COVER DC SPOTLIGHT Doctor diplomat S Do you have what it takes to be a global practitioner? B y M ari -L en D e G uzMan Tetrault notes. In China, the country with the world’s biggest population, there are only 15 chiro-practors outside of HongKong. With a population of more than 100 million, the Philippines has less than 30 chiropractors in practice, and the majority of them are foreign nationals. About 80 per cent of the estimated 5,000 chiro-practors in the Asia-Pacific are practicing in Aus-tralia and New Zealand, the only two nations in the region where chiropractic is a protected profession backed by legislation. Chiropractic schools are few and far between in this part of the world as well. There are four uni-versities in Australia that offer chiropractic educa-tion, while New Zealand has one. Japan and South Korea each have one chiroprac-tic school. However, the profession is neither rec-ognized nor regulated in these two countries. In fact, chiropractors in South Korea are facing op-position from the medical doctors and are often prosecuted for practicing chiropractic. Tetrault says the region could use more chiro-practic learning institutions. “It is very slow growing out here. The number one thing that blocks (chiropractic growth) is the lack of schools. If there is no school and you want to grow the profession from within, it can’t grow very fast because you have no way to replace the ones that go.” Although he took the Canadian chiropractic board exams, Tetrault always had a foreign practice, open-ing his first clinic in California in 1981. His involvement with his alma mater, Life Uni-versity, brought Tetrault to Manila for the first time www.canadianchiropractor.ca etting up a practice in a foreign coun-try thousands of miles away from home may seem overwhelming, even unappealing, to many chiropractors, but the few who have made the move are finding unparalleled professional and personal fulfillment. One such doctor is Canadian Michel Tetrault, who has been practicing in the Philippines for the last eight years. He is the owner of Mabuhay Chi-ropractic Clinics, a cluster of chiropractic offices located in the country’s National Capital Region. He is also the executive director at Well Point Med-ical and Diagnostic Clinic, a fully accredited am-PHILIPPINES’ bulatory medical and diagnostic clinic in Cavite, a OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: province just outside of the Philippine capital city TAGALOG of Manila. Try a few Tetrault was born and raised in Winnipeg, Man., basic words: was educated in Canada and the U.S., and is both a Canadian and U.S. citizen. He graduated summa Mabuhay – long live cum laude from Life University in 1979, and com-Salamat – Thank you pleted his post-graduate in orthopedics in 1988 at Oo – Yes Hindi – No Los Angeles Chiropractic. Ako – Me Tetrault not only manages his clinics in the Phil-ippines, he is also actively helping other chiroprac-Ikaw – You tors become successful practitioners outside of their Sarap! – Delicious! home country. He has a particular interest in Paumanhin – Sorry helping doctors who aspire to set up clinics in Asian Paalam – Farewell countries that have far less access to chiropractic care than their western counterparts. “We’re a little over 5,000 chiropractors in this part of the world, and we’re representing the needs of more than one-third of the world’s population,” GLOBAL CITIZEN MARI-LEN DE GUZMAN is the editor of Canadian Chiropractor magazine. Email her at [email protected]. 20 Canadian Chiropractor June 2015
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