Profession
Florida nixes publicly funded chiropractic school
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 21, 2005
The state of Florida put an end to a proposal that would have created the first chiropractic school at a U.S. public university.
Florida's Board of Governors, which oversees the state's public universities, voted down the idea 10-3 at a late January meeting. A spokesman for the board said members had voted against it because the university did not present a strategic need for the school.
The proposed school, which would have been part of Florida State University, was the center of intense debate among FSU faculty members, many of whom signed a petition against it. One faculty member went so far as to create a mock campus map with a "Crop Circle Simulation Laboratory" and other such facilities, openly ridiculing the validity of chiropractic medicine.
The American Medical Association holds that physicians may associate professionally with chiropractors, teach in recognized chiropractic schools and refer patients to them if they believe this will benefit their patients.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/02/21/prbf0221.htm.