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Chiropractic's famous first adjustment is recognized each year on Founder's Day, commemorating September 18th, 1895, when Dr. Daniel David Palmer administered his initial specific chiropractic adjustment on Harvey Lillard in Davenport, Iowa. Dr. D.D. Palmer delivered the first chiropractic adjustment with the specific intent of realigning a malpositioned vertebra, restoring its normal position, in an attempt to restore a hearing defect. That attempt, as the world now knows, was successful. The theory and clinical basis of chiropractic was later succinctly described as "Founded on Tone" in 1910 by Dr. Palmer, and further clarified into 33 Principles, published in 1927 by Dr. R.W. Stephenson.
A new health science and practice just a little over 100 years old, chiropractic is predicated on the understanding that the human body is a self-healing, self-regulating organism. And, most auspiciously, chiropractic recognizes that the body requires no intervention in the healing process but rather, needs no interference with its innate abilities of self-comprehension and repair. What in 1895 was considered an attack on the orthodox medical industry of the era is now a concept so credible that widely recognized names like Drs. Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra base the core premise of their best-selling books and tapes on this healing model.
The Founding Principles of Chiropractic, referred to as the 33 Principles, have been presented this year on ICA's web site at www.chiropractic.org, in recognition of the essential defining nature of these core concepts. They provide an intellectual, philosophical and scientific foundation for the chiropractic profession and they represent the key components of chiropractic's unique approach to health and healing.
The 33 Principles are well known by chiropractic practitioners and students throughout the profession as the basic defining and organizational concepts of chiropractic philosophy and science. They are recognized and applied by many as the core of the value system of chiropractic practice. However, as author Jack VanDervort, DC, FICA observes in his paper presentation at the ICA Rome Symposium in April 2002, "It seems that while orthodox medicine and the public are beginning to understand and endorse the founding Chiropractic tenets, some Chiropractors themselves would rather transition their roles into various treatments that historically have been antithetical to their original paradigm." Dr. VanDervort's paper notes that the complications in chiropractic's professional evolution include a lack of familiarity with the 33 Principles of Chiropractic. "Chiropractic has 33 beautiful lines that were written to define and delineate this new healing profession," says Dr. VanDervort. "In the definition of the chiropractic niche in health care we have chosen the word "holistic" rather than "alternative" or "complementary" because of its appropriateness to our distinct, indeed unique, position. Holistic refers to "care of the whole person rather than just treating the symptoms of a disease." "Complementary" to allopathic medicine or "alternative" to anything, simply are not adequate and do not convey our meaning."
"It is vitally important that doctors of chiropractic recognize and understand the founding principles of the profession they practice," explains Dr. Wesley S. Mullen, Jr., President of the Foundation for the Advancement of Chiropractic Tenets and Science (F.A.C.T.S.), an affiliate organization of the ICA. "The very nature of the language used to describe chiropractic science includes core principles that are in turn explored in research, articulated in education and expressed in practice by thousands of doctors of chiropractic worldwide." These principles are a unifying and distinguishing element in chiropractic vital to maintaining the independent perspective chiropractic represents in health care.
"Essential to understanding these original principles is knowing that they are arranged in an order that goes from general to specific. They are a series of concepts and deductions. This information gives the reader a sense of direction in understanding their timeless value and utility. The 33 Principles need to be studied, thoroughly and thoughtfully, until comprehension is achieved," said Dr. VanDervort.
The 33 Principles are posted on the SICA website as a service of the Foundation for the Advancement of Chiropractic Tenets and Science. To link with the 33 Principles, go to ICA's web site at www.chiropractic.org or click on SICA: Student Forum for the Future, on the right-hand side of the homepage.
Heartfelt thanks are directed to Jack K. VanDervort, DC, FICA, who shared his commentary on the 33 Principles that were excerpted for this release. Copies of his commentary, "An Exegesis of the Founding Tenets of Chiropractic, Relative to the Post Modern Model of Holistic Health Care," which was presented as a research paper at the ICA Symposium in Rome in April 2002, are available through the ICA Sales Department in the Proceedings of the Rome 2002 Symposium at 1-800-423-4690.