Chiropractic, Osteopathy, and Medicine
followings of philosophically eager proponents and were likely to consider any intellectual challenge as a declaration of war. The battles among the fiefdoms of chiropractic technique have tended to be heated and serious, with the various groups often trying to influence lawmakers into outlawing their internal "enemies." While the controversies in chiropractic have made it a diverse and many-petaled bloom, the discord in chiropractic has had a somewhat less favorable effect. Yet it must be seen as an appanage of the clinical hostility and economic isolation foisted upon it by powerful special interests. That chiropractic has survived and developed in the face of these odds is a testimony to its efficacy and spirit. It has preserved the role of the structural and functional doctor in our society. As a full-time chiropractor and part-time student of osteopathic concepts, I have been impressed by some of the insights that the many fine minds in the osteopathic profession have revealed about the function of the human organism. Perhaps in the near future we will have the opportunity to contribute some of chiropractic's "great concepts" to that profession, and increasingly to the world at large. The public needs a more unified concept, and a good one. It seems likely that in communicating we will at times be required to rephrase our concepts so that the others can more readily comprehend the essence of our offering. Chiropractic itself can only benefit. The medical hierarchy seems likely to be headed for a shift, dictated by necessity as health care continues in its present manner. It won't fall but a window will open. Chiropractors, osteopaths, acupuncturists, and even presently unlicensed disciplines will at least have an outside chance to prove ourselves in the mainstream marketplace, barring, perhaps, the socialization of health care. The individual of our society needs a deeper understanding of the mechanisms inherent to his or her functional downfall. It requires from us a faithful adherence to the moral principle typified by the Hippocratic Oath, a primary dedication to service. It also demands that we be the experts in the natural sciences of clinical anatomy and functional (clinical) physiology. This is the niche that by and large remains unfilled in America. Whoever fills it will ultimately succeed because the individual will inherently choose them.
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