With regard to excellence and change

I was having a hard time figuring out what to write about next until I read a quote on my blog from Aristotle saying, "With regard to excellence, it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it."

This quote spoke loudly to me this morning.  The reasoning for this is that lately I have been speaking out in regards to the weaknesses the profession of chiropractic has.  In our philosophy and principles class Dr. Partna has addressed these weaknesses saying that our high velocity, low amplitude 'adjustments' are proving to be less effective than mobilization (gently restoring motion versus forcing things into motion).  Now, our entire curriculum is based on the HVLA mentioned above.  There are courses in soft tissue manipulation and stretching but the question remains, what makes chiropractic, chiropractic if the HVLA is becoming obsolete?  Why should we become chiropractors if research is showing better results come from less aggressive modalities?  My answer is, I don't know.  Honestly, I am trying to define why it is I am putting myself through this rigorous path when the professions bread and butter is losing its ground.  I don't think chiropractic will fold up and vanish but I do think we need to better define why our approach is special and unique.  What do we offer that western medicine does not?  Are we really taught how to integrate prevention into our future clinics?  

Many would say we heal with our hands rather than using pharmaceuticals.  There is some relevance to this argument but I am skeptical.  Some would go as far as saying we remove the resistance caused by the subluxation and allow the nervous system to restore health to the affected areas.  I can't say that there is much room for the latter argument.  We know there is something that allows our body to heal on its own.  Everyone knows this.  Some call it the "innate intelligence" or the "life force".  Whatever "it" is that allows restoration of homeostasis to occur is quite special and unique to life itself.  Modern medicine strives to figure out how to control this aspect of life by building molecules which inhibit a function that is overactive or restore a function that is inhibited.  It is quite amazing to think we know this much. 

Saturday I went to OHSU and checked out the campus.  What a massive entity it is.  There is so much concrete over there it is a bit overwhelming.  There was a nice feeling there though.  We rode the tram down to March Wellness and toured the facility while ending the day at a delicious Vietnamese restaurant.  We ascended back to OHSU via the tram system and checked out the buildings and architecture more.  It was an inspiring trip to see how a medical school feels while walking about it.

The wellness facility, March Wellness, is completely integrated into OHSU's program.  Cardiac patients and post rehab patients work with exercise specialists to get going on a new healthy lifestyle.  The cool thing about it was that the patients are fully monitored to assure they are safe while exercising.  And a physician is always on call for the facility.  It was an inspiring set up.  For example, they have a full kitchen where they teach patients ways to integrate good foods into their diets.  I felt like there was a very good effort being made to help the community live a more proactive life.  Unfortunately, many of the patients had to have health conditions occur before they began the program.  That being said, there were other patients who recently were undergoing chemotherapy for cancer and were looking for an increase in quality of life.  It seemed like the population that uses the facility is quite diverse and represents all walks of life.

All in all, it felt awesome knowing there are others who take prevention serious in the medical community.  We should be wise and follow suit because this is what our nation needs.

Thanks for reading