Meaning one thing, saying another and doing yet something else is as confusing as it sounds. Yet, this is what we are doing as a profession.
As we typically duck for cover in this time of unprecedented attacks from the medical profession we have a great opportunity to take a critical look at ourselves. We can ask whether the track we are on will lead to the ‘promised land’ of acceptance and adoration of government, medicine and media or will it lead to our own destruction like the osteopaths in the USA before us.
There are two viewpoints worth considering on this issue. Firstly, let’s consider the medical profession. These people have significant investment in their philosophy, science, art and politics. There is a specific vocabulary of this specific branch of knowledge that is medicines. This lexicon has been crafted and handed down to them over a significant period of time. They vehemently defend and support this lexicon along with the ritual, rights, taboos and totems that go with it. This is the filter of the world that they think from and as with any paradigm of reality, find it difficult to comprehend the world from another viewpoint. They have the cultural authority for all things medical. It is ordained and enshrined in our social fabric. Just look up any dictionary and you will see the language that the medical profession owns is very clearly identified.
Emerging into their world is a group of professionals (chiropractors) who developed outside of the medical paradigm. This profession was founded on a specific branch of knowledge based upon a specific set of operating principles with a specific lexicon. In more recent times chiropractic has made inroads into the medical ‘patch’. These inroads are not necessarily financial – although it could be argued that chiropractic’s presence does negatively affect the lost opportunity costs of a drug dependant ‘customer for life’ business model.
One of the more significant irritations to medicine however is the threat that another group is stealing its lexicon and I suggest that medicine is getting ‘butt-pucker’ about this. “How dare these chiropractors move in on our territory” they may rightly say, “treating asthma, diabetes and cancer and heaven forbid, practicing paediatrics?”
Now, let’s look at the chiropractic profession. This profession was created with a unique and distinct view of the world. It had a language that reflected its unique worldview and identity. It developed and grew based on this unique approach to life and secured a well-deserved and very significant market share considering the massive obstacles that have been placed in its way.
In the past 30 years or so this profession has been faced with making choices in order to get more acceptance, more access to third party payers (government or insurance) and more inclusion at the medical table. It has been steadily willing to give up its lexicon and identity.
Little by little it has divested its very essence.
The erroneous assumption of chiropractic has been that in order to grow, develop and progress it must let go of its unique body of principles and knowledge and along with that give up its unique language.
This is far from the truth. If chiropractic is to avoid destruction and instead resurrect itself to professional integrity it must be willing to review the words it has adopted in lieu of the words that originally made it a profession. We must do a critical analysis of our lexicon and choose the appropriate words to describe our philosophical, scientific and clinical intent.
When you and I and the chiropractic profession use words that best describe the chiropractic viewpoint we will be far stronger, more certain of ourselves and more powerful in our presence.
Mark
NOTE:
Next week we will visit the top 9 words that have diluted chiropractic and helped to remove our profession’s identity, cohesion and strength resulting in Chiropractic Contradiction
