The Council on Chiropractic Education recently circulated an “Open Letter” to the chiropractic profession authored by the Chair of the Council - David Wickes MA, DC. In the letter the CCE characterizes itself as the victim of an unwarranted “series of attacks” over the past year by “…a few outspoken but ill-informed individuals…” and addresses what it calls are “…misconceptions, misunderstandings, and factual distortions…” about the CCE and its actions.
Dr. Wickes’ characterization of over 4000 written complaints to the USDOE along with complaints submitted by major national and international chiropractic trade organizations as “a few” is quite a remarkable denial of reality. Further, anyone who reads even just the submissions by the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation and the International Chiropractors Association with a critical eye will come away knowing that the complaints and alleged violations warrant investigation and certainly do not constitute simple “ill-informed” expressions of concern.
The Open Letter from CCE characterizes the current crisis within the profession as simply a “misunderstanding” and then goes on to describe what are relatively mundane and generally understood purposes of accreditation as well as publicly available information regarding the role of the United States Department of Education in recognizing accrediting agencies.
Dr. Wickes then begins to set the stage for the upcoming hearing and the likely sanctions that the USDOE will place on the CCE as routine by stating that “…only 20% of accrediting agencies manage to navigate through the renewal process unscathed…”. This is understandable and a smart move on the CCE’s part since in all likelihood they will not get through this hearing unscathed.
Wickes also asserts that Federal regulations restrict the USDOE from getting involved in “…intra-professional disputes, such as scope of practice, the lexicon of the profession, or philosophical differences” however, Dr. Wickes neglects to point out that the USDOE is mandated to investigate and address violations of the Criteria for Recognition and in the end that is what this is all about and it is what the USDOE will have to address in December of this year.
The rest of Dr. Wickes’ letter is a fumble laden attempt to dispel imaginary myths the CCE created in order to divert attention away from the actual violations that are being alleged by a large swath of the profession and the trade organizations that represent them. Wickes even goes so far as to insult the intelligence of the concerned members of this profession by suggesting they simply did not read or comprehend the process or the outcomes of the Standards Review Task Force.
Click Here to Review the Foundation's Response
Click Here to Review the CCE's Open Letter