47th Annual Spring NUCCA Conference (April 2013)
I recently travelled to Minneapolis to present at the 47th annual spring NUCCA conference. The theme of the conference was “Celebrating The Instructors”. I had the great opportunity to present a research update and to teach the certification advancement class. There were 135 participants including approximately 35 students from various chiropractic colleges.
At the presidents reception and banquet I was awarded the Ralph R. Gregory award. This is NUCCA’s distinguished lifetime service award for contributions to the organization through teaching, research and a dedication to clinical excellence. Named after Dr. Ralph R. Gregory, a life-like bronze statue of Dr. Gregory is awarded periodically to honour and acknowledge the contributions of those serving NUCCA for many years. This is the sixth Gregory award given since its inception in 1990.
This award is deeply meaningful and was personally touching as my oldest and dearest friend Dr. Marshall Dickholtz Jr. presented me the award. The lifelike bronze statue of Dr. Gregory in the posture of him adjusting also brought back memories of my studying with Dr. Gregory and receiving my board certification through his mentoring in 1989.
Dr. Dickholtz Jr. and I met 35 years ago when we were both students at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport Iowa. His father is one of the founding board members of the NUCCA organization. He introduced his son to this specific upper cervical corrective care. When Marshall Jr. and I met, as students, he guided me into this work by providing my first NUCCA correction at the Palmer student clinic. This proved to be a life altering experience for me in many ways. After that first correction, I had the experience of being able to think straight and see clearly. It was such a profound difference in my brain function from such a subtle intervention. We are only now understanding (35 years later) what happens to brain function when a specific upper cervical correction is applied. This is thanks to the migraine research study that we are conducting in Calgary where we are measuring improved blood-flow and cerebrospinal fluid flow optimization after an upper cervical correction.
I am deeply grateful for the care I received 35 years ago as a chiropractic student and for the opportunity to practice and provide this care here in Calgary since 1980. I am privileged to meet so many different people through the clinic and now to understand more about the benefits of upper cervical care as highlighted through our research here and the information gained in New York at the recent MRI conference.
<Dr. Ralph R. Gregory
From right to left: Drs. Hasick, Gregory, Pond and Cripe.>
<Dr. Gordon Hasick presents Dr. Ralph Gregory a special service award from Palmer College of Chiropractic (1985)