Cradle of chiropractic unnerved Palmer College dismayed by Life's accreditation loss Doug Payne - Staff Sunday, June 16, 2002 Davenport, Iowa --- It is the Harvard of chiropractic education, the "Fountainhead," the place where it all began: Palmer College of Chiropractic. D.D. Palmer, who today's chiropractors say performed the first spinal adjustment in history and restored hearing to a deaf man, founded the school that bears his name in 1897. From a hill overlooking the Mississippi River, it has been turning out chiropractors for 105 years, thousands of Palmer disciples who have spread throughout the world, adjusting spines as they go. Some of them have started chiropractic schools of their own. Palmer is proud of the fact that 11 of the approximately 16 chiropractic colleges in the United States were founded by Palmer alumni, including Dr. Sid Williams, founder of Life University in Marietta. A different world Palmer College of Chiropractic is a lot like other small colleges. It has a gym, student clubs, an attractive campus and distinguished faculty. But unlike most colleges, there are glass display cases of human skeletons and arrays of human skulls. At the school library, scholars can check out not only books but boxes of bones. Some classrooms have no desks, only rows and rows of padded massage tables. On Brady Street, the main road through the campus, is a monument featuring three huge, weathered bronze heads. The busts are those of the father, the son and the grandson of the chiropractic trinity: D.D., B.J. and David Palmer, the founder and the two men who led the school after him. High up on a hill, Palmer College of Chiropractic is beyond the reach of the Mississippi floods that occasionally inundate downtown Davenport. It would seem that the school --- so respected, it is nicknamed the Fountainhead because both the founder's idea and cadres of chiropractors flow from it --- would be safe from Life University's problems as well. But Palmer officials are keeping a wary eye on developments in the South, concerned not about their own accreditation, but about the effect the crisis may have on the profession as a whole. Last week, the Council on Chiropractic Education revoked accreditation of Life University's chiropractic program. Life students were told the council cited problems in assessment and planning, curriculum objectives, faculty and staff ratios, and clinical competencies. Students must graduate from an accredited program to take the exams needed for a chiropractic license. Life officials have said they plan to appeal the council's decision, and the school will remain accredited while the appeal is decided. "At a time when more and more of the public is demanding chiropractic care --- it recently was mandated [to be included in the health care plan] for the U.S. military --- it would be a shame if this situation somehow slows the growth in the number of chiropractors who render that care," said Palmer President Dr. Guy Riekeman. The care they offer is based on what D.D. Palmer called the "Big Idea," which is summed up in one word: subluxation. Palmer's idea was that the human body can heal itself of almost anything. (At Palmer they don't go quite as far as Life's "Dr. Sid," who claims that "the only thing we can't heal is rigor mortis.") If the body is ailing, according to Palmer philosophy, it is because of misalignments in the spine which block nerves that facilitate the healing process. The misalignments are called subluxations. Aligning the spine so that nerves can do their work is called spinal adjustment. Palmer officials said it comes down to helping the body heal itself naturally, without drugs or surgery. The difference between chiropractors and medical doctors is like the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist, said Dr. David Koch, vice president for international affairs at Palmer. A psychiatrist, who is an M.D., often uses drugs for treatment. A psychologist uses other, noninvasive means to treat similar problems. There is a need for both types, Koch said. News spreads fast Palmer students take 3 1/2 to five years to earn a degree in chiropractic, so it's more involved than those simple explanations. The chiropractic course at Life, based on the Palmer principles, takes about the same amount of time. Palmer officials said the two schools do not have a lot of contact, but word that the Council on Chiropractic Education did not renew Life's accreditation reached Davenport quickly. Some students said they heard about it almost immediately through the Internet. Life, founded in 1974, is the biggest chiropractic school in the country. Down from a peak of about 4,500 students a few years ago, it has a student body of about 2,600. Palmer, with 1,564 students, is believed to be the country's second largest, but even Palmer officials aren't sure. In any case, the prospect of becoming the biggest college of chiropractic brought no particular joy at Palmer, school officials said. "One thing to keep in mind is that Life University has been operated successfully for many years, and the current issues, whatever they may be, do not negate that history and the contribution Life has made to the growth of this profession and the increase in chiropractic utilization," Riekeman said. Riekeman also said he and Sid Williams "remain friends to this day. . . . We don't agree on every issue in this profession or in chiropractic education, but I respect his many accomplishments and his vision for improved public health care through chiropractic." Koch called Life's troubles "an educational tragedy." "Those 2,500 students were seeking a chiropractic degree. Without them, the profession suffers. The question is, will the rest of chiropractic academie be able to assimilate all those students? That's a loss to the profession. It's not a benefit to anyone," Koch said. Since Monday, the three Palmer campuses --- including in California and Florida --- have received more than 200 calls from Life students inquiring about the possibility of transfers, said Randall Heuston, director of marketing and communications at Palmer. Riekeman said Palmer is taking "a low-key approach to bringing Life students here," and denied reports that the school had sent recruiters to Marietta following the announcement of Life's accreditation status. "We are truly saddened by the disruption to their lives and to the lives of faculty, staff and administrators," he said. Palmer students expressed sadness and sympathy for the Life students caught in a bind. "It's a shame for those students," said Chris Hoffman of Pittsburgh. "My heart goes out to them." "Is a lawsuit possible?" said Tony Breitbach of Iowa. "I'd file a big lawsuit." Tim Wilbanks of Claxton --- one of two Georgians attending Palmer --- said he was not surprised. "It has been a long time coming," he said. Wilbanks visited the Life campus, and other chiropractic schools, before deciding to go to Palmer. "I feel for the students," Wilbanks said, "but if Life is going to go on, there will have to be changes in the administration, the faculty and higher [admissions] standards for the students." PALMER COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC > Founded: 1897 > President: Dr. Guy Riekeman (8th president) > Other campuses: San Jose, Calif.; Port Orange, Fla. > Degrees offered: Doctor of chiropractic; master of science in anatomy, bachelor of science in general science, associate of science in chiropractic technology > Tuition: Approximately $5,800 per trimester > Students: 1,569 (1,340 Caucasian, 4 Native American, 33 Hispanic, 28 African-American, 65 Asian or Pacific Islander, 24 non-resident aliens, 70 ethnicity not indicated) > Faculty: 142 (109 doctors of chiropractic)