different research presentations at national and international conferences, won ten dif-ferent prestigious research awards and was awarded three new major grants. “Dr. Jenny Kruger, postdoctoral fel-low working with the research team on a pregnant women pelvic floor function study, has also been recently singled out as one of New Zealand’s top young scien-tists. Dr. Kruger was awarded a Ruther-ford Foundation New Zealand Postdoc-toral Fellowship by the Royal Society of New Zealand, one of only two such fel-lowships given each year. “As the College looks out to the world, two things become clearer: the western world’s answer to health care will not be solved by increased spending on an all allopathic model, and we are seeing massive shifts towards complementary health. In New Zealand, chiropractic is leading this shift in terms of public utili-zation and research.” “The very well known Dr. Bruce Lipton is a member of the College faculty, and re-cently wrote: ‘The New Zealand College of Chiropractic offers its students a wonderful blend of mind, body and spirit in a direct hands-on academic environment.’ Bogatski encourages prospective stu-dents to visit www.chiropractic.ac.nz for further information on the New Zealand College of Chiropractic. THE FUTURE OF CHIROPRACTIC IN NEW ZEALAND With the New Zealand College of Chiro-practic turning out an increasing number SKIN CANCER EDUCATION GUIDE CAN HELP DCs On June 9, fourth-year Canadian Me-morial Chiropractic College (CMCC) student and melanoma survivor Tyler Damen presented a donation to Prin-cess Margaret Hospital in Toronto and introduced The Chiropractor’s Guide to Skin Cancer, a manual for DCs compiled by Damen’s charity, Chiros Care, with CMCC’s support. Damen feels that chiropractors could be powerful allies in the fight against skin cancer, as they see more skin than most health-care profes-sionals do. DCs specifically, and, through the support of CMCC, it was sent out to 5,400 chiropractors across North America. “I realized that if I could educate DCs about the signs of skin cancer,“ notes Damen, “that we would have thousands of professionals helping to diagnose skin cancer earlier -this is currently one of our best strategies for increasing survival rates.“ At the donation gathering, CMCC “Patients don’t see chiropractors as someone they can ask about skin cancer,“ said Damen, at a gather-ing with CMCC staff members and Cindy Goldman, director of special events for Princess Margaret Hospital. “Yet, given the numbers of patients seen by chiropractors in a week, month or year, chi-ropractors would be able to screen millions of people!“ When Tyler Damen first heard the words, “You have mela-noma,“ the 24-year-old knew almost nothing about this poten-tially deadly form of cancer. A year later, following five surgeries and a gruelling 11-month course of chemotherapy, Damen had a new goal in his life: to change the statistics around skin cancer and, in particular, melanoma. That was only four short years ago. Left to right: Cindy Goldman, director of spe-cial events, Princess Margaret Hospital; Tyler Damen, fourth-year CMCC student, mela-noma survivor and creator of Chiros Care charity; Dr. Jean Moss, president, CMCC president Dr. Jean Moss said, “Since chiropractors see a lot of skin, this guide would help them to identify le-sions that should be looked at more carefully.“ Dr. Moss also told those present at the gathering that CMCC is proud to At the time of his diagnosis, Damen had just completed an undergraduate degree in kinesiology and was set to begin the first of four years as a student at CMCC. Continuing his stud-ies even through treatment, Damen created the charity Chiros Care. The charity has a three-pronged approach to improving the outcomes for skin cancer victims: educate chiropractors on how to identify possible skin cancer in patients, so they may refer these patients to the appropriate specialist; raise funds for melanoma research; and raise funds for patient care for mela-noma victims. Damen created The Chiropractor’s Guide to Skin Cancer, for 16 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | JULY/AUGUST 2010 have students like Tyler who are not only committed to their profession but who are also committed to making a difference in their communities as well. Damen presented a cheque for $10,000 to Princess Margaret Hospital and says he hopes this will be the first in a series of donations that Chiros Care will make. He hopes to continue gathering funds through the sale of Chiros Care T-shirts. The T-shirts are $15 + shipping and a portion of proceeds from them also goes into the production of the skin cancer guide for DCs. Tyler looks forward to being able to sell these guides, in the near future, to collect further funds for melanoma research and victims of melanoma. Speaking on behalf of Princess Margaret Hospital, Cindy Goldman thanked Tyler Damen and Chiros Care, saying, “I’m always impressed by the power that one person has to impact on a community, a school and a profession -even by asking, or prompting the necessary questions. This is an impressive thing that you have done!“ For more information on Chiros Care, and to order a T-Shirt or inquire about the The Chiropractor’s Guide to Skin Cancer, please visit www.chiros-care.com. www.canadianchiropractor.ca of chiropractors and producing world-class research, and with the profession in that country working so adeptly to gath-er public attention while supporting the unique tenets of chiropractic, the future of the profession in that country looks as bright and strong as its natural beauty and hospitable population. Dr. Brian Kelly, president of the New Zealand College of Chiropractic, says, “There has never been a better time to be a chiropractor – chiropractic is lead-ing this wellness revolution in terms of public utilization, research and govern-ment recognition. The calling to serve our community at a time in history when the traditional health-care system is un-der enormous pressure has never been greater.” • news
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor July/August 2010: Page 16
