By Judy Campanale, DC, FCSC

The Federation of Straight Chiropractors and Organizations (FSCO) was founded by a small and dedicated group of chiropractors in 1976 to ensure continued representation for straight chiropractic on a national level.

The formation of the group was directly related to growing concern among some ICA members that its organization was abandoning its mission by considering increased involvement with the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE). In August 1976, just as the ICA Board of Control voted to align with and accept a seat on the CCE, a group of about 100 met in Davenport, Iowa, and decided to start a new organization.

The FSCO was originally intended to coordinate the activities of the individual straight organizations from each state. The structure was set up so that a representative from every state’s straight organization would sit on the board along with at-large board members.

Dr. Reggie Gold chaired that first meeting and became its first Executive Director. Today, FSCO continues as a passionate group of chiropractors who work to provide chiropractic to all people, from the birth to death, regardless of the presence or absence of disease or symptoms.

From year to year, our membership numbers do not change dramatically but neither do the principles upon which the group was founded. However, FSCO involvement and impact has increased over the years from single issues to local, national and international issues concerning our profession.

FSCO members are well versed in chiropractic philosophy and often enjoy debating the finer points of vitalism, deduction and universal and innate intelligence. While many in our profession talk about philosophy and principles, we recognize that clearly the universe is organized — specifically, that living things are organized and that organization bespeaks intelligence.

This intelligence maintains the organism in existence by constantly adapting it to every variable and circumstance in its environment. It is this understanding of chiropractic philosophy that necessitates that the FSCO practitioner to admit that, unlike the innate intelligence of the body, we do not know every intimate detail of how the human body works.

STRICT ADHERENCE TO PRINCIPLES

It is not our objective to fix or alleviate conditions within the body. It is our objective to ensure that the innate intelligence is able to express itself as fully as possible. Acting in accordance with this understanding of the principles of chiropractic and vitalism is the hallmark of the FSCO member. We strictly adhere to all of the profession’s highest standards both academically and in practice as well as those additional standards we set for ourselves.

We believe that it is our strict adherence to our chiropractic principles that has kept the profession from melding together with the medical profession. It is commonly understood that the objective of medicine is the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease, its symptoms and/or its cause. Simply put, if chiropractic intends to remain a separate and distinct profession, then we cannot be a duplication of services. By managing symptoms, musculoskeletal or otherwise, we reduce ourselves to a medical modality.

Chiropractic has something unique and beneficial to offer every individual on the planet. We do not replace medical care nor can medical care replace us. FSCO does not position chiropractic as an alternative to medicine. Chiropractic is for people who care whether their nerve system is functioning optimally.

In fact, chiropractic’s finest moments must include the continued clarification of our philosophy to specifically address our chiropractic objective. Making the distinction of a therapeutic versus a non-therapeutic objective has clearly delineated us from medicine. Experience has shown that medical doctors who understand this chiropractic practice objective have little, if any, trouble with our profession.

Unfortunately, it is not with the medical profession that we have differences. It is with some in our profession who are unable to accept the idea of a peaceful co-existence between two different schools of thought in chiropractic.

The mission of the FSCO is to support and advance the practice of chiropractic that is exclusive for the location, analysis and correction of vertebral subluxation because vertebral subluxation in and of itself is a detriment to the fullest expression of life.

Our ultimate goal is to ensure the future of chiropractic as a separate and distinct profession to secure and insure public access to vertebral subluxation correction. We shall accomplish this by uniting and supporting chiropractors who share the FSCO mission through professional, legislative, educational and personal growth endeavors.

The FSCO sees a bright future for chiropractic and chiropractors. Each year an increasing number of people look for ways to keep their bodies working at their best. The FSCO recognizes our important role in helping individuals and families be their best by providing our non-duplicated service of locating, analyzing and correcting vertebral subluxation — nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. We are proud to carry on the tradition.

Judy Campanale, DC, is vice chairman of the FSCO Board of Directors. The FSCO Web site is www.straightchiropractic.com.