University Park Health Center at the University of Southern California (USC)

The chiropractic community has joined forces with traditional allopathic practitioners in educating the next generation of medical doctors. Officials at Cleveland Chiropractic College-Los Angeles have embarked on a groundbreaking merger between health care professionals at CCCLA and the University of Southern California (USC) School of Medicine.

The program involves USC medical students participating in “chiropractic rotations” at the University Park Health Center (UPHC) on the USC Campus. During their course of study, the medical students will participate in chiropractic rotations just as they do with surgical, gynecological or dermatological rotations. While completing chiropractic rotations, the medical intern is allowed to observe, not participate in, the discussion, palpation, assessment and adjustment of patients. This came a short time after a CCCLA/USC agreement was forged for Cleveland interns to provide chiropractic care as part of the UPHC services.

The rotation program was initiated after a UPHC medical doctor approached Dr. Howard Maize, an instructor and supervising chiropractic clinician at CCCLA, about the possibility of exposing medical interns from USC to chiropractic treatment. The notion of chiropractic rotations for medical students is something Maize was quick to embrace because of its unifying possibilities.

“This development brings understanding between the medical world and chiropractic to a great extent, closer and closer,” Maize said. “It allows a greater view by the medical world of what chiropractic is about, and at the same time allows chiropractic interns a more diverse account of what the medical protocols entail.”

Maize is excited about what the future holds for agreements such as this. He looks forward with great anticipation to the day when reciprocity will allow chiropractic interns to observe medical rotations — something now under discussion with medical personnel at UPHC.

Cleveland Chiropractic College had a hand in making health care history in March 2006 when the Venice Family Clinic (VFC), the largest free health care clinic in the United States, held the grand opening of its new Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center. The center, located in Santa Monica, Calif., was the first of its kind and provides chiropractic and other complementary and alternative health care for the working poor and uninsured in the Los Angeles area.

Through a partnership with Cleveland Chiropractic College-Los Angeles (CCCLA), the   multidisciplinary integrative center offers chiropractic care. As many as 18 supervised student interns from the College provide regular treatment at the center free-of-charge each year. According to Dr. Keith Henry, department chair for clinical sciences at CCCLA and supervising doctor of chiropractic for the clinic program, it is a partnership that provides health care to a segment of society that is in dire need.

“Many of the patients are the working poor faced with a choice between rent and health care — people with two or three jobs and no access to health care other than at the Venice Family Clinic,” Henry said. “Their interest goes beyond getting out of pain. For many, the care they receive will allow them to continue working, earn a living and put food on the table.”

Begun in 1970, the clinic provides services for low-income families living in the Los Angeles area. Last year underserved patients made over 106,000 visits to the VFC. From children to seniors, the common variable for all patients is that they lacked private health insurance. It is that segment of the population that is most in need of the clinic’s care.

At this time more than 2,300 people - 462 of which are physicians - donate their time to the VFC. In addition, the VFC has implemented a multi-phased approach to patient health, seeking to achieve wellness through a variety of treatments.

One facet of those treatments is the initiation of a multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Clinic where CCCLA interns will play an integral role in the treatment of patients. Chiropractic care will be offered in concert with acupuncture services, osteopathic manipulation and traditional Chinese medicine to offer various forms of pain relief afflicting VFC patients.

Dr. Carl S. Cleveland III, president of Cleveland Chiropractic College, said the College is extremely pleased to be working with the Venice Family Clinic on this worthwhile endeavor.

“The Chronic Pain Clinic component at this center provides a unique opportunity to train and educate clinicians, medical staff and residents on the role of chiropractic care as part of this integrative approach to patent care,” Cleveland said. “Cleveland Chiropractic College is proud to be a partner in this most noble and important community health care service.”

In addition to their presence at the VFC, Cleveland interns also provide care to those at the Los Angeles Mission, a nonprofit organization that provides a variety of assistance to the homeless living on the streets of Los Angeles.