Ferguson Renamed President of NBCE

Peter D. Ferguson, D.C., of Canton, Ohio was re-elected President of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners during their Annual Meeting May 7 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Peter Ferguson was elected to return as NBCE President after serving for one year as Chairman of the Board, during which Dr. James Badge served as president. Following the elections, Dr. Ferguson took the opportunity to address his intentions for the coming year. Although I was reluctant to once again serve as president, I am honored to do so. Under the circumstances that this position is only for one year, and that year being such a short period of time, my aim is to continue building upon Dr. Badge’s work over this past year and to also build upon the work that I accomplished during my previous tenure as president. I am dedicated to the continual pursuit of reducing expenses of the Board and increasing communication with the delegates, alternate delegates, state board members, chiropractic colleges and students and the chiropractic profession. My overall goal is to do the right thing for the chiropractic profession and that is continuing to do what the Board has done so well for the past 42 years—providing excellent pre-licensure examination services that regulatory bodies can depend on as appropriate and legally defensible. Dr. Ferguson was first elected to serve the National Board as Director-at-Large in 1999. When Dr. Ferguson was elected as President to the Board in 2000, the National Board was at a crossroad. Under Dr. Ferguson’s guidance, the NBCE made many changes. In response to a continual decline in exam revenue the Board cut its budget and found it necessary to increase exam fees for the first time since 1992. In 2000 Dr. Ferguson initiated National Board Days at chiropractic colleges to improve relations with the chiropractic college students. Since 2000, an NBCE director has visited every chiropractic college at least once and the NBCE has also welcomed members of chiropractic college student leadership to its facilities. Another noteworthy change experienced by the NBCE during Dr. Ferguson’s term as president was the first election of a female to the NBCE Board of Directors. Additionally, since 2000, the National Board has introduced two new, optional examinations: Acupuncture in 2003 and the NBCE Ethics and Boundaries exam in 2004. With the Board’s commitment to improving communications with the profession, the National Board began printing a quarterly newsletter in 2000, and in March 2003 introduced monthly reports. Over the past five years the Board has also been committed to the development of a comprehensive Web site that provides information on the Board and NBCE examinations, as well as news updates and other relevant information. During the past year, exam brochures and applications were included on the NBCE Web site as a convenience for examinees so that they could fill out these forms online before submission to the board. A graduate of National College of Chiropractic in Illinois, Dr. Ferguson’s responsibilities outside the NBCE have included being a member to both the U.S. Department of Defense Chiropractic Health care Demonstration Oversight Advisory Committee and to the Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 1998, Dr. Ferguson received the prestigious George Arvidson Award for Meritorious Service to Chiropractic Licensure for his involvement with the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB), which Dr. Ferguson previously chaired. He is a fellow of the International College of Chiropractors, and also a fellow of the American College of Chiropractors. Dr. Ferguson is also a member of the Board of Trustees at New York Chiropractic College, the former director for the Council on Chiropractic Education, former president of the Ohio State Board of Chiropractic Examiners, member of the President’s Advisory Board at Walsh University and Chairman of the Civil Services Commission in Canton, Ohio. Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, the NBCE is the international testing organization for the chiropractic profession. Established in 1963, the NBCE develops, administers and scores legally defensible, standardized written and practical examinations for candidates seeking chiropractic licensure throughout the United States and in many foreign countries.