Response of Chiropractic Organizations to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Report.

Objective: The purpose of this report is to describe actions by chiropractic entities during the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: Large entities that support chiropractic education or practice were invited to participate in this report. Leaders of various entities were emailed an invitation. A designee who was assigned by the leader provided a brief synopsis of actions the entity had taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only entities that responded are included in this report. Results: Five entities agreed to participate: The Council on Chiropractic Education, Association of Chiropractic Colleges, Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and the National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company. Common themes included (1) recognizing the crisis and taking action, (2) establishing a safe working environment for staff so that services could continue, (3) delivering communications to stakeholders (chiropractic students, practitioners, licensing boards, and others) to guide decisions and direct actions, and (4) continuing to monitor the situation and respond as new information becomes available. Conclusion: These entities serve a large portion of the chiropractic profession. They have been quick to respond in a responsible, compassionate, and supportive manner to assist chiropractic licensing boards, practitioners, and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings are encouraging as the chiropractic profession looks to the future as it navigates changes in education and the health care environment in the months and years ahead.

Revised methodology for the examinations of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners: Impact on institutions, faculty, and students.

For over 50 years, the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) has administered pre-licensure examinations to chiropractic students and graduates. During this time, the testing process has been continually refined and improved, consistent with the evolving science and practices of standardized testing. NBCE test results are provided to chiropractic program leaders who use these data to improve their curricula as part of their own ongoing efforts to refine and improve the academic programs. Finally, the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) requires accredited chiropractic programs to report their NBCE scores to ensure that benchmarks set by the CCE are met. With this symbiotic relationship between the NBCE, CCE, and chiropractic programs (as well as state licensing authorities), it is very important that these groups collaborate and communicate with transparency and diplomacy. In particular, the chiropractic program leaders-and their students as the end users-are vitally interested in monitoring changes at the NBCE and CCE levels that may impact their programs. Recent changes in testing methodology for the NBCE examinations need to be understood and monitored to ensure that they result in their intended outcome, which is greater validity of the testing process. This commentary reflects the views and concerns of 3 chiropractic educational leaders and is intended to facilitate further discussion among chiropractic program leaders toward strengthening the aforementioned symbiotic relationship.