Come celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Chiropractic Diplomatic Corps, a Canadian NGO with a registered branch in the Philippines and an affiliation with Chiropractic India.
Reflecting back in 1997 it was noticed that there was little available information about the presence of chiropractic around the world. Chiropractors looking to fulfill a greater purpose and wishing to contribute to the advancement of the profession had few resources available. Two trends of note at that time was the greater ease of travel from country to country. Second, the 1990s spawned a growing internet capability that greatly improved International communications. This new combination permitted our well-traveled volunteer chiropractors to build a deep knowledge base on the presence of the fledgling chiropractic profession outside of Western nations. Please review this summary of the CDC-Chiro’s focused activities over the past twenty-five years. The knowledge and contacts acquired have contributed to our future-focused development of chiropractic training programs in poorer nations.
| Early years ‘97-98 | Brainstorming between the founding DCs sharing their observations and building a baseline awareness of the growth trends within the profession in various countries. Honoring our founding directors: Dr. Michel Tetrault, Dr. David Vickerman (RIP), Dr. Gary Auerbach, Dr. Hubert Fouasse (RIP). |
| 1998 – 1999 | Development of a comprehensive website that grew to some 300 pages on the collected information. Of note is the Foreign Service Registry. The website was also interactive with DCs interested in foreign practice and in reporting advancements in various countries on their chiropractic story. |
| 1999 | Met with many pioneer DCs while attending the WFC Assembly in Auckland NZ hearing their stories and concerns on how to get assistance on their efforts at formal professional recognition. Read feedback from the Pros & Cons of Pioneering Chiropractic. Observing the WFC in action and making notes on its capabilities to support and find where else to contribute. |
| 2000 | 1. Met with many faculty and college administrators while attending the WFC Educational Conference. Starting to form an understanding of what was working and what wasn’t in opening new DC schools. Sorting challenges of the Institutional bias and limitations we see in expanding education globally. 2. Established DC departments in Rural Community and Native Health Clinics in the USA, even to the present days where over 1 million laborers/families have access to DC care under Medicaid. Sadly, we did not find the same success in Canada for either Rural or Aboriginal services. |
| 2001 | Learned the ropes of what the chiropractic profession can do with the UN while attending the WHO Assembly in Geneva; the first of many visits to this annual gathering of the world’s Ministers of Health. Meetings with UNESCO in Paris to investigate opportunities for Chiropractic Education and Science advancement. Interesting read on Chiropractic in WHO and also the WHO Spashot of Chiropractic in C.A.M. |
| 2002 | 1. Producing the “White Paper” on the development of the Chiropractic profession tilted the “Global Professional Strategy” or GPS. Nine well-drafted chapters on the culmination of the CDC directors’ accumulated knowledge and experiences to date. Expanding the CDC website information base. 2. Collaboration with a USA NGO in establishing a chiropractic clinic in St. Elizabeth Hospital in St. Petersburg, Russia. An in-depth project to lay the foundation for the eventual introduction of a formal chiropractic education program that would be compatible with the Russian Higher Education system. (see Russia articles) |
| 2003 | Expanded the newsletter “The Chiropractic Advocate” providing more real-time information and updates; often with professional development topics and updates of the profession’s advancements. (Read 29 Articles) |
| 2004 | Initiated a collaboration with the Bangalore City Health Initiative with an NGO introduction by WHO staff. An on-the-ground exchange of knowledge and experiences that paved the way for years of interaction and networking to gain friends in important circles interested in the establishment of several chiropractic programs in India. (see our India pages and Photos) |
| 2004 to 2005 | SE Asia touring and meeting with local DC pioneers. Learning about their challenges and successes with their practices and the difficulties in forming a National DC Association. Issues between indigenous and foreign DCs is not uncommon as more foreign chiropractors relocate abroad and revealed mixed priorities in both groups. |
| 2006 to 2019 and ongoing | Having already acquired so much information on the development of chiropractic abroad the work continued in sharing that knowledge to thousands of chiropractors and assisting hundreds of foreign-minded DCs in their efforts to successfully practice abroad. Our founding President, Dr. Tetrault seeded several Asian countries with some 20 clinics to serve and leverage this on-the-ground presence to advance the recognition of the Chiropractic profession in these nations. Established partnerships with Chiropractic patients to support their local Chiropractic clinics for sustainability. (see non-Chiropractor Actors) |
| 2017 | This 20 th year anniversary marks the pivot point in the prioritization of the CDC onto the establishment of a Regional Strategic Plan to put together a system that works in developing countries where earlier attempts by twinning DC institutions of the West faltered. (see Greenhouse Project) |
| 2020 to 2022 | The pandemic essentially shut down all diplomatic travels. Only online recruitment, placement, and efforts to sustain existing clinics took priority. This time was dedicated to retooling and building of systems that support the education package needed to administer the strategic plans that will establish several chiropractic programs in target nations. Fruits to bear out in the near future. Globalizing Chiropractic Schools Part 1 and Part 2 |
| 2022 our 25th | The CDC Board has been expanded and with the formation of an Advisory Panel, we seek to attract more technical and capable people toward the priority of establishing more chiropractic programs. Our primary focus is to assist in establishing a regional strategy for chiropractic colleges in underserved nations. Also introduced our advanced development themes: a) Philippines Chiropractic College at the University of Makati b) Public Relations Posture Pageant International theme |