From Taylor Vagg, a 4th year student at MacQuarie University, Sydney.

My vision for the next millenium

My vision for the next millenium is to bring chiropractic to the masses. Not the chiropractic that just fixes back pain and deals with workers compensation cases, but the chiropractic that can help people to obtain better, healthy lifestyles.

Wouldn't it be fantastic to have all new-borns checked and families visiting their chiropractor as regularly as the dentist for maintenance care? Better still, a reduction in people's dependency upon external substances for internal balance.

Obviously, these thing can only come from education and understanding. In order to educate the public, we must be united in our message as a profession. As long as we are arguing and confused about what we do, so too will be the public.

As a student it is easy to become disheartened by this confusion. What is a subluxation, what is an adjustment, wellness chiropractic, symptom based. And then there are the different ways to apply chiropractic principal - straight, mixed, NET, NOT, SOT, TBM, CBP???!!! The list goes on.

The diverse nature of chiropractic should be helping us to prosper and grow. However, when it causes tribal behaviour, diversity can cause separation within a profession and hinder genuine progression.

During my chiropractic education, I have met a lot of chiropractors who insist that what they believe is right and everybody else is doing the wrong thing. Once again, the confusion sets in.

Instead of moving away from one and other, we need to come together with one united purpose. Then our message may be clearer to the public.

I was born into a chiropractic family; like any good chiropractic child I was adjusted before they cut the umbilical cord! So I began to learn of its benefits at a very early age.

I remember the day when my father sat me down and explained innate intelligence and how chiropractic works. It was like a light bulb - I couldn't understand why everybody didn't get it.

If we can convey that same clear message to the public, then we can also convey our excitement about chiropractic.

So…my vision for the future is to bring chiropractic to the masses, by achiving unity within our own ranks.

By having a clear and strong purpose, we can help others to understand what we already know about the uniqueness of the human body and hence excite them about their own health.
If we can do this, no matter what barriers we face profession, political or otherwise, the public will support us.

Because they will realise that chiropractic has the ability to change lives.