ACA Leaders Have Important Chiropractic Conversations at Northeast College Campus
The Northeast College of Health Sciences community welcomed the current and the former presidents of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) to its Seneca Falls campus for two days of conversations about chiropractic and its future.
Current ACA President Dr. Michele Maiers and Past President Dr. Ray Tuck addressed Northeast’s Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA) members on Thursday, Sept. 29, before sitting down to talk with College President Dr. Michael Mestan on Friday, Sept. 30, during a talk show-style event before a standing-room-only audience.
“We are lucky to have these leaders in our profession. Both are passionate about demonstrating that chiropractic has an important role in the evolving healthcare landscape,” said Dr. Mestan about Maiers and Tuck. Mestan also told Northeast students that they themselves would have a “key role to play in evolving the healthcare landscape.”
Northeast Students Enlightened and Inspired
Northeast SACA Vice President Courtney Sayer (D.C. ’23) said it was a “unique and special” experience to hear directly from the two ACA presidents as they addressed hot-button topics in the chiropractic profession. In addition to talking about the values of ACA, Maiers and Tuck also shared thoughts about the importance of students to the organization and the future of chiropractic.
“Listening to Dr. Maiers made me feel more confident to move forward into this profession. Her insights offered me a lot of clarity and redirection, a reminder to block out the aspects of the profession that do not serve me or what I envision for myself. It was very liberating,” Sayer said, adding that the entire SACA group was inspired by Maier’s and Tucks’s insights and advice.
Discussion topics ranged from providing quality patient care and chiropractic research to professional pitfalls and healthcare policy and legislation. Maiers and Tuck even provided students with advice on how to navigate difficult conversations about chiropractic. During the interview, Mestan asked questions that sparked personal reflection from the speakers, brought up the importance of professional leadership, and presented key elements for establishing chiropractic’s role in the larger healthcare environment.
Maiers, executive director of research and innovation and a professor at Northwestern Health Sciences University, said among her top professional motivations as ACA president is to help ensure integrative patient care professions are among the leaders in healthcare transformation. Tuck, owner of Tucks Clinics and a member of the Northeast College Board of Trustees, echoed the importance of more collaborative patient care and is leading the way with his team-based clinics integrating primary, chiropractic and occupational healthcare.
“It was a great opportunity to have these two leaders of chiropractic here on campus to talk to our students,” Mestan said. “It’s so important that we have these conversations as a community and share what we’ve learned and where we need to go.”