A great article (which can be found here) recently appeared in the Toronto Star talking about academic research and collaborative practice amongst Chiropractic doctors. With new Chiropractic research chairs being added each year (University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, McMaster University to name a few), more and more people are realizing that Chiropractors have a valuable contribution to make to understanding the spine and its problems.

One such contribution came in the form of a pilot project at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. This program saw chiropractors added as staff to treat patients in a collaborative way with other departments (such as the family medicine department). The project has been a huge success.

For those of us who see the results of chiropractic care first hand, it makes perfect sense to have chiropractors on staff in a hospital. The few times I’ve been to the ER with a bad sprain or broken finger, I can’t believe how many people I see waiting 8 hours with back pain. Most of those people will simply be given an X-ray, pain medication and discharged in the same state in which they came in.

I know that if they had come to my office instead, I could have at the very least made them feel better than when they arrived. More importantly, chiropractors are educated in differential diagnosis, which means we can determine when someone should go to the ER instead of being in our office. On two different cases this year I sent someone back to the ER or their family doctor only to find out that the diagnosis was ureter cancer and a tumor of the nerve sheath.

Including chiropractors in a hospital setting is a great way to ensure patients get quick and effective relief from their pain, and also to save time and money on needless diagnostic tests or harmful medications.

Dr. Debbie Wright is a practicing Comox Valley Chiropractor (soon).