Northwestern Health Sciences University Students and Faculty Lobby for Change at State Capitol

About 200 students from Northwestern Health Sciences University lobbied on Feb. 21 at the state capitol in St. Paul for chiropractic health care issues. They joined Northwestern faculty members and chiropractors from the area. Organized by the Minnesota Chiropractic Association, the day was planned in order to encourage legislators to revise Minnesota statutory language relating to the chiropractic scope of practice so it is more concise. In addition, lobbyists asked that their representatives and senators to support legislation to ban runners in Minnesota, which would make it illegal for chiropractors to hire or pay anyone who directly contacted a consumer after experiencing an automobile accident. Scott Mooring, DC, joined students in an effort to get the message across. “It’s important for our profession to stand up and fight,” Dr. Mooring said, who has participated in previous years. “The legislation is spread out into a number of different statutes which makes it difficult to interpret or apply. It’s a major impediment.” Northwestern students were equally passionate about seeing change in legislation. “I think it’s really important to have the people who represent us know how effective chiropractic care is,” said Ashley Cornetet, a T2 chiropractic student. “People are often misinformed, and it will help the community and help patients to learn more. This is more to make a statement about what we’re doing than to debate.” Tracking lawmakers down wasn’t as easy as expected, said Jami Rassmussen, a T2 chiropractic student, who added he was surprised how uninformed some were about chiropractic care. “We didn’t have a scheduled appointment, but as we were filling out the paperwork to make one, our representative overheard us and came out of his office,” Rassmussen said. “The other two students and I went into his office without a chiropractor with us and got to tell him about the bill. He didn’t know much about chiropractic care, but listened to us.” Rasmussen said it was a bit daunting to go in without lobbying experience, but exciting. “It was overwhelming at first, but exhilarating,” Rasmussen said. “It was sort of trial by fire, but I liked being thrown in like that.” Northwestern Health Sciences University offers a wide array of choices in natural health care education including chiropractic, Oriental medicine, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, human biology, and integrative health and wellness. The University has more than 900 full-time students on a 25-acre campus in Bloomington, Minn.