colleges include subluxation in their course descriptions, the 3 minority schools that don't are the SUBLUXATED ones.

Curiously, Mirtz and Perle¹ also propose that the newly established Standards by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) should move chiropractic colleges away from teaching subluxation in anything but a historical (make-believe) context, à la Europe’s General Chiropractic Council decree. This is ironic since the CCE Standards allow a college to teach a curriculum consistent with its own Mission…not the mission of Mirtz, Perle and the National Association for Chiropractic Medicine (NACM)³.

What can be done about the movement, seen in specific Chiropractic curricula, to abandon subluxation teachings in the educational arena? Since most Chiropractic Colleges are still privately subsidized to some degree, Chiropractic clinicians, leaders and organizations should strongly consider which Colleges to endorse and support with student referrals and resources. In the end supporting the educational institutes who share your vision of Chiropractic is the right choice.

It is the editorial position of the AJCC, that the minority viewpoints espoused by the (NACM), will not overtake the major premise of Chiropractic. Chiropractors will continue to practice “chiropractic” long after Mirtz, Perle, DuVall Jr., and the rest of the former NACM leaders pass. The obvious disdain this group has for the Chiropractic profession is actually sad. Perhaps Mirtz, Perle (and the rest of the NACM types) should choose to move onto another profession…orthopractic round 2? Or perhaps they would benefit from subluxation correction...

References

1. Mirtz TA, Perle S. The prevalence of the term subluxation in North American English-Language Doctor of Chiropractic Programs Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2011, 19:14. http://chiromt.com/content/19/1/14/abstract Accessed June 25, 2011.
2. Mirtz TA, Long P, Dinehart A. Slaughter RL, DuVall Jr., CE, Bryson R, Kourmadas F. Campo J. NACM and its argument with mainstream chiropractic health care. Journal of Controversial Medical Claims 2002;9(1):11-25.
3. For information on the National Association for Chiropractic Medicine (NACM) see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_for_Chiropractic_Medicine. Apparently this group has self imploded.