Honk if you want a chiropractic college in South Australia

On November 11 2014 there will be an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia (South Australia). The meeting has been called so as to request the use of CAA SA members’ funds to further investigate the creation of a chiropractic college in South Australia:

I can’t help but get a little teary-eyed with remembrance of anti-vaccine chiropractor posts past when I hazily gaze upon the names of the board members of the College Working Party set up to get this little engine chuffing.

But first it is important to remember: these six people are in charge of guiding the CAA SA to the creation of a chiropractic college; they are a steering committee. As you read on, ask yourself what this college will be teaching its students, if it gets up. Ask yourself why they are intent on creating a college outside of already established university curricula which are increasingly focused on more evidence-based practises. Ask yourself why a chiropractic representative body is intent on spending its members’ funds on this college.

We met CAA SA president Andrew Timbs in  Anti-vaccine chiropractors 8. A quick catch-up of his Facebook page uncovered this extraordinary post, which would appear to be in breach of several sections of the Code of conduct for chiropractors:

Hopefully someone will notify the Chiropractic Board of Australia of Timbs’ post, and let the CBA decide.

Mario Stefano first made it into  Anti-vaccine chiropractors 29. I only had cause to Tweet about Stefano again yesterday, with this post which speaks loudly to why I think the new college is being sought. You see, they just don’t teach this stuff in university any more:

They want to bring the BJ back into tertiary chiropractic.

Brett Hill is one of my favourites. Hill was instrumental in promoting the anti-vaccine film, Doctored, in Australia. He was on the board of the CAA SA when they – and this is not a joke – hired Meryl Dorey to provide CPD training for chiropractors. Hill was also a member of Kathy Scarborough’s dishonest anti-vaccine organisation, VISA. But that’s not all – as Bob Hale would exclaim – because Hill is also a member of the anti-vaccine wellness evangelicals. He’s a busy man, especially now that chef Pete Evans is one of their regulars. Hill posted recently that he was attending the CAA National’s National Development Forum, and that he was learning about subluxations. Just for the record, I am told that the study of the subluxation was not on the menu. It’s true that we see what we want to see:

I’ve never really come across Aaron Scott before. A quick perusal of his online presence told me all I need to know in relation to this post. From his website:

From Scott’s Facebook page:

Hayden Belle is similarly quiet online. His business website is quite clear about the basis of its practise:

Finally we come to Patrick Sim, who also presided over the CAA SA decision to hire Meryl Dorey to teach chiropractors about immunisation. Sim is again on the board of the CAA National, having just been elected on the ticket of Helen Alevaki, a subluxationist who is known for sneaking into hospital maternity units without permission. Alevaki is also a member of the anti-vaccine chiropractic organisation, the ICPA. She also lists the poorly evidenced Webster Technique among her qualifications. Sim’s website provides an indication of the basis of his treatments:

So, all in all that’s pretty clear: the board of the CAA SA College Working Party, who is charged with the creation of a new chiropractic college, is inhabited by  vitalists, or subluxationists. I believe the aims are now obvious, given this college is to be created outside the already  existing evidence-reliant chiropractic university courses. It’s a new vitalistic chiropractic college. I’m imagining there are to be busts of the Palmers in the forecourt.

I also had a look at the company charged with investigating the viability of this new college. Blue Egg Global Education lists its achievements on its website. It is an education consulting company charged with seeking accreditation for what appears to be mainly alternative health modalities. Here are the relevant successes as alluded to in the CAA SA letter:

Did you see that? It’s not a joke. They’re not being ironic. They’re not hipsters. That’s Comic Sans. The. Whole. Page.

I took a quick look at the Facebook page of the Barcelona College of Chiropractic, which is one of the successes – I admit I already knew what was coming here – and with a quick scroll this appeared:

Look. If all of the moderate chiropractors in Australia don’t stand up and get outraged about the pillaging of their reputations, then, we can only stand back and watch their reputations burn to the ground. As long as the majority of moderate chiropractors stand silent the vitalists are going to pretend they represent all of you. And as long as the majority stand silent and ignore breaches of the Code of conduct, and the Guidelines for advertising,  without lodging notifications, then, the bonfire is being fed. Stop enabling them with silence.

Does the Australian chiropractic profession want a new college, operating outside the universities, fueled by vitalism and Comic Sans?

Source: Reddit