Leading the Chiropractors of Tomorrow Peter Martin, D.C., graduated from the British College of Naturopathy and Osteopathy in 1964, then earned his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1968. He served in faculty and administrative positions at Palmer and Los Angeles College of Chiropractic from 1968 to 19 78, owned a chiropractic equipment and supplies business for the next four years, and had a private practice in Lancaster, California, from 1982 to 2000. Dr. Martin was president of Palmer College of Chiropractic West from 1992 to 2000, when he accepted a position as dean of the College of Naturopathic Medicine at the University of Bridgeport. He returned to Palmer West in 2004 as interim president and was named president in February 2005. In July 2005, he assumed the additional duties of president of Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida. Dr. Martin is a past president of the Council on Chiropractic Education and the California Chiropractic Association and is a former board member of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges. f What are your areas of greatest strength for the chiropractic student and the profession? A: A notable strength of the Palmer curriculum is the balance in philosophy, science and art that we provide our students. That strength is evident at all three Palmer campuses. Another strength is that each campus has an experienced, very capable and able faculty. While the delivery of the curriculum may differ among the campuses, the content of the curriculum is very similar on each campus, and the experiences the students will gain are similar. When they graduate, they will be well-rounded doctors of chiropractic, capable of communicating chiropractic to their patients and the public, able to arrive at a good diagnosis and able to provide the very best chiropractic care with confidence. are your plans for the future of the college with regard to chiropractic? A: Our desire is to continue to graduate the very finest doctors of chiropractic by providing the highest quality chiropractic education available anywhere. We also will strive constantly to enhance our education and to incorporate the advances in the science of chiropractic that will improve its practice. We hope to contribute to the knowledge base of chiropractic through good research and clinical studies. I feel we can contribute a great deal to the profession in improving the standard of care by improving our knowledge base through research. Palmer West has a fairly young alumni base and Palmer Florida has 30, as of our first graduation on Dec. 16, 2005. We hope to serve our alumni base by providing continuing education programs and by continuing to be schools of excellence to which they would be proud to send prospective students. Where do you see the chiropractic profession headed? A: We had Dr. Scott Haldeman as a speaker at a recent assembly at Palmer West. He spoke about chiropractic at the crossroads. It's going to be up to us whether we enter the mainstream of healthcare or decide to be an alternative healthcare option. I see chiropractic as entering the mainstream of healthcare. We can and should work in partnership with other healthcare disciplines. Multi-disciplinary healthcare is happening more and more. Healthcare that is coordinated between disciplines is best for the patient. Chiropractors will work together more and more with medical doctors and other healthcare providers for the benefit of the patient. There also is a move toward evidence-based health care. Chiropractic will be part of that. We will develop a body of evidence that will aid practitioners in their practices. It's always better to practice from a significant body of evidence and know it is there. We're trying to educate our students not to be afraid of evidence-based care, but to embrace it. Their care should be based on evidence and knowledge, not just on belief. I Facts about f- Palmer College of 1 Chiropractic—West Campus President: Peter Martin, D.C. Current enrollment: 350 students Contact Info: 90 E. Tasman Dr., San Jose, CA 95134; (408) 944-6000 Office of Admissions: (866) 303-7939 [email protected] Palmer College of Chiropractic—Florida Campus President: Peter Martin, D.C. Current enrollment: 580 students Contact Info: 4777 City Center Parkway, Port Orange, FL 32129; (386) 763-2709 Office of Admissions: (866) 585-9677; [email protected] Alumni Program (for all three Palmer campuses): (800) 722-2586, Ext. 3 [email protected]
