Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Chiropractors of Switzerland,
Dear fellow students

Detailed Report of the AGM 2023 in Trois Rivières

On Tuesday Morning we received an update from our Board of Directions and the events they have attended in the previous years. It is an honor for the WCCS to have the chance to represent the chiropractic students on organizations as such as FICS (International Federation of Sports Chiropractic) or the ICA (International Chiropractic Association). According to what we have heard on Monday, the focus was again on including chiropractic in the big field of health care – beyond its current state.
“You cannot build an island of success in a sea of failure”
In relation to this statement, he aimed to underline the significance of delivering consistent and evidence-based treatments in order to establish patients trust. This emphasizes the need for chiropractic care to consistently maintain a high standard, ensuring continued respect within the broader medical healthcare community.

We started our third day in congress with a speech about Congenital Muscular Torticollis (CMT) from Chantal Doucet, D.C., M.Sc.
At first, she emphasized on one of the major issues of chiropractic in pediatric. According to her experience in practice, the pediatric chiropractic is most vulnerable in the field of diagnosis, because the infants are unable to talk and the diagnosis needs to be set without an oral feedback from the patient.
With an epidemiology of 4% to 16% of births, CMT is a widespread issue in our population. After a short introduction to etiology and pathophysiology, three types of torticollis were mentioned which have a different cause.
Type 1: Caused by a bilateral muscular imbalance, this type presents itself in an opposite linked position of the cervical spine. An active rotation in the opposite direction is possible but it is followed by a passive flip back.
     ➔ Signs: Asymmetric breastfeeding, unusual behavior in prone position
Type 2: Caused by a tension the SCM (sternocleidomastoid muscle), these babies present a limitation in active and passive ROM
Type 3 (severe form): Presenting of olive in the first months with a palpable nodular induration in the SCM
     ➔ Sings: strong asymmetry of the face

As the social activity on that day we enjoyed the famous Poutine as one of the most typical dishes in Canada.
A classic poutine is made from thick, hand-cut, golden brown French fries topped with fresh cheese curds and then smothered with piping hot velouté or gravy. It may not be the most visually appealing of dishes, but its distinctiveness ensures that it stands out as the national dish of a country which is not exactly world-renowned for its cuisine.
It is a French-Canadian fast food and originally invented in the province of Quebec in the 1950s.

Besides the enriching days in congress we enjoyed our day off with a sight-seeing tour in Quebec, a historically important city in Canada. Due to its position at the St. Lorence – River, Quebec held significance as a pivotal port where colonies disembarked and commodities were transported to Canada via ships. A local guide showed us around the city and gave us a brief overview of the history of Canada, which goes, compared to Europe, not as far back in time.

Our last day at the AGM 2023 started with a presentation from Dean Wright about the topic “Risk mitigation and patient centered care go hand in hand”.
The risk within our profession stems from the reality that a small fraction of chiropractors face legal action each year when patients file lawsuit against them.
First, he introduced the CCPA (Canadian Chiropractic protection association) with its core values: Strength, Fairness, Expertise and Integrity. But as we are chiropractors from all over the world he additionally wanted to show us some key points to protect ourselves during our practice.
Record keeping was mentioned as an important part to make our treatment and diagnosis comprehensible for third parties. Furthermore, our examination process should be documented as precisely as possible to achieve a truthful and all-round description of each patient in our records.
Last but not least, he talked about the importance of doctors’ vigilance during a patient’s appointment, which allows us to detect little signs or also red flag as an indicator to refer the patient to another healthcare provider.
Moreover, the care for our own health worker team plays a tremendously important role in a safe practice. He highlighted this since many chiropractors offer treatment to their employees. While this is not inherently negative, it becomes particularly crucial in this scenario to prioritize throughout documentation. This is essential due to the potential of conflicts of interest and an uneven distribution of power. Every person we treat is a patient und should be treated equally, which makes our work more reliable.
As a last advice in this topic he focused on the doctor-patient-relationship and reminded us of the importance to maintain the personal distance between us and a patient (ex. do not go for coffee with a patient).
In the following Q&A session, one of the WCCS members shared an experience she had with a patient who behaved inappropriately and made sexual abusing comments. Besides the fact that young people in health care face this kind of difficulties, she also wanted to mention that students or assistant doctors which are still in an assessment are more likely to experience negative behavior of patients. Dr. Wright encouraged us to seek the conversation with our supervisor in case of inappropriate behavior of a patient. Moreover, do not hesitate to talk about this! Nobody should have the slightest feeling of abuse after treating a patient and how we feel is always a personal issue and cannot be predicted from the outside. He also elated us to contemplate our personal boundaries in advance of the patients contact, rather than reflecting on them afterwards. This approach aids in determining whether a behavior was inappropriate or not.
However, there are occasions when providing immediate feedback to the patient becomes necessary once we have organized our thoughts. This process assists us in reaffirming our viewpoint and sharing our personal perspectives and encounters.

We feel more than honored and grateful to have been given the opportunity to attend the AGM 2023 as a Swiss Chapter. The value of seeing a worldwide enthusiasm on the field of work of chiropractic amongst young people and the intercultural exchange amongst fellow students is immense. The inspiring speeches were motivating to continue our education and showed an international approach to make chiropractic more popular in basic health care. Encountering individuals from across the globe who share our interests and received us warmly was a distinctive encounter. We eagerly await reconnecting with them at upcoming regional events (RE) or the annual general meeting (AGM).