From the
Desks of the Deans
From the Desk of Dr. Leslie King,
Dean of the College of Chiropractic
The Mission of the Life University College of Chiropractic (COC),
centered on the Vertebral Subluxation Complex, is to educate,
mentor and graduate skilled and compassionate Doctors of
Chiropractic to be primary care clinicians, physicians, teachers
and professionals, using the University’s core life proficiencies as
their foundation. Faculty and administrators have been working
hard supporting the mission of the program by constantly looking
for ways to educate, mentor and graduate students who are ready
to add value to the chiropractic profession.
The greatest venture that the program has embarked upon is
the review and revision of its current chiropractic curriculum
by COC faculty, in collaboration with COC administration.
The revised curriculum will have more elements that increase
student learning, retention and program completion. To aid in
this revision, the program has partnered with a team of higher
education consultants whose expertise is in competency-based
education.
The Doctor of Chiropractic Program (DCP) is a rigorous,
14-quarter program with quarters usually ranging from 25-27
quarter credits on average, which makes for a very demanding
schedule. In our continued efforts to support the students, the
COC is constantly reviewing its student satisfaction reports and
student academic performance in each course. As a result, the
COC has taken a look at courses within the curriculum that pose
challenges for students and student progression. In response,
the COC created a Remediation and Retesting program which
consists of courses providing assessments to detect students who
are struggling and need intervention in the form of remediation,
advising, modification to schedule and supplemental instruction.
The program started off with five courses, and as the student
performance gets better and their level of competency increases,
courses are removed, and other courses identified are added.
We know that this program will provide input to faculty, as well
as inform our Student Success Center on what types of academic
support the students need outside the classroom.
The second undertaking to address progression is the DCP
Completion Project based on the principle that no student will
be left behind, and the college will track and support every
student who is not progressing in the program. In this project,
the student’s progression status is determined by two primary
metrics, the quarter in residence and the number of credit
hours completed. Student support consists of individualized
academic plans and optimum course schedules supervised and
tracked by the college administration with the help of specialized
professional advisors and faculty advisors. The completion project
will ensure all students who are identified as being at risk will be
provided additional support that will afford every opportunity for
the student to complete the program.
I cannot conclude without talking about our DCP Clinic System
where students take all the knowledge and skills that they have
learned in the classroom and apply them to providing patient care.
In order to improve the clinical environment, there was a need
to assess the clinic process and procedures, as well as various
software systems to enhance patient and student experiences. The
current review of the clinic has resulted in clinic activities being
added to more academic classes, resulting in hands-on experience
earlier and often in the curriculum. The LIFE Clinic System has
prepared and executed the implementation of Electronic Health
Records throughout the clinic system, which created a greater
consistency for patient care and intern education. As part of our
continued commitment to provide the best care for patients and
clinical learning environment for interns, we are currently in
the process of a Request for Proposal for a new electronic health
record system to determine a more user-friendly and effective
way to educate the student, while still focusing on the patient.
Our faculty and staff work very hard to provide a relevant
educational experience for our students. When they are not in
the classrooms, clinic or administrating, they are participating
in chiropractic research and attending higher education
conferences. Their efforts help create the phenomenal
chiropractors who graduate from this program every quarter.
Thank you for your continued support.
Leslie King, D.C.
Dean of the College of Chiropractic
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Alumni.LIFE.edu | 2018