Hellertown, PA – October 27, 2015 – The Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) has issued a “Call for Comment” of their “Draft 2 CCE Accreditation Standards.” The International Federation of Chiropractors and Organizations has reviewed the draft and provided comments. Of particular concern was the use of the terms “Primary Care” and “Primary Care Physician,” “Subluxation/Joint Dysfunction,” and “Adjustment/Manipulation.”
The International Federation of Chiropractors and Organizations (IFCO) cited numerous references (World Health Organization [WHO], American Academy of Family Practice [AAFP], and Institute of Medicine [IOM]) which define the terms “Primary Care” and “Primary Care Physician.” IFCO objected to the use of those terms because many, if not most procedures termed “primary care” as commonly defined, are not within the scope of chiropractic practice in any jurisdiction. These include, by example, family planning; immunization against the major infectious diseases; prevention and control of locally endemic diseases; appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries; and provision of essential drugs. There are conflicting definitions of primary care and primary care physician. Under the WHO definition, for example, primary care must include a number of services, such as the provision of drugs and vaccines, which are outside the scope of chiropractic practice, and incompatible with chiropractic practice. The IFCO recommended that the term “Primary Care” be removed from the document. In addition, IFCO recommended that the term “primary care chiropractic physician” be replaced with “doctor of chiropractic” and that the term “Primary Health Care” in the Glossary be removed.
For the sake of clarity and proper use of punctuation, the IFCO has recommended that “subluxation/joint dysfunction” be replaced with “subluxation, or joint dysfunction, or both.” The same argument is applicable to “Adjustment/Manipulation” and, as such, the IFCO recommended that “adjustment/manipulation” be replaced with “adjustment, or manipulation, or both.” The IFCO acknowledges that “Joint Dysfunction” and “Subluxation” are not synonyms, nor are “Adjustment and Manipulation.”
The entire IFCO document may be viewed on the IFCO website www.ifcochiro.org.