Coralee Van Egmond, DC, FICA honored as ICA’s 2017 Chiropractor of the Year

June 22, 2017—The late Coralee Van Egmond, DC, FICA has been honored as the International Chiropractors Association’s 2017 Chiropractor of the Year for her decades of service to the association, the profession and the community. Van Egmond was selected to receive this, the ICA’s highest honor, at the association’s 2017 Annual Meeting by the Distinguished Fellows of the ICA, the honorary fraternity of ICA charged with this annual responsibility.

Van Egmond served the ICA for two decades as Director of Professional Development, working on a wide array of programs and projects, worldwide. She directed the ICA’s Council on Fitness and Sports Health Science, the organization that conducts the annual Symposium on Natural Fitness in partnership with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and also directed the ICA’s Council on Wellness Science, coordinating the certification instruction for that groundbreaking ICA program.

She served as a key member of the ICA Posture Committee and was integrally involved in the ICA’s partnership with King Koil Sleep Systems, conducting research and writing many papers on sleep and sleep issues. She represented the ICA around the world as ICA’s Healthy Sleep Ambassador, presenting the chiropractic story to audiences in many countries. She was the recipient of many awards and acknowledgements for her service both from the ICA and other organizations and was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the ICA in 1997.

Van Egmond served as the staff coordinator for the ICA Student Affairs Committee and coordinated student chapter activities, student participation in ICA’s annual meetings and was a mentor to countless students and new graduates. She was also active in the ICA Auxiliary, coordinating the Auxiliary’s annual student scholarship program.

Van Egmond worked as an educator, author and postgraduate instructor on sports, healthy sleep, wellness and prevention issues, and represented the chiropractic profession in many public policy, media and professional forums. Her record of excellence and service in clinical practice earned her appointment to the Kentucky Board of Chiropractic Examiners, the first woman ever to hold such a position in that state.

She served on ICA’s clinical guidelines and research committees and numerous advisory boards within the chiropractic profession and in the greater health care sector. She had written extensively on wellness and injury prevention issues and presented papers on chiropractic research to conferences in the United States and abroad.

Among her many public health service activities, Van Egmond led ICA’s relief efforts through its very special Romanian Orphans Chiropractic Project following the fall of the communist regime in that Eastern European country. She organized and oversaw the deployment of dozens of chiropractic students in Romanian orphanages where they provided urgently needed care and organization in what was truly a life-or-death crisis for thousands of children.

Van Egmond was also one of two key doctors of chiropractic leading ICA’s relief effort at the Pentagon crash site after the 911 attacks, working around-the-clock for many weeks providing chiropractic care for military, rescue and service personnel.

Van Egmond was a graduate of Smith College in Massachusetts and also studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. She received her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa in 1986, where she served as Editor of the school paper The Beacon, and also served on the affiliated faculty. Prior to coming to the ICA, her professional experience included association executive positions with the American Running and Fitness Association, public information and education divisions. She had extensive experience in private clinical practice where she focused on sports injuries, injury prevention and optimal performance.

She was a member of the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine for whom she has taught in their multi-disciplinary programs, the American Society of Association Executives, and numerous health care and scientific organizations.

A special scholarship fund has been established in her memory and will be administered by the Distinguished Fellows of the ICA (FICA) and will grant annual scholarships to Student ICA applicants based on an essay competition to be held in conjunction with the ICA Annual Meeting. Anyone wishing to donate to this fund can do so by calling the ICA headquarters at 1-800-423-4690 or from overseas at 01-703-528-5000.

Source: International Chiropractors Association