In 2007, Palmer College of Chiropractic received the CAM Practitioner Research Education Project Grant Partnership award, Expanding EBCP and Research Across the Palmer College of Chiropractic from NCCAM/NIH. Over the past four years, Palmer administrators, faculty and researchers have worked diligently through our strong partnerships with two highly regarded conventional institutions, The University of Iowa and Thomas Jefferson University, to successfully incorporate research and evidence-based clinical practice (EBCP) concepts into the culture and curriculum at Palmer in a manner that is both meaningful and sustainable. The current application was developed in response to PAR-08-095 to request four additional years of support to continue and further expand upon this important work. Palmer is the largest chiropractic training institution in the world. With campuses in Davenport, IA, San Jose, CA, and Port Orange, FL, we have more than 200 faculty, with total student enrollment over 2100. More than 25% of practicing chiropractors are Palmer alumni. Thus, Palmer College is in a unique position to have both a significant impact on the education and culture of the institution, and ultimately, the wider profession of chiropractic. Faculty development remains the essential first step to the success of our proposed program. Enhancing the attitudes, knowledge, skills and teaching behavior of faculty is the key to effective delivery of these concepts to students, and is a direct way of influencing the Palmer educational culture. Successful completion of the aims outlined in this application will result in an ongoing, sustainable faculty development program that engages and supports faculty in real curricular change. Weaving EBCP concepts and practices throughout the curriculum and clinical rotation experience will prepare graduates to consider EBCP as integral to successful chiropractic practice and ultimately enhance patient outcomes. We will further enhance the integration of EBCP and research content into the Doctor of Chiropractic curriculum at our main campus and extend our program to our two branch campuses: the West campus in San Jose, CA and the Florida campus in Port Orange, FL. Faculty development remains the essential first step to the success of our program. Enhancing the attitudes, knowledge, skills and teaching behavior of faculty is the key to effective delivery of these concepts to students, and is a direct way of influencing the Palmer educational culture. Our faculty development initiative will expand implementation of our program to train faculty in EBCP principles, expand training of faculty to incorporate EBCP principles and application into classroom education, initiate a program to apply and model EBCP behavior in clinical practice and training, and develop a cadre of EBCP educators at each campus. We will integrate EBCP into the Palmer College curriculum through a variety of inter-related strategies: stand-alone information literacy and EBCP courses, effectively weaving EBCP through other courses in each term, supplementary e-learning opportunities, practice through reflective learning, co-curricular activities, and EBCP application in the clinical internship. Our research training initiative will provide mechanisms for interested faculty and students to participate in research, gain proficiency in research and publish. Our dissemination plan will communicate our strategies and experiences in developing and implementing these EBCP faculty development, curricular change and assessment initiatives. We will also communicate the changes in student and faculty attitudes, knowledge, skills and behaviors that we are measuring through program evaluation. This program will result in change to both institutional culture and behavior regarding the value of research and the utility of EBCP at all three Palmer campuses.
Palmer College of Chiropractic graduates practice as primary care and spinal practitioners in private practice, community clinics, academic healthcare settings and integrative healthcare environments, including the DoD. Our renewal will accelerate and expand the desired outcomes for the adoption of the attitudes, knowledge and skills by Palmer graduates so that they can effectively practice evidence-based clinical decision-making in an environment increasingly demanding interdisciplinary cooperation and an emphasis on patient outcomes.
