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ADAPTATION AND THE FUTURE WITH CHIROPRACTIC PHILOSOPHY X-RAY DEBATE HEATS BACK UP WHERE TO FOR PEDIATRIC CHIROPRACTIC, TRT, CBP, WEBSTER

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THISISSUE

PUBLISHER RONALD OBERSTEIN, DC MANAGING EDITOR ANATOLE BOGATSKI, PhD

04 COVER STORY

04

CBCT - WHY YOU SHOULD BE AS EXCITED AS WE ARE!

08

X-RAY DEBATE ROLLS ON

14

08 DEPARTMENTS 04 CHIROPRACTIC SCIENCE 06 CHIROPRACTIC PHILOSOPHY 08 FEATURE 10 CHIROPRACTIC TECHNIQUE 14 COLLEGE UPDATE

COPY EDITORS ANATOLE BOGATSKI PhD PHOTOGRAPHERS CHRIS BROWN COVER DESIGN KANOE IRVINE EDITORIAL DESIGN KANOE IRVINE ADVERTISING

16 INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

ADS@LIFEWEST.EDU

17 ALUMNI NEWS

BOARD OF REGENTS

18 CAPITAL CAMPAIGN 20 DONOR ROLL

LIFE WEST LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

22 PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

22

28 STUDENT PROFILE

PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE OF CHIROPRACTIC WITH THE CLUMS

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ANATOLE BOGATSKI, PhD DANIEL CARDENAS TOURÉ CARTER JOSEPH IBE, DC KENDRA KOGER

26 GRADUATION

29 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT 30 ADMISSIONS WANTS YOU! 31 DC AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT

JIMMY NANDA, DC, CHAIRMAN KRISTEN GILES, DC CAMERON HASTINGS, AASME, AASEM ANGEL OCHOA-REA, DC STEVEN SILK, DC SCOTT TURNER, CPA CONTACT US Life Chiropractic College West 25001 Industrial Blvd.

Hayward, CA 94545, USA +1 (510) 780-4500 communications@lifewest.edu

32 PRESIDENT'S CIRCLE

VO LU ME 43 ISSU E 0 1

2 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

LIFE WEST PRESS

PRESIDENT

FROM THE

FROMTHEPRESIDENT

Welcome to the first issue of Life West Magazine 2022. In this issue, we are taking a serious look at the future of chiropractic. Chiropractic has come a long way in its 126 years, and it is time we acknowledge how our wonderful profession is shaping the Salutogenic Model of Health which can bring balance and health to our planet and those that occupy it. Throughout 2021, Life West commemorated and celebrated our 40 Year Anniversary. Life West began when Dr. Sid Williams facilitated the transition from Pacific States Chiropractic College to Life Chiropractic College West in 1981.

Now it is time we turn our focus to the future of both our profession and our college. We have a telling article on the past, present and future of chiropractic featuring a conversation between Dr. Gerry Clum, myself and Dr. Lauren Clum. And we look at a sample of the many projects we have underway at the college that are putting in place the foundation for this profession to thrive, leaving a legacy for the next generations to continue to hold the torch and keep the flame burning bright.

In this issue we also have some of

the best minds in chiropractic ponder what the science, philosophy, and art of chiropractic will look like in the years ahead. Our profession has always built its foundation on the fact that the body is a self-healing, self-replicating organism.

That being said, modern science proves it repeatedly every day. We know the body reproduces itself, the nervous system is the master control system within, and each and every body lives to its fullest potential when there is limited interference. Who can dispute the science, let alone how our bodies are designed to operate? The software never needs updating; it is written in a code that works perfectly, and when needing a reboot, the body takes care of that on its own. The operator's manual is simple…allow the body to adapt to its environment while keeping as little toxic and neurological interference to the system as possible.

When we look at the progression of where our profession came from, where we are now, and where we are going, it is quite remarkable that chiropractic has thrived in spite of limited access to government grants and money like other

professions have available to them. I am proud to say we keep moving forward, putting the hard work in and asking the right questions. When it comes to our future, it will be our blood, sweat and tears that bring us there, and I know we will not take those efforts of previous generations of chiropractors for granted. Steve Jobs once said: “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you!”

I trust you will enjoy this edition of Life West Magazine, and I want to thank everyone who contributed to it, as they gave their time and talent for us to enjoy and learn from. It takes a village to make things happen, and I am proud of my village I call Chiropractic and Life West!!

In Life and Service,

Dr. Ron Oberstein President, Life Chiropractic College West #LIFEWEST | 3

CHIROPRACTICSCIENCE CHIROPRACTICSCIENCE

CBCT – WHY YOU SHOULD BE AS EXCITED AS WE ARE! Tyler Evans, DC., DCCJP., and Jeff Scholten, DC., FCCJP

Most chiropractors are aware that the first x-ray image was created

by Wilhelm Röntgen in Germany in 1895, and that same year DD Palmer gave the first chiropractic adjustment.

Within a short time, the medical profession realized its usefulness and started using x-ray to help diagnose and treat patients with more efficiency and better outcomes. In 1910, BJ Palmer not only introduced x-ray into the chiropractic profession, but he also championed its use for spinal imaging.

What is CBCT? Cone Beam Computed Tomography is a relatively new technology that provides a low dose, pulsed, cone shaped beam.

With one or two rotations around the patient taking 20-60 seconds, a highquality 3D image is produced. Initially used for dentistry, collaboration between professions has made it possible for CBCT to find its way into the chiropractic profession in recent years.

Why is this a big deal? CBCT is a much lower dose form of 3D imaging that is quick and safe, and it gives the practitioner a high-resolution 3D picture of the hard structures of 4 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

the skull and cervical spine. In this 3D imaging, boxes of data known as voxels replace pixels, and the depths of the data contained in each box can be increased or decreased depending on the needs of the clinician. The image avoids distortion and can be analyzed in any direction by slicing through any plane to create the desired projection; this allows for chiropractors to view and analyze not only the external structures of the spine, but the internal as well.

CBCT’s imaging files can be displayed as a 2D sagittal, coronal, and axial plane slice in standard x-ray views. More excitingly is the 3D multiplane reconstruction (MPR) or anatomical reconstruction mode that allows a groundbreaking perspective when compared to typical spinal x-ray imaging. This imaging is not to be confused with typical medical planar

compared to the requirements of a standard radiology suite.

Critical for the reader to know, is that this technology has not been approved for chiropractic use in all jurisdictions at the time of publication. If you would like to understand the status of approval for CBCT use in your geographical zone, please contact the authors of this article. We hope that soon enough, this amazing technology will be readily available to all clinicians.

One of our late great chiropractors, Dr. Robert Brooks, famously said: “Truth was put in a box, and holes were poked in it for us all to see it from different perspectives.” CBCT may yet serve as a bridge within our profession to develop new ways of looking at things and closing the gap on the possibilities for preventative care in spinal health by

CBCT may yet serve as a bridge within our profession to develop new ways of looking at things and closing the gap on the possibilities for preventative care in spinal health by allowing us to utilize sub-groupings of pathoanatomic clinical prediction markers that previously were not attainable.

CT which is higher dose (10-20X higher) due to its use of a constant, spiral beam that totals anywhere from 60 to 300 rotations around the patient.

Believe it or not, CBCT technology doesn’t even require lead lining in the walls, just six feet of distance and a regular 110 volt plug to power the machine! This increased accessibility makes installation quite seamless as

allowing us to utilize sub-groupings of pathoanatomic clinical prediction markers that previously were not attainable. The future is bright in a chiropractic profession that embraces a technology that lowers the dose to patients as well as allows for improved patient outcomes via better analysis.

CHIROPRACTICSCIENCE

LIFE WEST RESEARCH ON OPTIMAL HUMAN VITALITY Monica Smith, DC, PhD

A primary focus of Life Chiropractic College West is to provide chiropractic care that is wellnessfocused and supports optimal human vitality and performance. While numerous biomarkers assess health status in the disease state, their performance in the non-disease portion of the healthcare continuum is largely unknown (Fig. 1).

Life West Research has been compiling scientific literature that identifies wellness biomarkers with good potential for use as wellnessfocused clinical outcome assessment tools to add to the body of research on the efficacy of the chiropractic adjustment. This has enabled the Life West research team to evaluate the best candidates for vitalistic and wellness biomarkers and technology that are suitable for applications in our human performance and clinical research programs.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a measure of the variation in time between heartbeats. An optimal level of variability is critical to the inherent flexibility and adaptability or resilience that characterizes healthy function and well-being. Because HRV is under moment-to-moment autonomic control, it provides a noninvasive way to monitor dynamic changes in the sympathetic and parasympathetic balance of the autonomic nervous system. Therefore, HRV provides an important means for studying autonomic balance.

Rapid autonomic responses enable us to adapt to changes that occur frequently in our environment.

Moreover, autonomic activity influences most body systems and is known to be active along the full range of the health spectrum. Actigraphy is the assessment of physical activity or motion. Activity monitoring devices (actigraphs), contain accelerometers and internal memory to record weeks to months of data.

Several studies have reported strong correlation between sleep, optimal performance, and wellness.

Life West researchers recently performed a Proof of Concept study of 24-hour HRV (24-HRV) coupled with rest/activity monitoring (Actigraphy) for assessing the duration and quality of sleep. The biomarker recordings using Holter (DVS myPatch®) and wrist-worn (ActiWatch®) technology (Fig. 2) are being analyzed now alongside data from the research subjects' sleep diaries marking start and end of “bedtime” and wake-up periods, (Fig. 3 and 4).

This Life West Research study has been accepted for presentation at the July 2022 ACCRAC to report our preliminary analyses of objective data from twenty four hour HRV and actigraphy recordings concurrent with subjective self-reported sleep diaries, comparing morning, mid-day, evening, and sleep time periods.

Life West student Alexis Griffith operates the technology and ERP protocols (Evoked Response Potentials) for recording EEG brain scans. Alexis is a Research Honors candidate interested in chiropractic care for optimizing brain health.

(Figure 1)

(Figure 2) 24-hr HRV monitor DVS myPatch® and wrist-worn actigraphy device (ActiWatch®)

(Figure 3) ActiWatch output-one research subject

Human Performance Research Lab Life West Research is advancing our understanding of chiropractic using biomarker technology in our Human Performance Research Lab. Our inhouse portfolio of research equipment includes devices for measuring HRV as well as EEG technology.

(Figure 4-Right) Sleep-related HRV pattern-six subjects monitored over a 24-hour period.

(Figure 3) Actiwatch Output-One Research Subject

#LIFEWEST | 5

CHIROPRACTICPHILOSOPHY

ADAPTING TO THE MERRY-GO-ROUND OF LIFE Rob Sinnott, DC, FPhC

Adaptability is not merely a sign of life. I might suggest it is the physical manifestation of the presence of life itself. Let me explain in this short treatise and we will see if my words offer sufficient cause for this consideration.

The word adapt can be traced to the 1300’s and refers to the ability “to undergo modification to fit new circumstances.” The degree to which a living thing adapts determines its ability to not only thrive, but to even survive.

Survival is all about adapting to stressors encountered by a living thing.

As an example, as children many of us played a role in spinning a merrygo-round as fast as possible while one daring friend tried to stay on the quickly twirling playground equipment. When you stayed as close to the center as possible, the centrifugal force was less and it was easier to adapt. Once you adapted improperly, you found yourself outside the center, now working far harder to be thrown off by forces to which you could not adapt. At one point, your arms would be straining to keep your grip before you were eventually tossed off, flying through the air and hopefully landing with relative safety.

Odd illustration you say? Let’s make this an analogy of our Chiropractic philosophy. We know that the forces of Universal Intelligence tend to be destructive toward structural matter.

Liken these to the forces pulling the child off the merry-go-round. At the same time, we will liken the forces exerted by the child to fight this, to the 6 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

forces of Innate Intelligence.

Innate Intelligence fights the forces attempting to break down the matter of the body.

We recognize this as an intelligent function, not merely one of randomness or “luck.”

The forces of Universal Intelligence work to create entropy in matter.

Entropy is the process of breaking down matter to its simplest units, while Innate Intelligence resists with its own efforts.

Innate forces can be considered as forces of entropy resistance. As long as a living thing is not overcome by forces of entropy, it remains. When adaptation completely fails, as in the child being

decreases, health decreases.

Both of these concepts fit well within our Chiropractic philosophy.

The scientific finding of a diminished ability to adapt results in decreased health is a foundational concept in Chiropractic.

The purpose of a mental impulse is a directive to a tissue cell for a moment in time. As such, this information is vital to the healthy function of tissue cells.

When this quantity flow of information is impeded, these researchers suggest that health is unquestionably decreased.

Chiropractic’s vertebral subluxation, by definition, is just such an informational interference, resulting in reduced ability to reduce forces of entropy. We

“By definition, only an intelligent system can process information and energy to reduce entropy.”

“This unequivocal fact then demonstrates the existence of a regulating biological intelligence within the human body.

Intelligence is the way in which life affronts entropy.”

thrown off, life ceases to exist.

The coordinated effort used to fight entropy in our example is little different from the way the Innate Intelligence of your body resists entropy in order to maintain a state of health. Current scientific research shows that as a state of entropy increases within an individual, health decreases. Likewise, as the ability to resist entropy increases, health increases. Even more interesting, as the flow of information

recognize this from the Chiropractic analysis which seeks to identify diminished adaptability signifying the diminished mental impulse supply, to the specific adjustment that results in restoring adaptability and therefore optimal health.

In summary, unimpeded communication from Innate Intelligence results in resisting entropy, and the level of entropy resistance is commensurate with adaptability, and therefore proportional to health.

Peter Kevorkian, DC

As we look to the future of our profession, it is critical that we remain grounded in the vitalistic perspective of our philosophy. It will allow appropriate understanding and development of the science and art.

When DD Palmer pushed on the spine of Harvey Lillard our profession was born. It is likely that DD thought for a moment that he found the “cure for deafness.” After observing other changes in people’s physiology, he thought he found the “cure for disease.”

Only through his curiosity and logical exploration did he fully appreciate the magnitude and depth of what he discovered. This exploration sparked the formulation and development of chiropractic philosophy I remember my first philosophy class in chiropractic college. We were taught that chiropractic philosophy gave us our “why” and that chiropractic is a philosophy, science, and art. I studied Stephenson’s thirty-three principles, the chiropractic triune of life, inductive and deductive reasoning, concepts of mechanism and vitalism. Although there are principles and concepts that define what we call chiropractic philosophy, I propose that it is much more than a regurgitation of memorized phrases of dogma. Chiropractic philosophy provides a framework and foundation from which to observe and employ the science and the artform. It is a dynamic exploration and an active engagement of curiosity. Chiropractic philosophy is not a static set of rules.

It is a dynamic process of systematized deductive logic to offer insight and understanding to our world and what we offer with our unique service. It

has and should continue to evolve.

The core value of our philosophical ideal is that there is order and organization to the universe.

If indeed we accept this premise, we can deduce that all things that exist and happen in the universe, do so out of intelligent design. This perception can change meaning and can change how things influence us individually and as a culture. Our philosophy offers perspective and hence can provide direction on what to do.

As our knowledge grows, our philosophy also grows. I believe it is our responsibility to stand on the shoulders of the forefathers and foremothers of our profession. Philosophical growth and development are as important as the advancement of our techniques and the scientific inquiry. This does not nullify or change the fundamental principles; it should enhance them. The major premise remains constant. The logic of deductive reasoning remains constant. And the application of the principles and the philosophy should be molded to the needs and language of the times.

The world needs our perspective. It provides insight to feel empowered. It allows people an appreciation for the brilliance of natural law and insight into how to align better with those laws.

I can only speculate where the world would be today if all the scientists, lawmakers and politicians had our

philosophical perspective through the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we look to the future of our profession, it is critical that we remain grounded in the vitalistic perspective of our philosophy. It will allow appropriate understanding and development of the science and art.

It will offer the world a balance to the mechanistic viewpoint of the world.

Holding true to our philosophy as we grow in knowledge will always humble us. No matter how much we know, there will be more that we don’t know.

This perspective is the key to ensuring curiosity and continuing to pursue understanding.

The analysis and adjustment of spinal subluxations needs to remain central to the service of chiropractic. I believe how we view the subluxation phenomena and how we address it will change as we evolve our philosophical understanding. The adjustment will be considered less a “corrective” process and more an “optimally adaptive” process. Scientific investigation will strive to determine salutogenic change and input rather than pathogenic diagnosis and treatments.

Without clarity of our philosophy (our why) we will by default fall into the philosophy and perspectives that are dominant in the culture, the narrative of the times. With philosophical clarity, we become thought leaders and help heal and advance humanity. #LIFEWEST | 7

CHIROPRACTICPHILOSOOPHY

THE FUTURE WITH CHIROPRACTIC PHILOSOPHY

SPOTLIGHT

X-RAY DEBATE HEATS BACK UP

AROUND ETHICAL RESEARCH IN CHIROPRACTIC

Dr. Joe Betz

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DEBATE AND TO WATCH THE WEBCAST, USE THIS LINK: lifewest.edu/news-updates/leadership-line/

Three researchers have been at the forefront of the debate on whether spine radiography has clinical utility in chiropractic technique and practice.

Over the years Dr. Deed Harrison, Dr. Joe Betz and Dr. Paul Oakley have written critical analyses, literature reviews and studies that rebut the position that X-ray use in chiropractic is unnecessary or even dangerous. The debate has recently re-ignited after a 2020 paper published in the journal Chiropractic and Manual Therapies titled The clinical utility of routine spinal radiographs by chiropractors: a rapid review of the literature, by Melissa Corso, Carol Cancelliere, Pierre Côté.

Dr. Harrison is a Life West graduate (‘96), president of Chiropractic Biophysics and prolific researcher. Dr. Betz graduated from Life University (‘01) and heads the research committee for the ICA. Dr. Oakley is a Palmer College graduate (‘03) and a PhD candidate in Kinesiology and Health Sciences at York University. Together they have provided perspective and analysis on this issue that is benefiting the profession as a whole, ensuring that all sides of the debate are covered and the outcomes are solidly based on the 8 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

Dr. Deed Harrison

Dr. Paul Oakley

SCAN TO SEE REFERENCED ARTICLES

entire spectrum of published research and facts.

In the mid 1990s the debate began in the scientific literature with Dr. Don Harrison (Dr. Deed’s father) on one side and researchers including Dr. Mitch Haas from Western States Chiropractic College and Dr. John Taylor from New York Chiropractic College on the other.

These past exchanges in journals and at scientific conferences culminated in 2005 with the publication of the Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters (CCGPP) series of “Guidelines” (now re-branded as the Clinical Compass). Although the profession largely refuted the validity of these guidelines, they ultimately were used by many in the insurance managed care industry. The diagnostic imaging guidelines adopted by the CCGPP/ Clinical Compass were prepared by Dr. André Bussières, professor at McGill University and Trois-Rivières University college of chiropractic. They included no studies on subluxation assessment and technique nor patient outcomes regarding X-ray. Volumes of studies were ultimately ignored or excluded in their analysis of the literature. Drs. Don and Deed Harrison, Betz and

Oakley responded by beginning work on a counter-guideline that looked at everything that the CCGPP red flag guidelines were not willing to look at.

This project took several years and was finally published in 2009 as the Practicing Chiropractor’s Committee on Radiology Protocols (PCCRP Guidelines). Endorsed by many national and international chiropractic bodies, this document was also accepted for inclusion in the National Guideline Clearinghouse and included around 1200 research citations.

While the guideline debate was raging, the attacks in the peerreviewed literature continued with Drs. Sanne Toftgaard Christensen and Jan Hartvigsen publishing a systematic literature review with the goal of determining whether sagittal spinal curves are associated with health in epidemiological studies. This study was published in the Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics in 2008.

This review found that the entire sagittal plane of the spine is irrelevant and meaningless to patient outcomes.

Again, Drs. Harrison, Betz and Oakley teamed up to write the rebuttal. JMPT would not accept the formal critiques

statement. As Dr. Harrison stated in the webcast: “then we all know what red flag X-ray is - don’t X-ray patients regularly in your practice, don’t use X-rays for safety, don’t use X-rays to change the spine, don't ever take post X-rays.” In October 2019 Drs. Harrison and Oakley responded to the Macquarie article in the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research with their article titled Selective Usage of Medical Practice Data Misrepresentations and Omission of Conflicting Data to Support the 'red flag only' Agenda for Chiropractic Radiography Guidelines.

And then in 2020 the most recent episode of this debate landed with the publication of the article by Melissa Corso, Carol Cancelliere, Pierre Côté noted above. This was termed a “rapid review of the literature” and was commissioned by the College of Chiropractors of British Columbia (CCBC). In February 2021, the CCBC approved amendments to the Professional Conduct Handbook (PCH) Part 2, Part 15 and Appendix L regarding diagnostic imaging in the practice of chiropractic. The changes allow the use of X-ray “only if the application of X-rays is indicated by a patient history or physical examination that identifies serious pathology or clinical reasons to suspect serious pathology.” In addition, the rules now state: “routine or repeat X-rays used as a regular protocol during the evaluation and diagnosis of patients are not clinically justified.”

It is extremely important to note that the rapid review by Dr. Côté failed to include any research papers published since 2005 and ultimately included only nine articles in their analysis. And once again, the journal that published this research article (Chiropractic and Manual Therapies) refused to publish any letters to the editor from several sources criticizing the methodology and findings of the study. The critical analysis of this research article had to be sent to an outside journal. The critique article was finally published in the journal Dose Response in November 2021 by the ICA Rapid Response Research Review Subcommittee with the title Smoke Screen to Distract From Flawed Science: A Response to Côté et. Over Criticisms to Their Deficient ‘Rapid Review’ on Chiropractic X-Ray Utility. The authors showed dozens of

chiropractic studies that were missed according to the Corso article’s own strict inclusion/exclusion criteria, as well as over 100 others that showed definitive clinical utility of X-ray use in the screening, assessment, diagnosis, and follow-up of patients seen in routine chiropractic practice.

It is likely this debate will continue on as provincial and state governments take one side or another as has happened in British Columbia. Critical for these decisions is to ensure the academic and scientific integrity of the research that is being produced. Dr. Harrison, as head of Chiropractic Biophysics and a clinician, sees the largely academic approach of the anti X-ray lobby as unfortunate: “The Côté study did not look at the thirteen randomized trials that my (Biophysics) group has done that clearly document that X-ray utilization and X-ray based care actually improves patient outcomes across the board.” In the same webcast Dr. Oakley observed that “the big elephant in the room is that X-ray exposure is no longer the cause of cancer it once was attributed to, and in the Côté responses to our letters to the editors of the journal, not once was there any mention of radiation exposure. The arguments were purely academic.” He continued: “The whole rationale of rapid literature review, inappropriate referencing with the WHO guidelines, eliminating valid studies not performed by chiropractors, missed and excluded reliability studies and clinical outcome studies, failure to include upper cervical, full spine, pelvis and leg length equality papers, failure to include studies on anomalies and pathologies that would alter manipulative treatment, failure to define red flags and eliminating valid studies based on bias, and very strong conclusions based on little and conflicting evidence, this all points to anti-imaging bias.”

Of one thing we can be certain: this debate has not ended. As Dr. Oberstein thanked Drs. Deed Harrison, Joe Betz and Paul Oakley for their contributions, he concluded that what was at stake was academic integrity in research and the highest ethics in chiropractic research, to enable the profession to come together around the many techniques that utilize imaging for better patient outcomes. #LIFEWEST | 9

SPOTLIGHT

and the team ended up writing a major review of the Christensen and Hartvigsen paper that was published in the Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research, Volume 2009. They found that the authors had overlooked the majority of the studies specific to their research question including seventyfour studies that were left out of their literature review. Analysis of the data provided by the authors in these missed studies combined with the studies cited in the literature review showed that 78% of the total studies found a positive association between sagittal plane curves/posture and health disorders. Drs. Harrison, Betz and Oakley remain perplexed how Drs. Christensen and Hartvigsen could have missed nearly all of the studies showing a positive correlation between sagittal spine alignment and various health parameters, including pain.

When asked by Dr. Ron Oberstein, President of Life West, in his Leadership Lines series of webcasts, why the gap is so wide in the research, Dr. Oakley pointed out that many of the PhD/ DC researchers and writers use a very academic lens and seldom if ever have been in practice. Their grasp of the practice of chiropractic was limited by this and it showed in the research outcomes. In the same interview Dr. Betz stated he felt that these researchers were trying to do what is best for the profession, but the outcomes were contrary to what has been seen in practice for over 100 years. They were trying to pigeon-hole chiropractic into a more pain-centric model of care and did not focus on the impact the spine had on overall health. Dr. Harrison commented that an agenda to make X-ray look unscientific is a flawed process and very bad for the profession.

More recently, the X-ray issue took off again in 2018 with the publication in the journal Chiropractic and Manual Therapies of the article titled Current Evidence for Spinal X-ray Use in the Chiropractic Profession.

Written largely by researchers from Macquarie University in Sydney Australia, the article generated heated debate at the World Federation of Chiropractic 2018 Conference in Berlin, which resulted in the ACA adopting their often critical and contraversial Choosing Wisely

CHIROPRACTICTECHNIQUE

FUTURE OF NEURODEVELOPMENTAL BASED PEDIATRIC CHIROPRACTIC CARE Monika A. Buerger, DC

her team, have repeatedly shown that adjusting the spine will influence the way that the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) processes somatosensory information. Among a host of critical functions, the PFC He who knows things is considered the “Executive from their beginning Functioning System” of the brain; it also controls our and origins understands social engagement system. them better …

In the above noted study, -Aristotle , 4th century BC the preemptive intervention given to reduce the odds of a later ASD diagnosis was that Chiropractic truly is a Science, Art of coaching caregivers on appropriate and Philosophy. When you understand social engagement interactions with the science, philosophy becomes more their children. solid. When philosophy becomes more The future of neurodevelopmentally solid, the science becomes even more based pediatric chiropractic care is meaningful. The two have reciprocal being able to look at what I call the consequences that lead to an increased NeuroMatrix and understanding level of confidence and certainty in WHEN during development did the practice. This is the place where the art insults occur, WHAT those particular of chiropractic then manifests at the insults may have been and WHERE highest energetic level. did the insults potentially leave their According to the Centers for Disease mark on the developing nervous Control (CDC), the current rate of system. Proper social engagement Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in with caregivers is essential for the United States is 1 in 44 children. bonding. It is well known that In a paper released in September of caregiver bonding with newborns 2021 in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers is important in order to establish found that preemptive intervention for a healthy relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorder from age the child and their caregivers. nine months among a sample of infants Bonding is also necessary to foster showing early signs of ASD led to healthy relationships and emotional reduced ASD symptom severity across regulation throughout one's life. early childhood and reduced the odds However, this life altering process of an ASD diagnosis at age 3 years. So, is also important in neurological what was this early intervention? The development. Social engagement answer to this is the framework for the with caregivers, especially with future of pediatric chiropractic from a mom, in the form of eye contact neurodevelopmental perspective. and infantile directed speech, has I believe that in order to understand shown activation within the Medial the answer to the above “early Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC). Evidence intervention”, we should first have suggests that the mPFC exhibits some basic understanding of what is functional activation much earlier known from the current chiropractic than previously thought, suggesting neuroscience literature. Studies done that the mPFC is involved in social by top researchers, Heidi Haavik and information processing from early in 10 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

life. The mPFC is also known to be important for human social cognition and behavior throughout life. Social engagement, particularly with mom, produces the important hormone oxytocin; also known as the "love drug" oxytocin helps us relate to others and strengthens trust and closeness in relationships. Oxytocin also activates the vagus nerve which is the prime driving force of the parasympathetic nervous system and is responsible for the anti-inflammatory arm of immune system modulation, gastrointestinal regulation, heart rate and a host of other critical neurophysiological responses; all of which are known to be dysfunctional in those with neurodevelopmental disorders.

In the world of neurodevelopment and neuropsychiatry, the maturation of the autonomic nervous system, of which the PFC will be the primary regulator, is considered the neurobiology of physical, mental and emotional disease. I see the future of pediatric chiropractic and neurodevelopment intertwined and working alongside (actually leading) those in other professions that understand that regulation of the autonomic nervous system and processing information from our world is the key to health and development. If the chiropractic adjustment helps to modulate processing of sensory information in the PFC, it stands to reason that it may also play a role in the development of proper social engagement and caregiver bonding.

Therefore, getting children under chiropractic care from the beginning of life could potentially steer the course of neurodevelopment and turn the tide on a later diagnosis of autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Understanding the profound effect that chiropractic care can have on the entire life of a child is one of the most amazing and inspirational things that this profession has to offer!

Jay M. Holder, DC, DACACD, FICA Aaron M. Holder, DC, DACACD

"TRT does not treat a condition, disease or symptom; it only proposes that in adjusting a subluxation we can improve the patient’s state of well-being and human potential."

Torque Release Technique® (TRT) debuted on campus at Life College in 1995, the first technique of chiropractic’s second century. TRT’s mission has always maintained that the singular purpose of adjusting the subluxation is Salutogenic. TRT does not treat a condition, disease or symptom; it only proposes that in adjusting a subluxation we can improve the patient’s state of wellbeing and human potential.

TRT is a technique but most important is its technique model. TRT is the only non-linear, vitalistic and tonal model existing in chiropractic today. There are several key issues that make up this model of which we will only list a few. First there is our differential diagnosis of ruling out the many secondary and tertiary subluxations to determine the primary subluxation. One of TRT's methods to perform this is our functional leg length reflex (FLLR), which is an Achilles deep tendon reflex performed in the prone position, where we are not concerned about leg length or making the legs even.

Rather it is an objective neurological exam that rules out secondary and tertiary subluxations and objectively identifies the primary subluxation.

Another is to recognize and understand that the subluxation is not the bone, but the bone subluxates.

The subluxation is a neurological projection in three-dimensional space in an X, Y and Z axis, known as the

listing. Adjustments are made with the Integrator® which is the only instrument that reproduces all of the corrections and three dimensional motions including torque that the hands perform to produce a toggle recoil adjustment that fires independent of the practitioner. It is the first chiropractic instrument to be registered and indicated for the adjustment of the vertebral subluxation by the U.S. government.

It is our position that all techniques work, but it is the art of the practice of the individual chiropractor that makes that possible, not the technique itself. TRT is the only technique to be created out of a randomized clinical trial which was published by the prestigious journal Nature. All other techniques have been created by mind’s eye with their research after the fact and are based on a linear, mechanistic Newtonian model which is why all first century techniques are not allowed to change. This additional difference allows TRT to constantly change and upgrade itself several times a year based on the constant flow of incoming research from many fields worldwide.

This allows us to set the stage in understanding what the future will look like for TRT. TRT will provide a holographic theater platform during adjustments which will automatically download into the medical record and validate adjustment intervention.

Eventually the FLLR mentioned above

will be replaced and upgraded by table mounted digital sensors that will record and identify our FLLR neurological leg check and automatically download the findings in the medical record. The future Integrator® will be digitized and be able to provide advanced harmonic frequency cloaking which will match the primary subluxation's HZ frequency to provide a more sustainable adjustment.

This will also allow for each adjustment to retrace multiple layers at a time instead of today's retracing only one layer at a time. Vortex safety sensors in the Integrator® will guarantee and confirm the exact alignment of the required lines of drive in the X, Y and Z axis of the listing including its superior or inferior lines of drive also known as the torque, prior to allowing the Integrator® to adjust.

Even the method in the teaching and training of TRT will be strikingly different in the future.

TRT's training and teaching will come into the home or office of the chiropractor in the form of a holographic platform, which will provide instantaneous corrections to any mistakes made by the chiropractor during training. This will allow chiropractors to attain maximum and intraprofessional reproducibility and proficiency in performing TRT in the clinical setting, without having to attend a seminar or learn about a hands-on technique online. #LIFEWEST | 11

CHIROPRACTICTECHNIQUE

TORQUE RELEASE TECHNIQUE®: A VISION OF THE FUTURE

CHIROPRACTICTECHNIQUE

THE FULFILLMENT OF FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC CARE Justin Ohm, DC

In 1986 Dr. Larry Webster formed the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) with a simple mission: all children deserve chiropractic care. Then, like now, it was apparent that children were in desperate need of chiropractic care and its intrinsic benefit to the central nervous system. Tragically, exposure to a myriad environmental, emotional and physical stressors has been on the rise. It was no less than visionary to recognize that the future of health was in supporting the spine and nervous system as early as possible rather than allowing the dysfunctional neurological patterns to develop and persist.

This message was no doubt inspiring for many chiropractors drawn intuitively to the care of babies and children.

One such inspired chiropractor was my mother, Dr. Jeanne Ohm, who first became involved with the ICPA after taking a class with Dr. Webster in 1995. Already seeing many families in practice, it was a twist of fate and a drive to better serve her community that drew her to take these classes and after being exposed to Dr. Joe Felicia’s class on birth trauma, a fire was lit inside her.

If, when caring for a child’s spine and nervous system, earlier is better, then supporting the mother during pregnancy and thereby minimizing the initial trauma to the baby is best.

After Dr. Webster’s untimely passing in 1997, my mother became more involved in the ICPA, developing the 12 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

Webster Technique into a certification in 2000 and eventually taking on the role of executive director in 2002. Since then, more than 10,000 chiropractors have been trained in the Webster Technique impacting a truly remarkable number of births and therefore babies around the world.

The fulfillment of chiropractic is in taking care of the family as a whole.

Over the past decade, the relevance of a salutogenic rather than reactive or pathogenic approach to health

to heal and regenerate, is a powerful and liberating perspective to embody.

The family chiropractor is in a unique and privileged role to deliver this perspective. This is so vital in a world seemingly paralyzed by fear.

Chiropractors have always possessed a radical, innate perspective, and I feel this is not about to change, nor should it. In fact, what we need now, more than ever, is for chiropractors to step up in their communities and serve the many families that are choosing a more proactive trusting direction for their health and function. Chiropractic care at its very core has always been focused on the function of the nervous

“May your innate receive and act on that free flow of Wisdom from above-down, inside-out… for you have in your possession a Sacred Trust. Guard it well.” has become apparent. My mom, and by extension the greater ICPA membership, have called this focus “the chiropractic family lifestyle.”

Those of us who focus on family care in practice know that families who seek out regular chiropractic care have a unique and powerful trust in their body’s ability to express life. It is subtle at first, a curiosity that brings them into the office, but like a seed in rich garden soil, it grows into a lasting confidence that supports the journey of that family.

With confidence comes resilience.

More and more families are discovering the supportive role that chiropractic care provides for them. A focused model of care that is directed towards functional improvements rather than symptomatic abatement and perhaps most importantly, that respects and honors the body’s own innate capacity

system and the powerful effect it has on all aspects of wellbeing. We would be wise to recognize the importance of this focus. In his last printed words, BJ Palmer said: “May your innate receive and act on that free flow of Wisdom from above-down, inside-out… for you have in your possession a Sacred Trust.

Guard it well.”

We must stand for the families in our communities and offer to them the understanding of the chiropractic family lifestyle, trust in the power of healing, awareness of our innate potential, nurturing the realization of health, and confident in the wisdom of “life expresses intelligence.” We are in fact the ones they have been waiting for. The nervous system is the key; chiropractors care for the nervous system; all children and pregnant women and families deserve chiropractic care. We must not forget that.

Deed E. Harrison, DC

CBP technique interventions are known to improve patients’ pain, disability, quality of life, and neurophysiological measures in those suffering and presenting with abnormal spine and posture structural deformities (subluxations).

CBP (Chiropractic Biophysics) patient management protocol involves all typical initial patient examination procedures including the consultation, examination and pain, disability and quality of life questionnaires. In addition, CBP treatment consideration requires, without exception, a fullspine posture assessment as well as full-spine AP and lateral standing spinal radiographs. Posture needs to be quantitatively assessed as rotations and translations of the head, thorax and pelvis in three-dimensions. The x-rays need to be digitized and quantified, using the Harrison posterior tangent method for the sagittal images and with the modified Risser-Ferguson on the AP images.

CBP structural rehabilitation is suggested as either 3 times per week for 12 weeks (36 treatments) or 4 times per week for 9 weeks (36 treatments).

However, the CBP published controlled trial data support treatment blocks of 30-40 treatment sessions over the course of 9-12 weeks. An initial patient who has acute or chronic pains and who has not been treated recently or at all for their current spine issue should be seen for an initial 6-12 treatments to provide pain relief. After signs of relief have occurred, a progress exam should be performed and the patient should be transitioned or ‘graduated’ to CBP corrective care interventions.

CBP treatment occurs in ‘blocks of care.’ Numerous CBP controlled clinical trials provide evidence for spine altering changes to occur in the range of 30-40 treatment sessions. The end of each block of CBP care requires a progress exam which includes all of the typical assessment procedures as well as a posture and x-ray assessment.

Exam results may either dictate the need for further CBP treatment or the recommendation for ‘supportive’ or maintenance care. An initial block of CBP structural rehabilitation will include any acute care provided in the first 2-4 weeks.

While the CBP published research data does not specifically support 6-12 month care plans, based on the available data, an adult typically needs 6 months of corrective care (e.g. 72 treatments over 6 months at 3x/week) which is an evidence-based recommendation based on results from randomized trials. Although, any given patient may require a shortened (i.e. 1-2 months) or longer treatment programs (6-12 months) based on their initial presenting postural, spinal, and pain and disability parameters.

There is also support for supportive/ maintenance care at a frequency of approximately 1-2x/month. CBP technique has an abundance of clinical evidence supporting its effectiveness in correcting spine deformity and

abnormal posture. Recently, systematic reviews have summarized the clinical evidence as reported in the published controlled trials on these methods for the cervical and lumbar regions.

CBP technique interventions are known to improve patients’ pain, disability, quality of life, and neurophysiological measures in those suffering and presenting with abnormal spine and posture structural deformities (subluxations). Due to the scientific credibility of CBP’s 240 (plus) peer-reviewed publications, the International Chiropractor’s Association (ICA) has awarded CBP Technique with a professional Diplomate Program - the new 420 hour CBP Diplomate led by Dr. Deed Harrison (see www.IdealSpine.com for details). Due to the economic and health benefits of CBP Technique methods and the global burden of spine disorders, CBP technique should continue to grow in the chiropractic, physical medicine, and general rehabilitation settings for spine disorders and for patient health and well-being. CBP will continue to publish high quality research and develop better patient intervention strategies. As such, it should rightly take its place as a leading patient rehabilitation approach for the correction of spine and posture abnormalities in Chiropractic Education and Technique. #LIFEWEST | 13

CHIROPRACTICTECHNIQUE

CBP® PROTOCOLS, CLINICAL TRIALS, FUTURE DIRECTIONS

COLLEGEUPDATE

LIFE WEST LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

As chiropractic grows and flourishes, Life West will always be an ongoing contributor to all that makes the profession great. Last year was our 40th Anniversary year and we took time to celebrate our history, reflect on our values given to us by Dr. Sid Williams - our Lasting Purpose of Giving, Doing, Loving and Serving from our own abundance with no expectation in return, and remember our achievements over those years.

Now we are looking forward and have set ourselves up for success.

As chiropractic grows and flourishes, Life West will always be an ongoing contributor to all that makes the profession great.

The Clinically Inspired Learning program is fully embedded as students now in their 8th quarter have been 14 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

through the program and are entering clinic better prepared than ever with adjusting skills and office protocols already honed from quarter one. Over 85% of all senior interns are now out on preceptorships across the U.S.A. and in other countries. They have the gift of real world experience before they graduate and the opportunity of a ready place of employment straight out of graduate school!

The Health Center is bedding in the ChiroTouch EHR with new technology available to all interns and doctors as they interact with patients. And now the college has begun equipping all our classrooms with lecture capture audio/visual equipment and large smart screens so our faculty can deliver hybrid synchronous or asynchronous lectures with no more than the touch of a button. Our technique labs will now benefit from new Force Sensing Table Technology, enabling students to precisely measure the force needed for a specific adjustment, and to train to deliver that precise force.

(If only we had these when we were at chiropractic college!) And our library is

now the Learning Commons, an open area for student study and research, collaboration in huddle spaces, and access to a wide range of electronic databases and resources.

Admissions has never had a better year. We beat all quarterly targets in 2021 and now, with a new Executive Director of Admissions in Dan Cardenas, we are focusing on improving our admissions team and reinvigorating our outreach to alumni and DCs in practice to refer prospective students to us. Check our website go.lifewest.edu for all the details you need to contact us and be part of the growth of this amazing college and our profession.

Our research program is moving in leaps and bounds. See the article on page 5 for some of what is being produced in the area of optimal human vitality.

Diversity and Inclusion is an area where Life West has dug deep and changed the dynamic at the college, laying the groundwork for our graduates to be effective working in a far more inclusive and diverse

COLLEGEUPDATE

world. Our previous strategic plan made no mention of D&I. The current plan, 2019-2025, places it as our second Strategic Initiative after the CIL program. In December 2021 we presented two papers at the Chiropractic Educators Research Forum: comparison of diversity and inclusion in Life Chiropractic College West’s strategic plans 2013-2018 and 2019-2025; and using collaborative methods with stakeholders to develop a preliminary action plan to improve diversity and inclusivity in chiropractic education and the profession. The latter reviewed the three D&I summits facilitated

by Life West in 2021 that brought colleges, associations and industry leaders from the profession together to learn, discuss and develop action plans for expanding into the diverse communities around us that we need to be serving better.

Mission trips in 2021 were stymied by the travel restrictions. Not-withstanding that, the college is moving forward with re-opening our New Delhi clinic and bringing interns

day to enhance the student experience. and doctors back to serve in India They represent at a high level and Life on mission trips. Tonga remains a West could not be prouder of them. destination as we open a new clinic Athletics, club sports and activities there in the next months, and return are vibrant, taking advantage of the with mission trips. And new service great northern Californian climate and opportunities have opened in Mexico outdoors. Mountain hikes, city walks, as we develop partnerships with the scuba diving and skydiving are some largest public and private universities of the features in Mexico City.

Service is in the We need your support for our 2022 student activities college DNA and if we are to reach all program.

Our we will always be bringing these our goals and continue rugby program amazing and continues at a the enduring legacy life-changing high level and in our profession that opportunities to full competition student interns schedules begin is Life Chiropractic and doctors. in March and College West.

When we see April 2022 for interns return from service trips both women’s and men’s teams. Finally, changed, inspired, and wiser, we college Institutional Advancement has know that this is more than just a a new leader in Touré Carter. See page college experience. It is what makes 16 for a full profile and watch out for them chiropractors with heart, ready messages from Touré as he takes us to to change the world. another level. We ask for your support Our Student Council for the first if we are to reach all our goals and time in our history has an all-women continue the enduring legacy in our executive board. These ladies are profession that is Life Chiropractic giving, doing, loving and serving every College West. #LIFEWEST | 15

INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

I N T R O D U C I N G T H E N E W E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R O F I N S T I T U T I O N A L A DVA N C E M E N T

TOURE CARTER

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NEW FIELD - SAME OBJECTIVE People tend to think that a game begins and ends on a field. In sports, a fan might prepare for one particular game. Their anticipation leads them to support and cheer for their chosen team, and once it’s done, there’s a level of finality. A sense of completion.

But, when you’re on a field, and both you and the opposing team have the same objective, all of the competitors know that the real game started months before we met. True plans of action are a result of observations, studying, strategizing, preparing, sweating, training, and hoping for the best, but making sure that we plan for every perceivable worst case scenario.

For nearly a decade, after obtaining his Bachelors from Ashland University in Electronic Media and Business Marketing, and his Masters of Science from American University in Athletic Administration, Touré Carter's abilities on the field evolved from being a player on the field, to a coach. As brutal as the turf could be, the goal was always to be forward thinking. When you’re in a stadium filled with thousands of screaming fans, and an opposing team just as stacked as yours, it can become intimidating, but you never allow yourself to lose sight of the prize.

He adopted the mantra: “It’s not what you’re capable of, but what you’re willing to do. There are many people who are capable, but there are few that are willing.” As the benchmark motto in his life, the idiom enhanced his focus between maneuvering from the 16 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

gridiron field, all the way to the Office of Development at Stanford University.

Whether he stepped on a field, or into an office, he knew the true measure of success would be predicated on his abilities to cultivate initiatives that propelled forward momentum, partnered with willing determination to go above and beyond, to obtain the necessary gains.

The same can be said for the Department of Institutional Advancement at Life West. The actions that take place to continue to move forward are only possible by cultivating strategies based on past observations and innovative preparations. Though his role in football is different than his role at Life West, his motivations are still the same: to be moving forward to keep reaching multiple levels of success.

Along with an innate ability in athletics, Touré's true life’s mission has always been to look ahead, to recognize what the goal is, study the means and techniques to achieve it, and then put that plan into action.

From playing sports, to coaching, and now, being the Executive Director of the Institutional Advancement Department, the conditions of the field are different, but the goal is always the same: progress forward, until you are able to achieve your objective. But just like in sports, winning one game does not mean the end of the season. You have to prepare and keep working and tailor your strategies based on

the next opponents. Then, you start the play again, new team, same game, same goal. Your mind is always focused on the task at hand, but you know that you have to be cognizant of the next one, and your next opportunity to advance. It’s also beneficial to have a team that works with you, as you each allow your individual talents, and joint passion to move you forward in unity.

Life West has been an institution that is a strong presence in the chiropractic world, and Touré is honored to be a part of it. Within each classroom, office, and facility on campus, we are a team.

With each individual talent, we work in unity to not only help each generation of students to achieve their goals of helping people through chiropractic, but to also expand our reach through initiatives, inclusion and open communication for continuous progression.

Touré's time at Life West, so far, has been focused on studying the past plays, seeing what works, and finding new ways to bypass any obstacle that might attempt to stop our ability to score.

Just like in a stadium full of awaiting fans, to his new family with Life West, Touré's goal is to make you proud. To allow you the opportunity to brag to anyone who will listen, how Life West has been able to tackle hindrances, and keep a forward momentum toward the end zone. As the clock is resetting for a new year, he wants us all to suit up, because once it's “game time,” that’s when we can truly see how far our training can take us, and know how strong we truly are.

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FROM THE

DIRECTOR OF A L U M N I R E L AT I O N S As the Alumni Relations Office continues to grow in our experiences and our potential, we never want to lose sight of creating an environment that will encourage the past members of Life West to be excited for the opportunities that are in store for our alma mater. Over the past year I have had a chance to meet and listen to many alumni and friends. The overwhelming response has been - I want to give back, how can I contribute?

For those who can contribute, see page 19 for the QR code and ways to make a donation. For those where financial contributions are not an option at the current time, we are designing new and innovative ways for us to engage with one another until it is. As an alum, we’re here to offer you the support that comes along with being a graduate

Dr. Joe Ibe

from our prestigious institution.

Many of these new offerings will come through the Career Services Center, an extension of the alumni office. This center has a singular objective - offer professional development services for our graduates and soon to be graduates. We have the resources you need to help you decide how to make your next moves your best ones. For example, our career center's Mentoring Program is working to pair lower quarter students with practicing DC's in the field. By shadowing you in practice, they begin to understand what it’s like to build a practice and run a business. They see their future first hand.

As we have gained a new Executive Director of Institutional Advancement in Mr. Touré Carter, we've also gained

a new level of rejuvenation and excitement with the amazing things we have in store for our alumni and anyone else in the Life West family. We aim to create a lasting relationship with alumni and friends of the college to propel Life West and the chiropractic community forward.

I hope to be able to meet with you all, on a one-by-one basis, for you to be able to get to know how the Office of Alumni Relations, in tandem with the Institutional Advancement department, can help be an asset to you and your chiropractic journey. Together, we can all continue to help build Life West into the dynasty we know that it can be. I would love to hear about your journey after Life West and what milestones have occurred in your life since you graduated.

Email me on jibe@lifewest.edu with any questions you might have!

#LIFEWEST | 17

ALUMNINEWS

10 Reasons You’ll Love ChiroTouch

CAPITALCAMPAIGN

A WHOLE NEW SPACE Transforming into the Learning Commons

CHALLENGE GRANT TO MATCH $1 FOR $1 IN MILLION-DOLLAR PROJECT

One of the largest and most exciting projects in the past decade at Life Chiropractic College West is taking off.

We are transforming our traditional library space into a contemporary and technologyenhanced Learning Commons.

This project will have a dramatic impact on the learning experience of generations of chiropractors as well as the countless number of chiropractic patients for whom they will provide care.

Traditionally, libraries have been defined by a strict set of rules – silent 18 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

environments that promote solitary study. Evolving technology and its emphasis on group and interactive learning require traditional libraries to adapt to innovative and dynamic forms of learning. The new Learning Commons is designed to embrace these emerging educational trends and practices.

Renovations include the removal of almost all of the book stacks, installing new carpet, acquiring new furniture that better promotes group learning dynamics, increased wifi capability, integrating state-of-the-art

technology equipment to enhance individual, group and remote-learning opportunities, new ceiling and insulation paneling. A digital dissection table by Anatomage is among the most sophisticated technology included in the transformed space.

The Learning Commons is at the heart of the educational mission of Life Chiropractic College West. We’re providing students and faculty with an enhanced learning environment and the technology to be successful in today’s technology rich academic culture.

CAPITALCAMPAIGN

HOW TO GIVE: CHIROPRACTIC MUSEUM The history of chiropractic is filled with visionaries, pioneers and healers. This mural depicting historic figures in the chiropractic profession is one of thousands of artifacts, images, devices, and scholarly publications in the Life West Chiropractic Museum. Its new location in the Learning Commons reminds all that the profession’s history is an integral part of the academic and clinical preparation for chiropractors.

HARRIS FOUNDATION AWARDS $500,000 TO CAMPAIGN The William M. Harris Family Foundation, a long-time and steadfast supporter of chiropractic and of Life Chiropractic College West, has awarded $500,000 to the Learning Commons capital campaign over the next five years. This award challenges the Life West community to raise the remaining $500,000 for the project. It also ensures that every dollar donated to the campaign is automatically doubled.

Every member of the Life West Community is asked to be part of this historic transformation of the college's learning environment.

There are many ways contributors can make a financial commitment.

In addition to cash or credit card donations, consider other estate planning strategies: ■ Donate appreciated stock held for at least one year ■ Contribute from an existing Donor Advised Fund ■ Make a Qualified Charitable Distribution (for people 70½ and older) ■ Satisfy an IRA Required Minimum Distribution ■ Engage grateful patients interested in supporting chiropractic Underwriting for any of the naming opportunities can be redeemed with a one-time gift, a three-year pledge (preferred), a four-year pledge (extended) or any payment schedule you prefer.

For more about the Learning Commons project and/or to donate, scan QR code: #LIFEWEST | 19

DONORROLL

DONOR ROLL

The President’s Circle are individuals committed to seeing Life West flourish and spread the principles of this great profession. Every dollar donated goes directly to the student experience. Consider joining the President's Circle and making a difference for the next generation of chiropractors and the profession worldwide.

LEADERSHIP | $10,000+ David Amaral DC '88 & Mary Amaral Caren Cole DC '87 & Emil Gluekler Jay Dhaliwal Manjit Gauba DC & Reena Gauba Brad Glowaki DC & Jessica Glowaki Deed Harrison DC '96 & Shirlene Harrison DC David Marcarian Eric McKillican, DC, LCP FICPA, DPhCS '93 & Nancy McKillican Patricia McLean DC & Michael McLean DC Ralph Ortiz DC Paul Reed DC Walter Sanchez DC &

Glenda Sanchez Aine Sweeney DC '94 Phil Tagami

DIAMOND | $2,500 - $4,999 Darcy Andersen DC Rob Anderson DC Dean Depice DC

Selina Jackson DC & Kevin Jackson DC Peter Klein DC Brian Lieberman DC & Rachel Lieberman David Melendez DC & Lorraine Melendez DC Michael Moore DC & Donna Moore Christopher Murphy DC '10 Ronald Oberstein DC & Mary Oberstein DC Susan Salem DC '93 & Serge Merlin Reuben Sendejas DC '96 Jeremy Steel DC '10 & Jackie M. Steel DC Mark Zeigler DC & Gwendolyn G. Zeigler

EMERALD | $1,200 - $2,499 Daniel Abeckjerr DC Steven Adams DC '99 & Kathy Adams George Ahn Elizabeth Anderson-Peacock DC Claudia Anrig DC Ari Anthony DC '16 Michelle Arietta DC '20 Kailey Armor DC & Andy Armor Joseph Arvay DC & Ilene Arvay Derek Atchley DC

Sergio Azzolino DC '95 & Channing L. Azzolino DC Nick Baker DC '07 Steven Baker DC '09 Joseph Ball DC & Carol Ball DC Rachae Bell-Hamilton DC '11 Ronald Benson DC '86 Ken Bergquist DC & Cheryl Bergquist Joseph Betz DC & Gracie Walker Sean Beukelman DC Sundeep Bhasin DC '99

Anatole Bogatski PhD & Malgosia Treter-Bogatski Waldemar Carrasquillo DC Frederick Carrick DC Touré Carter Lance Casazza DC George Casey DC Sandra Rocco Lona Cook DC Edwin Cordero DC & Debra Cordero

PLATINUM | $5K - $9,999 Irene Gold, RN DC Kerry Keiser DC Daniel Murphy DC & Michelle Schaer DC Hayden Power Steven Silk DC '91 & Raelynn M. Cancel DC

Melissa Crago DC '13 Timothy Cummins DC '99 George Curry DC Nenos Damerchie DC Raymond Daniels DC '18 Marc Davis DC Ian Davis-Tremayne DC '08 Delphine Deignan DC Jason Deitch DC Jill DeLong DC Danny Desaulniers DC Philip Dieter DC '06 Scott Donaldson DC Richard Doss DC '16 Troy Dreiling DC '94 Kerri Duggins-Rames DC '86 Raleigh Duncan DC '00 Kari Figone DC Gary Fish DC Carolyn & Fish DC David Fletcher DC, FRCCSS C & Nancy Fletcher Leah Garlan DC Skylar Gemmer DC '09 & Vanessa Wise DC '09 Kristen Giles DC & Paul C. Ruscica DC Aaron Gillespie DC Michael Gorgas DC Gordon Gracey DC '81 Elizabeth Greene Martin Griffin & Carolyn Griffin DC

CORPORATE & FOUNDATION DONORS $50,000+

Standard Process Transformation Trust William M. Harris Family Foundation $20,000+

Chiro One ChiroSecure NCMIC Foundation NCMIC Insurance $10K - $19,999

Foot Levelers, Inc. New Patient Maven

$5K - $9,999

Biotics Research Corp CBP Seminars Chickasaw Nation Clearlight Infrared Sauna John & Elizabeth Moore Educational Trust $1K - $4,999

Andersen Family Chiropractic BlueIQ Chart Talk ChiroPreferred

IN KIND DONORS Chirolux Mark Foullong, DC Ryan French, DC Deed E. Harrison, DC David Hartz, DC Susan R. Hilliker, DC Eric Hoffman 20 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

Stuart Hoffman, DC Dale Johnson, PhD Martin Rosen, DC Joanne Somerville, DC & Bill Somerville Vincent Su Mark T. Zeigler, DC

ChiroTouch Doctor Multimedia doTERRA Erchonia Jane Software Inc. Leo Adler Foundation & Community Fund LightForce Therapy Lasers Magneceutical Health Medical Lien Recovery Myovision North Carolina Masonic Scholarship Foundation, LLC

Nutragen Schillinger Chiropractic & Wellness Center SKED Inc. $100 - $999

AmazonSmile Foundation Anonymous Donations Baxmax Supports Cervipedic Neck-Relief Chirolux Christian Chiropractors Association

Premier Practice Consultants LLC Rapid Release Technology Seattle Natural Health Sherwood Family Chiropractic The Merrymaker's Orchestrina Thumper Massager

Thank you for helping us make our chiropractic community stronger.

There are many opportunities to help Life West support the profession's objectives and make thoughtful, tax-wise contributions.

Learn more at lifewest.edu/give or scan QR Code

Mark Kordonski DC Mark Kordonski DC '04 & Jen Kordonski DC Daniel Kraus DC Stephanie Libs DC '13 Don MacDonald DC & Brandi MacDonald CA Christie MacDonald DC Albert Mansour DC & Suzane Mansour Robert Martines DC Eduardo Martinez DC Christina Meakim DC Lorraine Melendez DC & David V. Melendez DC Brian Moriarty DC & Laura Moriarty Michael Morris DC '98 Geraldine Mulhall-Wright DC '97 Susan Mullen DC '97 Jimmy Nanda DC '97 & Navjot Nanda Paul Newton DC '04 Lawrence Oberstein DC '84 Angel Ochoa-Rea DC '4 & James Ochoa-Rea Takeshi Ogura DC '98 Lori O'Hara DC '87 Thomas Oliver DC '98 Gregg O'Neill DC Erica Orduno DC Benjamin Ozanne DC Ronil Pala DC '14 Niraj Patel DC Arthur Patterson DC

Palmer Peet DC & Catherine Breton DC Brooke Peters DC Reanna Plancich DC '10 Jess Pontious DC '87 Shawn Powers DC Romain Riberou DC Brandon Roberts DC '01 & Candice Rowlett Martin Rosen DC Russell Rosen DC Dorrin Rosenfeld DC '92 & Robert M. Woolery DC Paul Roses DC & Mary Ann Roses Toniann Roses-Sottile DC & Dean Sottile DC Justin Roth DC Kristopher Royal DC & Cara Royal Gregg Rubinstein DC Scott Sawyer DC Timothy Schaub DC David Scheiner DC & Laura Scheiner DC Mark Schillinger DC Bruce Schneider DC Jeffrey Scholten DC Jacob Schuppe DC Laura Sheehan DC '02 Kaitlyn Shikada DC '18 Jacob Shuppe DC James Siller DC & Kristene Siller Stephen Simonetti DC Jean-Marc Slak DC & Linda Slak DC Roechelle Smith DC '97

Timothy Smith DC '95 & Catherine Smith Kenneth So DC Raj Sohal DC Dean Sottile DC & Toniann Roses-Sottile DC Flint Sparks DC Clint Steele DC & Tina Steele Brian Stenzler DC & Brooke Stenzler Ashleigh Street DC '11 Rick Swecker DC '03 & Kerry Swecker Ryan Sweet DC '04 Larry Thill DC '91 Rebecca Tibbits DC Scott Turner CPA & Kelly Turner Roderick Van Buskirk DC '87 Erik Van Slooten DC '09 Michael Viscarelli DC & Tara Viscarelli Mindy Weingarten DC Robert Wolff DC & Diana Wolff Heather Wolfson DC '03 & Jack Wolfson DO Tim Yoder DC Nikolai Young DC & Paulina Young Sonya Young DC Christine Zapata Thiel DC '07 Miaken Zeigler DC & Steve Kunshier Rion Zimmerman DC Eva Zingone DC '17 & Joe M. Zingone DC

DONORROLL

Terri Hamilton DC '93 B. Hardick DC Cliff Hardick DC Andy Harding DC Darren Hart DC Cameron Hastings DC & Janit Porter James Hawkins & Kathleen G. Hawkins Bharon Hoag DC Paul Hodgson DC '10 & Gina M. Illia DC Stuart Hoffman DC Jay Holder DC & Rochel Holder DC Peter Holt Stanton Hom DC Mylene Hopf DC '10 Alvin Hsu DC '11 Ryan Hulsebus DC '08 D.D. Humber DC & Beth M. Humber Thomas Hyland Joseph Ibe DC '10 & Avegail Ibe Jeffrey Jacobs DC Kerry Johnson DC & Lisa Johnson Dale Johnson PhD & Susan Johnson Armen Kendig DC & Janet H. Kendig Peter Kevorkian DC & Patricia A. Giuliano DC Mark Kimes DC & Deborah Kimes Alain Kolt DC & Dawn Watkins DC Kyle Konas DC Darrel Kopala DC Jen Kordonski DC '04 &

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY

SUPPORTERS DIAMOND | $999-25,000 Aine weeney GOLD | $500-$999 Barbara Fairfield LMFT & Donald Fairfield Kevin Hearon DC & Alison Hearon Ian Rassel DC '05 SILVER | $100-$499 Joanne Ares-Tabick & Robert Tabick Angelo Baez Douglas Bell DC '83 Bipin Bhosale Lynn Bunin DC '94 Lise Cloutier DC Daniel Crayk Huong Danh DC '10 Kenneth Daniels Bobby Doscher DC Karen Fairfield '00 Alex Foote DC '01

Matthew Francoeur DC Katherine Gentile June Gentle DC '94 John Guilford DC '86 Merry Harris DC '95 Paula Hedglon DC & Michael Hedglon Daniel Helm DC '96 Spencer Hill Eric Hoffman Claire-Marie Holman DC '86 Rebecca Howard Darcy Kelly DC Samuel Krasner Lori Libs DC & David Libs DC Barry Lieberman DC Elliott Mantell DC Trevor Marum DC '18 & Virginia Marum John McCarthy DC '14 Riley Mehaffey Jonathan Moukhtofi DC

Katherine Murray DC '16 Isidoro Narvaez-Ruiz DC '02 Edward Pakdaman Dorothy Pangelinan Dennis Perman DC Troy Peters DC '05 Hien Pham DC '01 Angela Pino Edward Rak DC Elizabeth Rassel DC David Reed DC '00 Stephanie Rodriguez Anna Scarbrough Jon Scott DC Marilyn Shore DC Lindsey Squibb DC '18 Christopher Tabick DC Josephine Tabick Melinda Tamonte DC '02 Paige Thibodeau DC Anthony Wasem DC & Jina Foltz Richard Westbrook DC &

Cynthia Martin-Westbrook DC Titima Williams DC '94 Michelle Wozniak DC Jamie Wyskiver DC Will Youngblood DC Harley Youngblood DC BRONZE | UP TO $99 Krystal Allen DC Macaela Bennett Ronald Berg DC Salim Bohsali Drew Boster & Mary T. Boster DC Brian Burns DC Anthony Carrano Patrick Chonzena Harry Dietrich Emily Downing Zachary Dunbar Rebecca Ellis DC '16 Brandon Fein Steven Forcash

Maureen Huskey Raui Jitta DC Lauren Kilian Stephen Kutscher Steven Mamigonian DC Deborah Marin Elisabeth Miranda Reuben Montemagni DC '90 Namir Moussa '20 Kristopher Nguyen '19 Joyce Polikoff Michael Reid Loren Roberts DC & Joyce M. Roberts Douglas Ross DC '85 & Virginia A. Frederick DC Todd Royse DC & Diedre Royse John Schuessler Sharon Seto Heidi Skye DC Jo Stroud DC '86 Karen Zamzow #LIFEWEST | 21

FEATURE

Dr. Gerry Clum

Dr. Ron Oberstein

Dr. Lauren Clum

LIFE WEST

THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF CHIROPRACTIC There are many ways of presenting this topic and one of the more pleasurable was a recent conversation hosted by Dr. Ron Oberstein with two members of the Clum dynasty: Dr. Gerry Clum, first president of Life West and long known for his leadership and wisdom, and his daughter Dr. Lauren Clum, now Clinical Director at the Life West Health Center. Dr. Gerry began his career in the early 1970s when there were 16-17000 chiropractors in the United States and the US Department of Education and accreditation agencies did not recognise the DC degree. The profession was very much in its establishment phase. Dr. Gerry saw the initial recognition of the CCE and ultimately recognition of the regional accreditation agencies, and as each of these steps happened, they opened new opportunities for the profession. The ACA held to a position that chiropractic was whatever the individual states said it was, while the ICA perspective was that chiropractic is a measurable, defined, identifiable body of knowledge and skill. These positions permeated the educational and political dimensions of the profession, influencing licensure and reimbursement.

22 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

adds a level of responsibility because the financial relationship is directly between the patient and the doctor. “In running a cash practice one has to get very good at communicating with one's patient the value of what we are doing because they are paying out of pocket. What is that brain-body connection, how is it impacted by the chiropractic adjustment?

We have to be able to scientifically answer questions because of that level of accountability.

I think we need to own that as chiropractors, it elevates who we are as practitioners.” Dr. Oberstein agreed: “the stronger the chiropractor, the stronger the profession.”

Moving to technology and techniques, Dr. Gerry’s comment was that everyone has always wanted better results. When he was in school the big debate was between Gonstead and Upper Cervical. Gonstead was about the base up, and Upper Cervical was from the top down. This debate has not been reconciled to this day. Other techniques like CBP took a mathematical model, or Atlas Orthogonal took an instrumental model. “But

FEATURE

From the next generation’s point of view, the profession is no longer in the uphill battle it seemed to be in the past. As Dr. Oberstein observed, “on a certain level the profession was in a fight phase, the sympathetic phase, that we just couldn’t get out of.” Dr. Lauren’s experience for her generation of chiropractic was different due to the growth of the profession. Dr. Lauren’s experience is that chiropractic has been readily accessible and readily accepted. The obstacles now are more about where we go from here. Students in the past typically had a tremendous personal experience with chiropractic or someone close to them did, and counselors were definitely not talking about chiropractic in high schools or undergraduate colleges. Dr. Lauren sees today’s students mostly understanding chiropractic college as a genuine career in healthcare. “And then the school environment becomes part of their lifechanging experience with regard to chiropractic.

And that is super exciting!” Dr. Gerry Clum added: “I think it is wonderful to see the direction the profession is going, to self-directed learning, shifting the responsibility from the faculty to the student, with the faculty becoming a facilitator of learning rather than the focus of learning.”

In the practice environment the same evolution has happened. From 16-17000 practitioners when Dr. Gerry began his career, to 90,000-100,000 around the world today. “Our sheer numbers have reached a tipping point where we are making a meaningful contribution to the ecosystem of healthcare.” Dr. Gerry gave malpractice as an example, where it was once something nice to have and patient records were on 4x6 index cards. Today it is needed for renewing licenses in a significant number of states. “So where our levels of responsibility have gone up, so have the levels of accountability. The consequential nature of our actions and the profession in general has gone up.” The 1970s was when chiropractic was accepted for MediCare, and crucially the accepted diagnosis of subluxation changed the landscape.

“As the numbers of practicing DCs went up so did the number of dollars associated with chiropractic care, and the balance of responsibilities and accountability became a function of our maturation as a profession,” Dr. Gerry said.

Dr. Lauren opened her practice in 2007 and the advice she got was: You might as well start cash because you can always start billing insurance, and it’s really hard to go in the other direction.

And it worked! “I started with a cash practice and never billed insurance for chiropractic care. I can honestly say that yes, you can run an upper cervical cash practice successfully without billing 3rd party payors.” Looking at the current state of play, Dr. Lauren sees the majority of practices having a degree of billing. But running a cash practice

"...a world where it is natural for moms to take their babies to get checked as soon as they’re born, and everyone in the family getting checked for vertebral subluxation as well. " the fundamentals of what we do and why we do it have not changed dramatically. And that is one of the great anchors of the profession,” he stated. Dr. Lauren’s take on technology is that “innovation has allowed us to provide a level of objectivity to our analysis that hasn’t always been there. The goal has always been to improve outcomes and to explain the outcomes we are getting. Technology has in that way upped the ante with accountability.”

Looking further into the future, Dr. Oberstein posed the question to both Dr. Clums: “where do you want to see chiropractic?” Dr. Gerry saw the profession accepted as another part of the fabric of society, and the value of the adjustment realized and applied to the greatest extent possible for the health and well-being of the population. Dr. Lauren was on the same page - a world where it is natural for moms to take their babies to get checked as soon as they’re born, and everyone in the family getting checked for vertebral subluxation as well.

“Because that is what helps us serve better in our capacity as humans.” #LIFEWEST | 23

FOLIOHERE FOLIOHERE

CE PACKAGES FOR BUSY CHIROPRACTORS

P O S T G R A D U AT E & CONTINUING E D U C AT I O N CE.LI F EWEST. E D U LAURIE ISENBERG conted@lifewest.edu ǀ 510.780.4508

■

12 hour online CE package – all 12 hours online on-

■

24 hour CE package – 12 hours online on-demand PLUS 12 hours live (webinar or classroom – you choose). includes ethics, exam/technique, and other topics.

demand. includes ethics, exam/technique, and other topics.

ONLINE SEMINARS – AVAILABLE ANY TIME

■ ■

Thompson Technique Cervical Region (Beth Zogg, DC)

■

Examination of Headaches, Vertigo, and Cervical Spine Sprain and Strain (Ramneek Bhogal, DC)

■

Patient Centered Chiropractic: Delivering Quality Care from Start to Finish (Derrell Blackburn, DC)

■

Toddler Exam for the Practicing Chiropractor (Geraldine Mulhall-Wright, DC)

Diagnostic Imaging in Chiropractic Practice (Jamie

Motley, DC, DACBR)

■

Chiropractic and the Polyvagal Theory Made Easy & Applicable (Monika Buerger, DC)

■

Attend Live Seminars Online or On-Campus – see ce.lifewest.edu for listings

ONLINE SEMINARS

– Ramneek Bhogal, DC

– Derrell Blackburn, DC

– Monika Buerger, DC

– Jamie Motley, DC, DACBR

– Geraldine Mulhall-Wright, DC

– Beth Zogg, DC

#LIFEWEST | 25

GRADUATES

CONGRATULATIONS,

GRADUATES! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU! Our graduates come to Life West from all over the world and are dedicated to spreading Lasting Purpose. We couldn't be more proud of these 86 new doctors of chiropractic. We are excited to see them spread their wings to create a brighter future for humanity.

VALEDICTORIANS AND SALUTATORIANS FALL 2021

WINTER 2022

VALEDICTORIAN | NICOLE WONG-HOMER

VALEDICTORIANS | CHAD BELL & JOSEPH BELZIL

SALUTATORIANS | RACHEL WONG-HOMER & CHELSEA MCALLISTER

SUMMER 2021 Grant Rivera* FALL 2021 Michelle Abbamonte*** Violet Arras** Brandi Babbitt+ Jasmine Beard Christina Bruni* Fiona Cheung*** Xavier Crawford+ Christopher Connolly James Day Ori Dula Matthew Durant 26 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

Melissa Ferguson*** Scott Forbes Nicole Giove Brian Hernandez*** Kai Hua Hsu** Tri Le* Chloe Lightner* Harpreet Lotey* Chelsea McAllister*** Tanya McAllister*** Daniel Moleni Lorraine Moore Christopher Nguyen* Shaina Nolley* Mark Olin

SALUTATORIAN | SAGI HEBRON

Ivan Ortiz Adriano Reyes* Nichole Rivera Velez Ben Rotman Patrick Sage Kelsey Steele** Dayanara Thompson+ Donald Vang Rachel Wong-Homer*** Nicole Wong-Homer *** WINTER 2022 Dalvir Atwal* Michael Baba* Chad Bell***

Joseph Belzil*** Gurleen Brar* Brittany Brockman*** Saira Burney Londono Erik Cabeza Amy Chin* Rylee Christensen** Jonathan Dai* John-Michael Dellermann David Douglas Blake Edmonson*** Lauren Emge Ryan Garcia** Miranda Given**+ Nathaniel Graham

GRADUATES

The 80th Life West Commencement honored the Founding Class from Pacific States Chiropractic College - renamed Life Chiropractic College West in 1981.

Claudia Anrig, DC Carol Ball, DC Joseph Ball, DC Michael Gracey, DC Kenneth Lawver, DC Ronald Norlinger, DC

Sophia Grandstaff * Glen Guinto* Sagi Hebron*** Reinhardt Henstock*** Rachel Howley+ Burt Huff+ Offy Kalu+ Kenneth Kwong*** Shawn Lacey+ Bri Lange**+ Alexander Leonard** Sarah O’Hara*** Kaylie Padilla*** Trevor Prater* Benafsha Sahibzadah

M Ryan Saldivar Anna Naomi Schroeter*** Kurt Schroeter** Sangheon Shin Mason Stahley*** Diana Tapnio Nicholas Teixeira*

Donald Oyao, DC Mary Thomas Weiss. DC Michael Zabelin, DC Lidia Wolny, DC Randy Henderson, DC (not present) Louri Douns, DC (not present)

Steven Truong** Aaron Vela** Rodrigo Velasquez** Maria Vazquez Orozco Dylan Wasserman** Garrett Woo* Serena Wong**

SPRING 2022 Gaven Hohl* Vaneet Shelopal

HONORS DISTINCTION: Cum Laude * 3.25 – 3.49 GPA Magna Cum Laude ** 3.5 – 3.74 GPA

Summa Cum Laude *** 3.75 – 4.00 GPA + LIFE WEST STUDENT AMBASSADORS #LIFEWEST | 27

STUDENTPROFILE

STUDENT PROFILE

BRANDI BABBITT

G R A D U AT I N G C L A S S O F FA L L 2 0 2 1

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH CHIROPRACTIC? I was 12 years old and had a back injury as a competitive cheerleader.

I was in so much pain, I couldn’t walk. My dad took me to see a chiropractor and after one adjustment I immediately felt relief and could walk again.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BE A CHIROPRACTOR? I didn’t know I wanted to be a chiropractor until I was finishing my associate's degree in business, contemplating my next move. My parents really encouraged me to look into chiropractic. Once I started working for a chiropractor, that’s when I really found my passion for the profession.

HOW ARE YOU A MENTOR FOR YOUR PEERS? It was instilled in me to work hard and always give 100%. If I don’t know the answer to a question, I will find someone who does. I always try to be a resource for my peers. After all, we are all in this together!

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A CHIROPRACTIC MENTOR? Affirmation, accountability, and communication. It’s important to have an open dialogue and be told when I’m doing something right, as well as when I am doing something wrong. And of course, it’s always great to have someone hold you to your goals.

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR TIME AT LIFE WEST, WHAT HAS INFLUENCED YOU THE MOST? The connections that I’ve made with the faculty and the students.

Being an Ambassador really helped grow my networking skills. I love that at Life West, there is no competition. Everyone is happy to help one another.

HOW DO YOU HOPE TO CONTINUE YOUR WORK AS AN AMBASSADOR AS A PRACTICING DC? I would love to work with Life West to develop an alumni Ambassador program. Have some events on each side of the coast and try to reach more students. It’s important to choose a school that’s going to support you and help prepare you to be the best chiropractor you can be, and not choose a school based off of location.

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ALUMNIPROFILE

ALUMNI PROFILE

DR. GERALDINE MULHALL-WRIGHT CLASS OF 1997

A few years ago, one of the children in my life was learning how to walk down the stairs, forwards, instead of turning around backwards and crawling down. As we were going through this, I reached out a hand to make sure she was ok. She grabbed my hand and as we walked down I asked her if she was ok. She said, “I got this,” I asked “You sure?” She said, “I got this.” I checked again and sure enough she repeated “I got it.” The entire time, I was giggling because I thought here she is holding onto my hand and yet she’s saying ‘I’ve got this. As I looked back on that video, I realized that somewhere in my mind I thought that when I say “I’ve got this” it meant that I had to do it all on my own.

When I left Life West in 1997, I was so happy to put school in the rearview mirror and start my career.

I didn’t want to go back to campus, I didn’t want to go to homecomings, I had a few friends that I wanted to keep in contact with and that was it. I was done. The pressure cooker of the chiropractic program was absolutely beyond anything I wanted to deal with again and I was the steam coming out as fast as I could.

And then in 2011, I got the call. Dr. Debbie Lindemann called to see if I was interested in teaching. I was truly surprised to realize that I was interested. So, in January 2012, I started co-teaching my first class with her. I was still in full time practice and now part time teaching, what a

ride that was! I had only a vague idea as a student what the teachers had to do and what gifts they brought to the school and the students.

Then a student invited me to go on my first mission trip. So off I went to China. (Now mind you, being of almost full Irish descent, my goal was to go to Ireland when I started travelling.) I got to see the Great Wall, serve hundreds of people, and see things in patients that I would have never seen in the USA. Talk about a total refresher on chiropractic and miracles! That mission trip led to another and an opportunity to teach a small class on primitive reflexes.

The primitive reflex class led to an invitation to give a talk to around 1,000 people on how chiropractic care can decrease the rate of c-section and therefore death in moms and babies. (Look out students; 60-80 tired students is not a challenge to bring enthusiasm to anymore!)

Travel has obviously been restricted over the last two years, so I haven’t been able to go on any mission trips.

What did happen is that because of my connection to the college, and Dr. Oberstein and the Life West community working so diligently on keeping the school open, I was able to have information to ensure that I was able to continue serving my practice members throughout the last few years. Because of my connection to the ICPA, I have an even more vitalistic and salutogenic approach

that has reinforced that love and connection, instead of fear and the outside-in model, is the way through this next phase, for me and for my practice. I have had somewhere around 8-12 preceptors in my office in the last 5-10 years and that has also enhanced my practice.

This year it is my great pleasure to serve as your Alumni Board President. We need, more than ever, as a profession and a community to reach out to each other. The entire Alumni Board is here to serve you and listen to what you need after you leave LCCW. We also want you to know that we can do more for our community when we can count on you as well. So if you want to reconnect to the miracle of chiropractic, come join us on a mission trip! If you want to reconnect to people in your class or the school, come to or host a President's road trip event. Sign up for the Wave. If you want to connect with a student, become a preceptor drop an email to our Director of Alumni Relations Dr. Joseph Ibe (2010 LCCW graduate) at jibe@lifewest.edu. Stand up and take the chiropractic oath again with the new DC’s at a graduation.

I guarantee that when you do any of these things, LCCW will continue being the connection that allows you to say “I’ve got this!” #LIFEWEST | 29

ADMISSIONS

MEET THE NEW LEADER OF THE

LIFE WEST ADMISSIONS TEAM

DAN CARDENAS

Dan Cardenas, newly appointed Executive Director of Admissions, has been a part of the Bay Area community for over two decades. He has spent the last 22 years in Northern California working at a number of private institutions. Dan has held positions as Campus President, Dean of Admissions, and Group Director, recruiting students for Business, Design, Engineering, and Commercial Arts programs. He has also served on the Economic Development Commission for the City of Fremont.

In 2020, he was appointed by Fremont Mayor Lily Mei to the city Planning Commission. Dan holds a Bachelor in Sociology from UCLA, and received his MBA and MHRM from Keller Graduate

HOW MANY PATIENTS DOES YOUR STUDENT REFERRAL HELP? A continued thank you to all of our DC Ambassadors and friends that help prospective students find chiropractic and Life West. We estimate that one student referral can support 5,400 new patients. Learn more via our How Many website and join the DC Ambassador community.

Find out more: go.lifewest.edu/how-many

30 | LIFEWEST.EDU/MAGAZINE

School of Management. When asked why he decided to join the Life West team, he replied, “I’ve learned over the years that no matter where we are in our life, no matter what type of schedule we currently have, there is always a way to make a difference in somebody’s life.” He added, “I remember reading BJ Palmer’s quote that changed my outlook instantly: ‘You never know how far reaching something you may think, say or do today will affect the lives of millions tomorrow.’ Simply put, it was my calling to help grow and develop a profession that will produce Doctors of Chiropractic that will make a positive difference for millions of people in the years to come.”

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Are you curious about the scholarship opportunities available at Life West to help students offset their educational investment? We are pleased to share that Life West has multiple scholarships available for incoming students as well as current students to help students lower their overall cost of education. The Financial Aid Office regularly publishes a list of quarterly scholarships available to current students. Current students can visit our website at www.lifewest.edu/scholarships for more details and to submit their application. For new students, we have five scholarships available each quarter that typically range between $750 to a maximum of $15000.

Please encourage individuals to visit our website at www.lifewest.edu for eligibility and additional details.

Some scholarships are time sensitive, so it is important that students review the timelines and apply early so they don’t miss out. If any DC’s or future students have questions about available incoming scholarships for new students, please email Marc Martin at mmartin@lifewest. edu to arrange a brief call to discuss further.

HOW DR. KEN COOPER IS MANIFESTING BJ PALMER'S FAMOUS WORDS: YOU NEVER KNOW HOW FAR REACHING SOMETHING YOU MAY THINK, SAY OR DO TODAY WILL AFFECT THE LIVES OF MILLIONS TOMORROW.

DR. KEN COOPER

In Admissions we relish the conversations that we have with prospective students. Many of these conversations are around their motivation to become a chiropractor and the stories that led them down this amazing path. One constant that we never tire of hearing is their many interactions with the chiropractors that have mentored them along the way.

At Life West we are fortunate to have a large network of DC ambassadors who not only mentor the chiropractic leaders of tomorrow, but graciously refer these students to the college.

To find a shining example we need look no further than Dr. Ken Cooper, President of Cooperstown Chiropractic Wellness Center in Fullerton CA. Dr. Cooper has been in practice for 30 years, and has been focused on making a lasting difference in his community ever since. Dr. Cooper is not a graduate of Life West, but is motivated to refer students to the program. Together with his son Scotty, Cooperstown’s Director of Business Development, the practice has been a hub of mentorship for the students in Fullerton and surrounding areas for years. Their motivation is the knowledge that Life West’s balanced approach to the curriculum, preparing students in the science, art, and philosophy of chiropractic, gives these students a great base to start off in practice right after graduation.

According to Scotty, what changed everything for Dr. Cooper in practice, “was learning the philosophy, and everything fell into place after that.”

Dr. Cooper became a chiropractor because “plain and simple the medical system failed him.” While playing baseball in college Dr. Cooper suffered an abnormal knee injury, and over time no health professional was able to get to the root cause of the issue. It was at that point that Dr. Cooper was

ADMISSIONS

DC AMBASSADOR SPOTLIGHT

introduced to the idea of going to see a chiropractor. After the first adjustment he came out of the office somewhat bewildered, almost stomping his feet.

His future wife who was with him at the time, asked why he was stomping and Dr. Cooper replied: “Is this how walking is supposed to feel?” From that first adjustment total nerve flow was restored and a knee brace was never needed again. Originally planning to go into medicine with thoughts of becoming an ER doctor, that life changing adjustment was the catalyst for Dr. Cooper’s decision to pursue chiropractic.

Over the years Cooperstown has referred 30 students to start at Life West. When asked about this success Scotty said: “you have to have a system.” Cooperstown has an internship component in their practice and has partnered with local colleges and universities to identify the right candidates over the years, going as far as contacting the universities directly to get the word out about these opportunities. The interns are then put through a vetting process to make sure they are the right candidates. “The interns are right next to the doctors at all times to see what it’s like to be a doctor and what their future could look like. How can I take someone with a great heart and beautiful intentions and make them the best that they can be, and connect them to their true self,” says Scotty. When asked why giving back was so important he replied: “Because Life West is training the people who are going to make a difference in the world. The people coming through that school are going to be the difference makers that challenge the status quo, so I have to support that. We educate and inspire, creating a place of hope, where miracles are expected!” #LIFEWEST | 31

LE

E CHIR O

PRESIDENT'SCIRCLE

LIF

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E N T’S CI

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GE WEST

Become a President's Circle member by scanning the QR code and joining today!

ES

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have facilitated service trips for interns to India and Tonga, and are now planning more locations as well as returning to these familiar destinations.

Another one of our goals has been to engage students in uplifting experiences over these recent times of physical separation. We launched the Recreation and Activities Plan to provide opportunities for students.

We cannot thank you enough for the amazing impact that you have been having on the students. Join or renew as a sustaining member and ensure your contributions continue uninterrupted.

This provides the college with the financial assurance we can draw upon to cultivate a college environment of innovation, collaboration, scholarship and research – Giving, Doing, Loving and Serving from a place of abundance.

PR

There’s an African proverb that says “it takes a village to raise a child.” At Life West, the students also rely on the altruism of the President’s Circle to be part of the village that helps to shape them into the future chiropractors and health leaders that they will be one day.

Being a member of the President’s Circle means giving back to the growth and development of the profession for the next generation of chiropractors.

Through the spirit of giving, members add to the opportunities our students get to expand their knowledge, talent, and experiences at Life West. Every dollar contributed by President’s Circle members is used to enhance the student experience.

With these generous donations we’ve been able to remodel the Gross Anatomy lab, and bring new technology to improve students’ understanding of spatial anatomy and physiology. From 2020 we’ve also been able to finish the remodeling of the gymnasium, the museum, and the Learning Commons.

For those members who see a worldwide experience as valuable, we

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President's Circle Member 32 years

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25001 Industrial Blvd.

Hayward, CA 94545 lifewest.edu

LIFE WEST’S PREMIER CHIROPRACTIC CONFERENCE

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AUGUST 5 TH -6 TH 2022 Life Chiropractic College West College Campus Hayward, California