Disregard - Editorial on the CCE Annual Meeting
Disregard.
That is the word that best describes the attitude of the Council on Chiropractic Education towards its constituents. Or at least to a large segment of them.
A group of academics and politically active practitioners hiding behind a legal corporate structure that requires very little transparency and virtually no opportunity for input or criticism.
They have created a bubble to insulate themselves from the profession in which they rule, so much so that they have become disconnected from the field which they so dramatically affect.
They feel attacked. They feel that they have been wrongfully blamed for our profession’s woes and point the finger back at the economy and lack of educated individuals within the critic’s camp. They say we don’t read. I do agree in part to that statement. We can equally make the same claim in their direction. Academic rigor needs to increase on both sides. Perhaps they will read this. Hopefully they will take the next step to understand it and to seek resolution.
If they are to hide behind the legal trappings of a corporate body, then it is time to get beyond feelings. To hide behind this facade and not engage in real, human interaction as has been requested will be a grave mistake on their part.
Regarding the land in which blame resides, they are partially correct. We are ALL to blame. We are ALL a part of this profession and not a single ounce of responsibility does not lie within each of us for the current state we are in. Some have accepted more responsibility as granted by those they serve, thus requiring more of them. However, we were all born into this mess. Some have perpetuated it for economic gain while others are equally guilty by turning their heads or burying them in the sand.
The constituents are ready for the conversation. Over a dozen of them representing the collective interests of a vast number of the profession waited and watched the proceedings of a meeting representing an educational/political body that has no interest besides its self interest. The only acknowledgement of the observing parties besides side conversations was through snide remarks from the council or joking comments in reference to a situation that is anything but humorous.
It is time they realize that and the gravity of the situation.
Transparency and accountability are foreign words to this body and the disdain for those that would question that was both palpable and palatable. Unquestionable imbalance of power was seen as easily as these words before you. These problems cannot be solved by the same protective corporate structure they have created. The system is not designed for a balance of power.
It is not democratic.
Its council and structure reeks of a paternalistic oligarchy versus the academic, collegial body it is mandated to be. Change will come. Not through cosmetic changes as some would have, but by truly seeking the acceptance of a profession they currently do not have.
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