Update United States 06-20-22
Some great conversations and some things have popped up this week in the United States. So today we’re going to have some good information for you. Good morning, American chiropractors, my name is Bharon Hoag. I am the Executive Director of OneChiropractic and The Chiropractic Defense Council coming to you today, Monday, June 20th, 2022 for your weekly update. So a lot of stuff has happened this week. A number of projects that have popped up that have got our attention, as well as some pretty phenomenal conversations I’ve had with some people that have been doing work for a long time. So first I want to share with you some things that have popped up, we are looking at some legislation in Massachusetts talking about taking away the right for religious exemption. We have our lobbying team digging into that. It looks like at this point that this is not going to have wheels to be able to move forward, but we’re building our team to be able to shut that down.
If it does move forward, we’re working in conjunction with Stanford Health, Freedom, and Leah Wilson and those organizations as well as we’ve built that network when we face these types of things. So I appreciate you guys making us aware of that particular piece of legislation. And we’re going to continue to monitor and ensure that doesn’t happen. I know they tried to do the same thing out in California and they did not have any legs and didn’t go anywhere. But anywhere they’re trying to do that type of stuff, the CDC will jump in and use our muscles when we can to affect those types of things. We are also looking at other parts. We were just made aware of some legislation in New Mexico considering allowing chiropractors to be able to get licensed for things like coverage, work, locum, tenants, and that type of stuff.
So it’s a reciprocity type of legislation that we think would be good. Right? Remember our goal is to protect the rights of practicing chiropractors. That’s the work that we do. And so anywhere we see something that inhibits our people’s ability to practice and do things, we’re going to put some effort and energy into that. And we believe whether you can practice across state lines, opening up employment opportunities for you like locum tenants and things of that nature. We want to be able to do that. So if you’re licensed in one state and you want to go do coverage work in another, you should not have to go through this massive labor ship process to be able to get that done. So we’re watching things like that to make sure that we’re helping our, our ability for our people to be able to practice and love and serve to the, to the best of their ability.
I’ve also been having some amazing conversations, learning more about The World Federation of Chiropractic, The World Health Organization’s national boards, CE a board CCE, all of these different groups, and understanding some history, some lineage, and it, listen, here’s the reality. There’s a civil war. That’s headed back to our profession. If we don’t start having adult conversations I’m not saying I’m the most level-headed person in the profession because I’m not just getting me on certain topics and I can assure you that I’m not, but we’re not communicating well, there is still this us and them mentality throughout our profession. There’s a lot of lack of knowledge. Our students don’t understand why national boards cost, and what they cost. And yet they see that you know, when you look at the 990s of national boards, you see all the money they have that there’s a lot.
I’m not saying anyone’s up to no good. I’m not saying there are conspiracies. I’m not saying there are cartels. I know these are words that are used a lot, but there’s a massive lack of understanding and infrastructure within our profession. And so it breeds a lot of this angst and it’s the US and them. And then the US wants to fight with them. And we’ve been doing it for 126 years. We’re going to be 127 years here in September and I’m done with it. So our goal is to be able to figure out this infrastructure, to be able to put a hedge of protection around our profession so that our resources are not wasted going after each other, but our resources are used to be able to protect and enhance and grow the utilization of chiropractic around the United States. So I need you to understand these conversations are not because I haven’t vendetta or because I’m on one side of the issue or the other, as a matter of fact, I’m kind of smack dab in the middle.
And my objective is to bring people together. I believe in the power of the adjustment. I think our profession has lost its focus on the adjustment, but I’m not completely married to the term subluxation and believe that has to be in every other word in a sentence. So I’m not, but I don’t believe that we should move away from the philosophy and the art and the science of chiropractic to try to be more like the medical community. I’m literally in the middle. I understand where I draw the line is making sure that the adjustment is the primary service and that we never get to the point where chiropractors are injecting drugs into the body. Those are things that are my personal and the boundaries of the CDC and OneChiropractic. But outside of that, we need to be having conversations.
We’re not a political organization, we’re an organization that’s committed to making sure that the profession of chiropractic finally grows and it grows significantly. And it grows appropriately because of the value that we provide to mankind. But yet we’re so busy going at each other. We’re so busy playing in the shadows, not communicating, and not being open and honest with the profession. And it’s just been handed down from generation to generation that way. And we’re hoping to break that. Remember our motto is that you cannot change the existing reality by fighting it. You have to create a new model that makes the old model obsolete. And that’s exactly what we’re doing is trying to create a new model. We’re trying to force people to sit down, have adult conversations, acknowledge where things are broken, and excite and promote the things that are working. But we’re not doing that well as a profession.
So I shared with you last week, the amazing things that are going on with the national strategic plan. I think that’s fantastic. And the CDC and OneChiropractic are going to continue to support that and give our input where necessary and be used appropriately in that plan that’s being created, but we’re going to continue to learn. We’re going to continue to force conversations and ensure that information is actually put out there appropriately so that we don’t have a lot of these misgivings and lack of trust as we move forward. So, I just wanted you to know that we’re digging for a reason. It’s not because we want to be a needle in someone’s backside. We want to make sure that our profession is positioned well so that when we go to war, we will be going to war, I don’t want it to be a civil war.
I want it to be a revolutionary war. That’s the objective behind the work that we’re doing at the CDC. Because there is a war coming. We just have to choose right now, which war we want to fight. And I pray that you’re aligned with our side. If you are, then I want you to spread the word to your colleagues, and share videos like this. So they know there’s an organization that’s moving forward in this realm. That’s not going to do what everyone else has been doing. We’re doing something different because we want a different outcome. So that’s my spiel for today. Okay. So we’re starting a new segment that I talked with you about last week and that segment has kind of answered the question. And so we’re encouraging you to send us questions and I’ll pick one question each week that I’ll research and make sure that I get you the answer for whether they’re choosing our legal team, our lobbying team, or whatever the case may be.
And this week I chose this question for Dr. Thompson because it’s near and dear to my heart. She was sharing with me that there are a lot of issues within chiropractic. And my question to you is do you feel like we’re doing an appropriate job of actually sending more students to chiropractic schools? And if so, why are we not sending them to schools that actually produce a better outcome? Now there’s a lot, first of all, thank you for that question. And I know this could potentially upset or irritate somebody. But it’s near and dear to my heart. And, that’s my biggest concern of everything we’re facing in our profession. My biggest concern is we’re not creating enough chiropractors. When the world actually gets who we are and what we do. And we’re successful at appropriately putting our resources in the right places and sharing with the world of value and the importance of chiropractic. We have a bigger problem and that’s going to be the supply. The demand is going to be there, but we’re not going to have enough chiropractors that are really going to be able to meet the need and be able to deliver at the level at which we’re going to be able to communicate. And so there is an issue and there is a question about sending people to chiropractic school. And I know everyone watching this has different loyalties.
You have different Alma maters that you’ve gone to and you have a different belief system in what chiropractic actually is. So I’m not here to tell you which schools are good and which are bad, that’s for you to decide. However, if you ask most of the schools, it’s still about 70% of those that choose a school is choosing because of geographics, not because of philosophy. These students don’t understand the differences between a Western state and a life university or a national and a Sherman. I’m not saying one’s good and one’s bad, but they’re dramatically different educations that you’re going to get at those schools. So it is very, very important that we, as a body, really know where we’re sending our students, that we’re very vocal about the schools, that our sphere of influence, right? You’re practicing a certain way in your clinic and therefore you’re going to attract a certain type of person. So they should be going to a certain type of school that matches what they’ve learned from your practice. And so I want you to be more proactive about that.
So I appreciate that question, Dr. Thompson because I want you to be vocal. When is the last time you’ve asked someone in your practice, have you ever considered being a chiropractor? You know, I’m about 36 strong sent to chiropractic schools. I ask that question all the time. Whenever I hear anyone telling me that they’re going to go to nursing school or they’re going to go to PT school, I immediately challenge them not to decide until they go visit a college for a weekend to see what chiropractic’s all about. Because I think they’re going to be much happier with that decision than going the other way unless God’s called you to that particular specialty. And then who am I to interrupt that? But most people are doing it just Because they want to help people and they want to be in healthcare, but they don’t really love that particular path that they’re going. They just feel it’s the only path. So it’s really important that we’re opening our mouths and we’re challenging and encouraging people.
There has never been a better time to be in chiropractic than right now. And so we need to be encouraging people to go because our world is opening up to the idea of who we are and what we do. So we need more amazing people with DCS after their name so that we can continue to love and serve and make sure that demand that’s coming. We have a supply to meet it. So that’s your question of the week. Make sure you bring your questions in every week. I want to be able to have a huge group of questions to choose from and make sure that we answer them for you. So make sure you get your question in this week. Listen, it’s been a longer video today. I apologize for that. I kind of got on my soapbox, which I do from time to time, but hopefully, you found value in what we’re talking about today and you believe and are proud to be a member of The Chiropractic Defense Council. Because we’re proud to have you here. Share the word, tell the story, let’s grow our tribe, and make sure that chiropractic becomes the number one healthcare choice in the world. God bless your week, everybody. Bye-bye. (This is a computer-generated transcript. Please forgive any errors.)
