CUKC students benefit from anonymous donation

Students in the College of Chiropractic at Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) now have another way to sharpen their adjusting skills, thanks to an anonymous donor who gifted the University a new force-sensing adjusting table, noted a March 5 CUKC blog post.

The University is now home to five of these advanced teaching devices.

Known officially as “Force Sensing Table Technology™” (FSTT®) and valued at more than $44,000, the new table electronically monitors the amount of force and speed applied by the user during a chiropractic adjustment.

The data is captured by the table and displayed instantaneously on monitors as a force-time curve. The information can then be used as a teaching aid to instruct student interns on the proper amount of force needed for each manual adjustment.

FSTT® has proven to be most effective in developing the psychomotor skills required for an effective adjustive thrust, and for preparing students for their progression through the adjusting courses, and on into direct patient care in the CUKC Chiropractic Health Center.

CUKC acquired its first table with this technology in 2017. Since that time, the University, with the help of generous donors, has added three more tables on campus. Students are able to use the tables in a lab environment to sharpen their chiropractic adjusting technique, using fellow students, or in some cases, mannequins to simulate patient bodies.

However, this fifth table will offer a much different user experience, as it will be housed in the CUKC Chiropractic Health Center. For the first time ever, student interns will now have the opportunity to use FSTT® when treating live patients from the community, instead of using simulators or other students.

Jon Wilson, DC, dean of the University’s College of Chiropractic, said the additional table is another reminder of how gifts of support are changing the landscape of chiropractic education.

“The fact that there are alumni and friends of the University who are so supportive of our students shows their level of dedication to the profession,” Wilson said. “It’s that kind of commitment that will allow the chiropractor of tomorrow to be better prepared than ever before on their first day in practice, and force-sensing technology substantially elevates that level of preparation.”

The new table was put into service in January. Beyond its use as an instructional aide to improve adjusting skills, it also serves as a standard adjusting table when Health Center patient traffic is at its peak. In addition, it will be incorporated into studies conducted by the CUKC Research Department, and in coordination with other U.S. and international chiropractic programs.