At last January’s Parker Seminar in Las Vegas, Parker University president Dr. Brian McAulay raised an important point that I believe is worthy to be repeated and emphasized within the chiropractic community.
At last January’s Parker Seminar in Las Vegas, Parker University president Dr. Brian McAulay raised an important point that I believe is worthy to be repeated and emphasized within the chiropractic community.
In his opening remarks on the second day of the Parker conference, McAulay talked about creating a social movement for chiropractors to raise the profile of chiropractic – and describe what it’s really all about – to the general public, with the end-goal of increasing the number of people going for chiropractic care.
He said when it comes to favourable impressions, chiropractors rank very high with the public, yet the number of people using chiropractic is very low. And that huge disparity must be addressed through a social movement that unites chiropractors in that one goal of increasing the number of chiropractic patients.
McAulay pointed out a number of key things that need to happen for the social movement to succeed, and one that really stuck with me is that chiropractors must “increase tolerance of one another.” These are strong words that make for an inspiring plea.
If I have observed one thing over the few months I have been editor of this great publication, it’s that chiropractors are strong, principled practitioners who are passionate and committed to their goal of helping people alleviate their health woes. Because of this passion and these strong principles, chiropractors may not always see eye to eye on certain issues, but that is to be expected in any community. Healthy discourse has been one of the foundations for continuous improvement and evolution of any profession.
There is a danger, however, when these differences are met with intolerance, and when that intolerance starts to define the community. If it does not promote respect and tolerance for all members’ beliefs and practices, the community may risk losing its identity.
Dr. McAulay said chiropractors must learn to embrace their differences rather than let them separate the profession. The only way for this social movement to succeed in moving the chiropractic profession forward is through a united front and a common goal of promoting spinal health and well-being.
This world is big enough and the opportunities for growth are vast enough that there should be room for several reasonable and logical belief systems and practices to co-exist.
To emphasize this point, I quote one of the Parker Principles: “To be in harmony with my success, health and happiness goals, I must act with love based upon free will and react with faith based upon God’s will.”
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