INTERVIEWS
Interview with Professor Stephen Perle By: Amber Beynon B.Sc. (Hons), B.Chiro
Professor Stephen M. Perle, D.C., M.S., holds a tenured appointment as Professor of Clinical Sciences in the University of Bridgeport, College of Health Sciences, School of Chiropractic. He is the first chiropractor in the U.S. to be appointed to a university’s faculty to teach chiropractic and the first one to reach the rank of professor. Professor Perle will be a special guest speaker at the Chiropractic Australia National Conference in August and was kind enough to take some time to answer a few questions so we can get to know him before the conference. Q. What are the professional achievements of which you are most proud?
conducting research. I think there are more questions than answers. This is very pie in the sky but I think researchers have to do what interests them and they can fund. Because of a friendship with a mass communications professor at the University of Bridgeport I have now started to do research on how the media portrays our profession. That is something I would have never predicted 5 years ago and I think has value.
I’d say I have had two professional careers. Firstly, I have been involved in sports medicine since my time in high school. I joke that I practiced medicine without a license starting at age 14 as my high school’s first athletic trainer (I believe Australians call them sports trainers). I continued in sports medicine doing that as a chiropractor culminating with my being the medical director of the 1991 Mobil USA Outdoor Track
However, if I were to run a chiropractic research fund my focus would be on comparative and cost-effectiveness research as well as trying to find ways to improve our outcomes, for example, dosage research and preintervention predictors of outcome, both patient characteristics and clinical prediction rules to allow more effective treatment choices.
and Field Championships and the High School Indoor Track and Field
Q. Who are some inspiring people that you admire?
Championships and serving on the American Chiropractic Board of
In the chiropractic world: Warren Hammer, DC; Richard E. Vincent, DC;
Sports Physicians.
Louis Sportelli, DC; Scott Haldeman, DC, PhD, MD; J Jay Triano, DC,
The second, starting in 1991 as an academic chiropractor, I am most
PhD; Leonard J. Faye, DC.
proud of helping train over 1,000 chiropractors, being named the American
Out of the chiropractic world: John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK); Henri
Chiropractic Association’s Academic of the Year, delivering last year’s
Cartier-Bresson; Isaac Asimov, PhD.
ACA’s McAndrews Leadership Lecture and being appointed an associate editor of Chiropractic & Manual Therapies. Q. You have produced a vast amount of research output for the chiropractic profession, where do you believe the research focus should be heading? I don’t think I’d call it vast because I compare myself to colleagues who are full-time researchers, while I teach a full load of classes, in addition to
Q. Do you have any hobbies? I’ve been a passionate photographer since 1971. I’m an adventurous eater and cook and travel as much as I can. I’ve been to all 50 states and 43 countries. I have recently taken up oil painting. Q. What are your favourite films? A Bridge Too Far, Ground Hog Day, North by Northwest, Grease
Stephen Perle will be a special guest speaker at the CA National Conference. Register today via www.chiropracticaustralia.org.au
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CA NEWS MARCH 2019
