What’s going on in Europe?
My standard for how and where I teach is and always has been based on what best serves the interests of the members of the public who are seeking the help of the practitioners treating them.
When I received the invitation to teach at the Berlin Heilpraktiker post-graduate school my advisors and I did our routine check on the background of the school and its role in German health care and determined that teaching these individuals KST fit our criteria for advancing the well being of HP patients. (See criteria in this web site.)
After we announced the Berlin seminar we received an inquiry from Dynamic Chiropractic based, they said, on allegations made to them by American chiropractors located in Germany and the US that teaching such a seminar was improper and should be stopped. (German law does not recognized Chiropractic as a distinct profession and requires American trained Chiropractors to take the Heilpraktiker examination—which some do--in order to practice in Germany.)
Based on the inquiry from Dynamic Chiropractic we began a more thorough review of the German situation during which we received several communications urging us to cancel the seminar. (See Clum letter on our web site) We completed our inquiry and sent the results to DC with copies to each individual who had communicated with us. If you’d like a copy of that letter please write to me at tkoren1@aol.com. It should be posted on the web site soon.
We concluded that the regulatory situation in Germany as we understood (and understand) it did not (and does not) warrant canceling the seminar. We also said we are open to any factual information that would cause us to change our minds about this conclusion.
A marvelously spirited debate ensued (See Spirited Debate on our web site)
We are still open to receiving any facts that might change our conclusion about the legal situation in Germany but as yet have received none. (So far we have received no allegation that teaching this seminar violated any laws.)
It is possible that this whole debate is a healthy one for Chiropractic in the US and world wide. Recently this issue was highlighted here in Pennsylvania by Dr. Louis Sportelli, President of NCMIC Insurance who made the following comment http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7303980238243619000
"Do you mean…that only a chiropractor can do spinal manipulation when you have other people who have been trained? Wouldn't it be a more appropriate kind of concept to establish the criteria for what determines who can manipulate as opposed to attempting to protect it for chiropractors?"
"Because obviously if you look at what’s happening in every other field: You've got general surgeons doing cosmetic surgery because they are trained (in it). You have ear, nose and throat people doing cosmetic surgery but they are trained."
"So what I'm suggesting is rather than a protectionistic view of the profession, why not determine, and be the profession that determines, the standard for manipulation? And whoever meets that criteria is fine?
“So the chiropractors want to be out there putting forth a model piece of legislation as to what constitutes appropriate training and then whoever meets that criteria is fine... That’s the way it is around the world…. Otherwise it sounds like we're being protectionist of chiropractic as opposed to being protectionist of the consumer for the procedure that we want to make sure is the criteria for that procedure.”
However one feels about Dr. Sportelli’s statement he has identified a major issue that is central to the health debate going on in every healthcare profession. This is the crux of our question. Are Chiropractors going to stand by as other professions muscle them aside and take control of care they are best suited to apply or are they going to take the lead in ensuring the quality of the standards used by anyone trained to apply their techniques?
Here are some key points about the KST Heilpraktiker debate that bear on this question:
1. The HP profession has existed in Germany for about a century. There are 35,000 licensed HPs in a total population of 80 million. There are perhaps a dozen school trained Chiropractors in Germany (there are no Chiropractic schools in Germany) who are not licensed HPs. HPs—which included American trained chiropractors who pass the HP exam--are legally licensed to “manipulate” people and are a respected profession. I believe that Teaching KST to HPs will save people from being hurt.
2. I have been told and believe that nothing in German law prevents American trained Chiropractors from practicing their training as long as they pass the HP exam. Nor is there anything that prevents them from forming an association, advertising their training and services or training other HPs in their techniques. In short, as we understand nothing in German law prevents American trained chiropractors form competing in the market as long as they pass the HP exam. As we stated earlier any facts that refute this understanding would influence how we view the German situation.
3. Of the 27 states in Europe only three (UK, Sweden and Norway) single out chiropractic as a separate profession. The confrontational approach of the ECU apparently isn’t working in Europe or, as nearly as I can tell, anywhere else in the world. This failure is leaving millions full of subluxations.
Please keep in mind that KST would not exist were it not for my being taught procedures and techniques from other healing arts. I learned osteopathic cranial work, developed by Sutherland and refined by Upledger (both DOs). They didn’t restrict their work to only graduates of osteopathic college nor refuse to let me study.
The meningeal/structural relationship was pioneered Alf Breig, MD who discovered the structural as well as protective functions of the meningeal system. Dr. Lowell Ward and I corresponded with Dr. Breig who helped us understand how the meningeal system applied to chiropractic concepts. Breig didn’t refuse to teach us because we didn’t go to medical school.
The recent KST work on dental issues and detoxification was taught to me by dentists and a Ph.D in toxicology (and medical intuitive). These are only a few of those in other fields who contributed to my discovery and development of KST. This cross-pollination is certainly nothing new, it is an essential aspect of the growth of any healthcare system.
Let us not forget that DD Palmer was inspired by French and Bavarian (German) “bonesetters” and natural healers who shared their work with him in the spirit of helping humanity. I find it ironic that we, as DD’s heirs are now telling the Bavarians they can’t learn from us.
I’d like to say KST belongs to one group but it doesn’t, no healing art does. A.T. Still claimed to have discovered the principles of Osteopathy from Hindu monks who came to him in a dream. The monks did not ask him to first study Hinduism for 10 years before they would teach him. DD claims he learned the principles of chiropractic from a Dr. Atkinson who I assume was an MD who apparently came to him in a séance. He didn’t make DD go to medical school first.
I hope we’ll rise above turf wars. The next breakthrough in KST may come from a CCE approved Chiropractor, Heilpraktiker, McTimoney graduate, MD, DO, homeopath, optometrist, dentist, psychologist, psychic or others. Let’s hope we remain open to and learn from other professions as we wish for them to remain open to us and that this is done in the spirit of easing the suffering of humanity and furthering the work of repairing the world.
In the mean time let’s focus on the issues in this debate. Specifically I am interested in responses to Dr. Sportelli’s comments. What is he best way for us to move forward in the midst of a major upheaval in the health care system which is challenging all previously existing boundaries?
I look forward to a spirited discourse.
Tedd Koren, DC
