NEWS

NHMRC Grants Recognition
Simon French has been awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Public Health Postgraduate Scholarship to support his PhD. Simon’s PhD is in the area of implementation research for the management of low-back pain in general practice. His PhD will contribute to a larger NHMRC-funded project, led by Associate Professor Sally Green and other staff at the Australasian Cochrane Centre, in collaboration with Monash University’s Department of General Practice. The project is developing and evaluating a strategy for implementing an evidence-based clinical practice guideline for acute low-back pain into general practice in Victoria.

Peter Kent has been awarded a 4-year National Health & Medical Research Council Training Fellowship. This post-doctoral fellowship will allow Peter to extend the low back pain subgrouping and prognostic research undertaken in his PhD studies. The research aims to identify clusters of symptoms and signs that identify clinically useful subgroups of people with non-specific low back pain. This research will be undertaken in collaboration with Associate Professor Rachelle Buchbinder (rheumatologist and Director of the Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology at Cabini Hospital) and Professor Jenny Keating (physiotherapist and Head of the Department of Physiotherapy, Monash Uni).

Team Osteo in Nepal

Final count, two qualified osteopaths, four osteopathic students (2 VU, 1 RMIT and 1 UWS) and one personal trainer/teacher. Destination: Nepal, December 28 2005 until January 24 2006!!!!

Our trip in Nepal started off with a cultural tour around some local temples and a mini language lesson before we headed out of the capital of Kathmandu towards Pokhara, our home base for the next three weeks.

We spent four days trekking in the Himalayas, camping out under the stars with amazing views of the Annapurnas all day everyday. What a backdrop!!!

Having familiarized ourselves with the Nepali terrain we settled into our rather luxurious (in comparison to tents) dorm style accommodation at Green Pastures Leprosy and Spinal injuries hospital.

Our first project involved working with CBRS (Community Based Rehab Service) who have over 600 clients up to 25 years old with mental and physical disabilities. The vast majority of clients we saw had cerebral palsy and were treated by the rehabilitation facilitators who visited them in their own homes. One client we went to visit lived a half hour taxi ride, one hour boat ride and one hour walk from the CBRS office and upon arriving we discovered that the client had gone to visit their uncle for four days! The joys of lack of communication!!!! All in a days work - literally!!!

Another day, one of the osteopaths had a 15-20 minute bus ride and a 2 hour taxi ride to visit a client. There were about 6 local villagers and 10 small children watching the treatment and then the osteopath waited for an hour whilst the rehabilitation facilitator walked to another village to negotiate the purchase of a buffalo for the family as part of the income generation program.

CBRS is a very well set up organization incorporating the whole family unit in their child’s disability with structures set up such as an income generation program – providing the family with a means of earning income, e.g., giving them a buffalo so they can sell the milk, or a pig which the family then rear, sell, repay CBRS and buy more pigs. They also have numerous education programs due to the stigma of disability in Nepal communities, including parent’s and community awareness programs and a school education program. They are very much about helping the disabled child fit into society with kids clubs and school integration programs.

We ran a one day tutorial for the CBRS rehabilitation facilitators on osteopathy and introduced them to some of the techniques which we use. They found this very useful and are looking forward to next years follow up!

We also worked with International Nepal Fellowship at Green Pastures Leprosy and Spinal injuries hospital. Initially we helped level the ground for a volleyball court for rehab for their wheelchair patients plus helped to make a wheelchair ramp – Nepal is never what you expect and being flexible is the way to go! We also did some observations in the physiotherapy department and the occupational therapy departments of the hospital. Green Pastures is renowned in Nepal as one of the best rehab hospitals so was great to watch.

Arriving back in Kathmandu at the end of the trip, we spent a day with Sea to Summit trekking staff running a training day for them on stretching and also gave them osteopathic treatment.

Overall the three projects were a great success and they are all looking forward to us coming back again next year. All health professionals are welcome to join!

If you are interested in making a donation (towards massage tables, wheelchairs, crutches etc) or would like to be part of this years trip please email me at nicola_blay@hotmail.com.

Chiropractic Student Hits a Home Run With Seattle Mariners

Fifth year Chiropractic student, Jonathan Tan is flying to the United States to complete an internship with the baseball team, Seattle Mariners.

Murdoch University chiropractic student Jonathan Tan will have the experience of a lifetime when he flies to the United States to complete a chiropractic internship with the minor league and major league baseball teams, Seattle Mariners.

Jonathan, who leaves on August 6, is feeling both excited and apprehensive.

‘I will be travelling with the teams and will provide treatment for any injury concern the players may have,’ he said.

‘This is a real test of the skills I’ve learnt at Murdoch and I am really looking forward to the challenge of working with world class athletes.’

The three-week internship was organised by Murdoch Senior Lecturer, Dr Mark Hecimovich who is originally from the United States.

‘I worked as a certified athletic trainer in the US and through my contacts with the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society I was able to secure this internship,’ Dr Hecimovich said.

‘This is the first time the team has offered an internship to a chiropractic student and we hope this continues to be a regular annual opportunity we can offer to other students.’

The School of Chiropractic offers an undergraduate double degree as well as postgraduate certificates and diplomas.

The School also runs a state-of-the-art chiropractic clinic open to the public. Chiropractic students treat patients under the supervision of qualified chiropractors at a reduced price. The clinic is open Monday to Saturday and bookings can be made by phoning 08 9360 1202.

Contact: Hayley Mayne, 08 9360 2474 or 0402 288 815 (h.mayne@murdoch.edu.au)

American Chiropractic Association and CERV Team Align to Integrate Chiropractic in Federal Emergency Response Teams

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA), the nation’s leading chiropractic organization, has announced a collaborative alliance with the Chiropractic Emergency Response Volunteer Team (CERV Team), a non-profit organization dedicated to developing teams of chiropractic responders that can be deployed during times of state and national disasters.

Through this alliance, the ACA and CERV Team will educate and certify doctors of chiropractic in the many skills and responsibilities of responding to a local, state, or national emergency. In addition, CERV Team will work closely with individual state chiropractic associations to develop statewide disaster response plans.

“Our goal in disaster preparedness is cooperation among many responding groups, including doctors of chiropractic, allied health care providers, state and federal officials, the local community, and non-profit organizations such as the American Red Cross,” said ACA President Richard G. Brassard, DC. “We are excited about the opportunity to be part of a major national disaster initiative and to make the kind of impact that can only be made when organizations work together in pursuit of a common goal.”

“We are committed to supporting disaster response efforts and are pleased to work with the American Chiropractic Association,” said Rebecca Burton, DC, president of CERV Team. “By working closely with ACA and corporate America, CERV Team will be able to greatly accelerate the rate with which chiropractors are included in mainstream and disaster relief efforts.”

CERV Team will offer a basic disaster orientation and training program on September 17, 2006, in Dallas, Texas. This introductory course is designed to provide an introduction to CERV training and certification, as well as a brief understanding of the protocols and procedures necessary in a deployment situation.

For more information about CERV Team, visit http://www.Ihelpcerv.org.

Half Consider Chiropractic Effective to Some Degree

According to a new survey, almost half of all physicians consider chiropractic one of the most effective forms of complementary and alternative medicine currently practiced in the United States. The survey also reveals deep divisions concerning the perceived impact of CAM on the quality of health care in the U.S. Despite these beliefs, a majority of doctors have recommended some form of alternative medicine to their patients in the past, and an equal number feel the National Institutes of Health should continue to fund research on alternative medicine.

The 31-question survey was conducted in September 2005 by HCD Research, a New Jersey-based marketing and research firm, and the New York-based Louis Finkelstein Institute. A total of 873 physicians participated in the survey.