July 2004

Two N.J. chiropractors named to Olympic medical staff

Two chiropractors from New Jersey have been named to the medical staff of the U.S. Olympic team. They join 44 other healthcare professionals who will care for more than 540 American athletes in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Aug. 13 through Aug. 29.

Dr. Ira A. Shapiro of Old Bridge, N.J., and Dr. Marc P. Jaffe of Summit, N.J., are the chiropractors who were selected. They are only the eighth and ninth chiropractors ever selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee to represent the United States at an Olympic event in an official capacity.

Beginning in 1980 and up until the 2004 Games, the Olympic Committee had named only one chiropractor to the medical staff for the summer Olympics. The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, was the first to have a chiropractor in an official capacity on the U.S. team medical staff.

SELECTED BY PEERS

In 2000, the physicians were among five chiropractors chosen by a committee of their peers to attend a two-week internship at the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colo. While there, each was assessed on their sports clinical expertise and the ability to work smoothly with Olympic athletes, administrators and other physicians.

After passing the initial assessment, Shapiro and Jaffe adjusted athletes at several events leading up to the 2004 Olympics. Shapiro worked with nearly 200 American athletes at the 2003 Titan Games in San Jose, Calif., while Jaffe worked with more than 150 American athletes at the 2003 Summer World University Games in Daegu, South Korea.

Shapiro, who is director of the Plaza Chiropractic Center in Old Bridge, N.J., graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1983, following graduation from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1979. He is a diplomate of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians and is certified as a chiropractic sports physician and personal fitness trainer. He was a volunteer at Ground Zero in September 2001.

Throughout his career, Shapiro has earned a number of awards and distinctions. In 2002 he was named Sports Chiropractor of the Year by the New Jersey Chiropractic Society Sports Council and was awarded a Proclamation for chiropractic excellence by New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey.

Jaffe, director of the Jaffe Chiropractic & Sports Center in Summit, N.J., graduated from Logan College of Chiropractic in 1985, after earning a bachelor’s degree from Kean College of New Jersey in 1979. He is a diplomate of the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians and has completed more than 800 hours of post-graduate studies in sports medicine and rehabilitation.

Since 1988, Jaffe has served as an attending chiropractor at events that include the U.S. triathlon championships, track and field championships, weight-lifting championships and numerous other sporting events. He also serves as a consultant to Rutgers University football and is listed as a treating chiropractor for the National Football League Players Association for the New York Giants and New York Jets.

The U.S. Olympic medical staff consists of medical doctors, certified athletic trainers, massage therapists and pharmaceutical experts, as well as the two chiropractors.

“We feel that our athletes get the best medical care in the world,” said Jim Scherr, the USOC’s chief executive and chief of sports performance. “We go to every length to care for these athletes who have accomplished their goals to get here. We want to make sure they take that next step with the best medical care available.”

Sources: U.S. Olympic Committee, http://usocpressbox.org; Dr. Marc P. Jaffe and Dr. Ira A. Shapiro.

Industry News from:
Chiropractic News from: