32nd Annual World Congress of Chiropractic Students in Rio de Janeiro

March 3, 2011 — The World Congress of Chiropractic Students (WCCS) is an international forum representing the global student chiropractic population. Active membership consists of more than 15,000 students from 32 chiropractic colleges.

The WCCS, which has been running since 1979, will meet in 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for its annual conference to discuss issues pertinent to the chiropractic profession.

While chiropractic is a legal healthcare profession in much of the world, the profession faces severe forms of discrimination in countries worldwide. On June 26, 2008, doctors of chiropractic and students from Palmer College’s Clinics Abroad program were detained in Brazil on the grounds they were “practicing physiotherapy without a license”.

Ninety-five thousand physical therapists and a powerful physical therapy profession have mounted an aggressive campaign to establish chiropractic as a subspecialty of physical therapy. As a part of their campaign, the Brazilian physical therapy profession, including organizations like Physion and the Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy for the region of Sao Paulo (CREFITO-3), has conducted several courses where physical therapists earn a “certificate in chiropractic.”

Today, such courses continue, however, due to the tireless work of the Brazilian Chiropractic Association and support from the global profession, the Brazilian government is likely to draft legislation deeming chiropractic its own separate and distinct profession. It is in the highest interest of our profession that we assist in any way possible. Too often this profession remains ignorant to the battles that chiropractors fight on a daily basis. Going to “jail” for practicing chiropractic is not an issue of the past.

Our Brazilian brethren are battling today and as a show of support and alongside the World Federation of Chiropractic, we are bringing the 2011 congress to them! The congress will be held in April 2011 just days prior to the WFC’s 11th Biennial Congress.

Please visit wccsworldwide.org for more information.

Source: Southern California University of Health Sciences, www.scuhs.edu