Why is it necessary for Chiropractors that are already in the state to mess with other people’s lives?  Who are we to label these new doctors as undesirable and say they are not qualified or welcome in Virginia?  And why are we wasting the time of the Board of Medicine? 

Our young doctors need 90 semester hours of undergraduate education, a Doctor of Chiropractic from a CCE accredited school and passage of 4 parts of the National Board examinations.  Just over twenty years ago chiropractors needed 2 years undergrad and had only 2 Parts of the National Boards.  If the new DCs are unqualified, then what about these guys?  Are you going to take way their licenses???

Who says these are lesser-qualified DC anyway?  There is no evidence to support this effort other than a knee jerk impression that one more year of undergraduate education MUST be better.  Show me some DATA, PLEASE !!!  Medical studies say the 4-year degree is not necessary, that is why UVA medical school only requires 90 semester hours!!!  Please see the listed studies below.

Here is some DATA that shows we are NOT a dumping ground of DCs.

Virginia is NOT attracting more chiropractors.  There is not a big influx of students coming to Virginia.  The number of new DCs licensed in Virginia is low compared to neighboring states and complaints against chiropractors are primarily over advertising issues.  This solution of a 4-year degree does not seem to have a problem to fix.  The actual number of NEW DCs each year provided directly from the BOM are:
 
 
1990 – 96
1991 – 100
1992 – 95
1993 – 98
1994 – 90
1995 – 97
1996 – 256 * year that state test was dropped in favor of Part 4 of National Boards
1997 – 159
1998 – 173
1999 - 154
2000 - 145
2001 - 131
2002 - 128
2003 - 110
2004 - 82
2005 – 99
2006 – 96

In comparison, the state of North Carolina, which does have a 4-year degree requirement, is licensing 140+ NEW DCs every year.  The number of DCs in North Carolina is increasing. 

There have been studies comparing medical doctors with two, three and four years of pre-professional education. These studies show that there is no significant difference in performance.

In the 1970s, because of a perceived physician shortage, several medical schools offered six year combined liberal arts-medicine programs. Lazoni and Kayne reported the results of such a program. The authors described their findings: "Graduates of a six-year combined Liberal-Arts-Medicine Program and their medical school classmates (traditional 'eight year' students) are compared as to their medical school performance and their professional postgraduate activities. On standardized examinations (Medical College Admission Test and examinations of the National Board of Medical Examiners) the six-year group was somewhat better than the eight-year group.

"In other aspects, such as class ranking, honors at graduation, and medicine clerkship grades, the six- and eight-year groups were similar. The two groups were remarkably similar in their postgraduate professional career choices and in achieving board certification.

"The data for the first three classes indicate that qualified high school students can succeed academically in an accelerated collegiate-degree program, do well in medical practice, and begin the practice of medicine at a younger age." (1)

These findings are corroborated by a JAMA article which stated, "These data, together with additional information concerning postgraduate professional activities, indicate that the combined accelerated program has been successful." (2)

More recently, a group of Canadian investigators reached similar conclusions: "There were no significant differences between the three groups in the results of any of the subjective and objective outcome measures. Students who have completed 2 years of undergraduate study before admission to medical school were able to achieve a satisfactory level of competency and maturity by the end of medical school. The 2-year option for entrance into medical school should be reconsidered." (3)

Doxey and Phillips, in comparing entrance requirements for health care professions, wisely observed, "The value of pre-professional requirements relating to success in practice is yet to be determined." (4)

References

1. Lanzoni V, Kayne HL: "A report on graduates of the Boston University six-year combined liberal-arts-medicine program." J Med Educ 1976;51(4):283.

2. Blaustein EH, Kayne HL: "The accelerated medical program and the liberal arts at Boston University. JAMA 1976;235(24):2618.

3. Crockford PM, Gupta DM, Grace MG: "Requirements for admission to medical school: how many years of university study are necessary-" Can Med Assoc J 1995;153(11):1595.

4. Doxey THE, Phillips RB: "Comparison of entrance requirements for health care professions." JMPT 1997;20(2):86.

I would encourage the Board members to look at the data and not pass this unsupported, unnecessary and discriminatory proposed regulatory action.

Sincerely,

Joe Foley, D.C.