Abstract
Background: Since the inception of the chiropractic profession there have been internal conflicts on which philosophy the profession should be rooted in. This has caused a disruption in the profession by not being able to clearly define its Role and Identity and the medical fraternity side-lining the chiropractic profession. Determining and solidifying the profession’s Role and Identity is imperative in anchoring the profession’s foundation and thus creating an opportunity for the Future of the profession in the healthcare system. To ensure a successful integration in the healthcare system it is imperative that the students being the Future leaders of the profession receive the adequate education to address these uncertainties and conflicts within the profession. The chiropractic student population makes up a large quantity of the chiropractic collective in South Africa therefore, gaining their perceptions may allow us to draw conclusions and establish where the Future of chiropractic is headed in the healthcare system.
Aim: The aim of this research was to determine the perceptions of students undertaking their bachelor of health science (BHSc) and master of health science (MHSc) in chiropractic at the Durban University of Technology regarding the perceived Role, Identity and Future of the chiropractic profession in South Africa.
Method: This research followed a cross-sectional, quantitative and explorative methodology. In South Africa there has not been a survey regarding the Role, Identity and Future of chiropractic, therefore the researcher based the questionnaire on a survey conducted by Gliedt, Hawk, Anderson, Ahmad, Bunn, Cambron, Gleberzon, Hart, Kizhakkeveettil, Perle, Ramcharan, Sullivan and Zhang,(2015) and de Luca, Gliedt, Fernandez, Kawchuk, Swain, (2018).
Procedure: An electronic link was sent to all chiropractic students currently enrolled for a BHSc or MHSc degrees. An information letter and consent form was attached, which participants needed to read and give consent to before beginning the survey. All completed forms were collected and analysed with the assistance of a University of Johannesburg (UJ) based statistician.
Results: A total of 65 responses were received from this survey, giving the survey a response rate of 25.9%. The results for the study showed that the students seem to have similar perceptions of the Role, Identity and Future of chiropractic. However, the different demographic groups have opposing viewpoints on the Role of chiropractic such as with the prescribing of medication as some think that it’s deterring from the chiropractic scope of practice. The students agreed as a collective that the chiropractic profession’s Role should not consist of the chiropractic adjustment only. The students had a unified stance on the Identity and Future of the profession. The unified front on the Identity of chiropractic is that the profession should be identified as an
vi
evidence-based profession as this will gain more traction with the medical fraternity and therefore seeing progression of the profession in the mainstream healthcare system.
Conclusion: The student community were in agreement when it came to the Identity and Future of the chiropractic profession. The students seem to hold a strong perception of the profession being involved in mainstream healthcare and relinquishing its traditional non-evidence-based views and being identified as an evidence-based profession. There seems to be some internal conflict within the student community between the juniors and the seniors not coming to a consensus in terms of the Role of the chiropractic profession. The non-consensus might be pointing to the chiropractic education system to alter their curriculum so that the juniors know what exactly the Role of chiropractic is in the healthcare system so that the profession may have a unified voice. With this, the profession can provide a better Role and Identity to the public and the medical fraternity thus creating a Future of the chiropractic profession in mainstream healthcare.