World Congress of Chiropractic Students – Michael Hollerbach, DC Student

Life Represents in Rio

The Life University World Congress of Chiropractic Students represented well at the 32nd annual congress. The WCCS congress was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

April 2^nd-9^th. There were six Life students representing our school this year, more than any other year. The delegation was led by its president, Sean Drake; also attending the congress were DC students Ryan Barnett, Tania Demiray, and Ron Sweeney, as well as undergrads Jessica Quintero and myself.

The WCCS is an organization of students that represent thirty two chiropractic schools from around the world. Their purpose is to advance and unite the global chiropractic profession through inspiration, integrity, and leadership. According to the website at www.wccsworldwide.org, the objectives of the corporation are “to promote the exchange of new ideas from a student perspective, to unify the chiropractic profession from within, and to unify the health care community in the interest of contributing to world health.” Each year, students get together for a week to discuss issues in chiropractic education, as well as in the profession worldwide. At this year’s congress, 160 students represented twenty-four schools from five continents.

While in active session, the WCCS congress utilizes the formal Robert’s Rules to discuss a wide variety of topics that the delegations propose. Each delegation was allowed to submit three proposals at this year’s congress. The proposal topics range from issues at particular schools, to how to further improve the WCCS, to building a foundation for the future of the profession.

For the first time ever in the history of the WCCS, this year’s congress was held in conjunction with the World Federation of Chiropractors bi-annual conference. This was an excellent opportunity for students to mingle with chiropractors from around the world, listen to the leaders of the profession, and get a different perspective on chiropractic at the international level. There was also a wide variety of chiropractic seminars that students could attend.

The WCCS had very good speakers each day that had spoken to the congress. One of the most emotional moments was when a Korean chiropractor spoke about the struggles he faces practicing in his country. Only six months earlier he had been put in jail for practicing chiropractic.  The Minister of Public Health and Sports for the island nation of Aruba is a chiropractor and he spoke about his plans for making chiropractors the point of entry into the health care system in his country. The universal health care in Aruba is being looked at as a model for larger countries in Europe. Life University graduate, Dr. Liam Schubel, had a high energy passionate talk on the endless opportunities in the profession and the need to take chiropractic to every person in the world.

One of the things that makes the WCCS such a special organization is that students are able to make and develop friendships with other chiropractic students from around the world. There is much bonding while discussing the similarities and differences in the educational processes at different schools, but some of the best connections are made after congress when people let down their hair and take to the city on adventures, like everyone piling into buses to visit one of the new seven wonders of the world, Cristo Redentor—or as we know it in English—the Christ the Redeemer statue.  And aside from the organized side trips, there are the informal, intimate encounters between newly-made lifelong friends over a good meal and a night of dancing and enjoying the local nightlife.  Many times, friendships at the WCCS easily turn into working relationships following graduation.

At this year’s congress, the delegations voted on where to hold the 2013 congress. The Durban University of Technology won the bid to host the congress in Durban on the eastern coast of South Africa. Next year’s congress will be held in August at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. Past congresses have been held in Dallas, Texas; Auckland, New Zealand; Mexico City, Mexico; Toronto, Ontario; and many other cities.

The Life University chapter of the WCCS would like to thank all of those Life students who came out to support the organization at the mansion parties. We would also like to thank the Office of the President, Student Services, and the student council for their generous support.

If you have any questions or interest in being a part of our school’s chapter, WCCS meets in room C-108 at 5:00pm on Wednesdays.

Life University Represents – Michael Hollerbach, UG Student

At the World Congress of Chiropractic Students in Dallas

Life University’s chapter of the World Congress of Chiropractic Students traveled to Dallas, Texas for the 31st annual conference. Students from twenty three chiropractic schools from around the world—including Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico—came together to discuss the future of chiropractic on a global scale.

Parker College of Chiropractic hosted the week long event September 18-23 at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas. The purpose of the WCCS is to unify leaders to provide leadership in chiropractic education around the world. In order to have effective meetings, the Congress uses the same rules as the United Nations and U.S Congress to communicate and get things accomplished. During this event there were also motivational chiropractic speakers, as well as an informal visit from the Presidents of the ICA and ACA speaking together to inform members of the Congress on the state of chiropractic.

The Life University representatives were led by their club president, Dr. JK Wetterlin, who also represented Life University at last year’s congress in New Zealand. There were also four other Life students working as a team on various proposals. Christie Kwon, club treasurer, was chosen as the Head Delegate to represent our school at the proceedings. The other delegates representing Life University were Stephen Cain, Sean Drake, and Michael Hollerbach. Some of the highlights from this years’ meeting are detailed in the rest of this article.

After thirty one years of being a non-profit organization, this year’s Congress voted to incorporate. This was a monumental decision for the future of this organization. There are many advantages to becoming a corporation. One of the benefits that the Congress is excited about is that they will be able to increase their ability to raise more funds. This will enable the organization to offer more humanitarian aid.

As part of the incorporating process the Congress proposed that they needed a definition of the words “chiropractic” and “subluxation” in their guidelines. In doing this, sub-committees were formed to develop the definitions and bring them back to Congress for a vote. A dozen delegates selected from varying schools were chosen to take on the challenge of unifying the multitude of opinions from all over the world. The European schools were adamant that the definitions must come from the World Federation of Chiropractors (WFC) definition. After hours of negotiations, both definitions were taken from the American Chiropractic Colleges paradigm endorsed by the WFC.

One of the more shocking proposals discussed was an issue from the chiropractic school in Tokyo. In Japan chiropractic is not a licensed medical entity and therefore people are able to take weekend seminars and call themselves chiropractors. Many people in Japan have been hurt by the uneducated unqualified people and therefore chiropractic is developing a very bad reputation in that country. The Tokyo school asked for help from the WCCS to submit letters to their government to put a stop to this practice. This would help to uphold the standards of the chiropractic profession and stop the unnecessary harm that is being done to unknowing people.

A very proud moment for Life University came when Sean Drake was awarded an endorsement for an internship with the World Health Organization in Switzerland. Each year one student at the Congress is awarded this endorsement. This is a great honor for any student, but it is a prestigious honor for a chiropractic student to be working alongside the world leaders in health care. Sean made an outstanding impression on the Congress with his fifteen minute presentation about himself and how he would represent the WCCS in Switzerland. This endorsement must be approved by the WHO before Sean is awarded the internship. A former Life student, Dr. Aryn Gabai, has also served as a WHO intern in the past.

Over the week of this years WCCS conference, students from all over the world enjoyed camaraderie, developed new friendships, shared laughter as well as new experiences—all with the goal of creating a unified chiropractic profession and message throughout the world. They left looking forward to April 2011 for the 32^nd annual congress in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

The members of the Life University WCCS would like to thank the President’s office, student allocations, Life student council, and all of the students that supported the club at the Mansion Parties. They would also like to announce their next fundraiser “Party with a Purpose III” on November 12^th. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. If you would like to join WCCS or have questions the club meets on Thursdays at noon in room C108.