This past week, the American Chiropractic Association held the National Chiropractic Leadership Conference (NCLC) in our nation’s capital. NCLC is an annual event in Washington, D.C., where doctors and students come to advocate for our profession, network with our colleagues, and learn from leaders in the field. I arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening after a comfortable flight with Catie and Dr. Petrocco-Napuli. My friends and I walked around Capitol Hill taking pictures on our way to grab a bite to eat. The next morning I went for a run around Capitol Hill taking more pictures along the way. I saw the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, and the Russell Senate office building.

After my run, my colleagues and I met with congressmen to advocate for legislation about patient access to chiropractic care. The meetings went very well, many of the representative said they would support our legislation. The first day I spent with my fellow NUHS Florida students and practicing doctors from the state of Florida.

The following day I lobbied with a few students from New York Chiropractic College with representatives from my home state of New Jersey. We met with representatives Frank LoBiondo from district two, Tom MacArthur from district three, Scott Garrett from district five, Leonard Lance from district seven, and Bill Pascrell of district nine. Frank LoBiondo is my congressman and he did us the honor of taking a picture with us.

After the second day of lobbying, the students attending NCLC were invited to a roundtable event in which chiropractic specialists discussed their practices. There were doctors who were specialists in nutrition, sports medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, internal medicine, forensics, and neurology. I listened to Dr. Frederick Carrick, a chiropractic neurologist, for most of the event. I also listened to the nutrition, internal medicine, and forensic specialists. The discussions were very intimate. We were in small groups, which allowed us to ask specific questions we may have had about their specialties.

The following day I attended lectures on evidence based treatment for neck pain and neurology for chiropractors. I was ecstatic that Dr. Carrick was presenting a lecture as well because he is a very inspirational man. He is on staff at Harvard, Yale, and Cambridge. He also has his own institution called the Carrick Institute, in which he teaches postgraduate education in neurology. His lecture was so inspiring that I am now considering postgraduate education in neurology.

My last day in Washington, my friend Chris and I took in the sights. We took a taxi to Pennsylvania Avenue to see the White House. We also went to the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. We returned to the hotel and attended a lecture on nutrition, neurotransmitters, and adrenal function. It was a fantastic last day in Washington.

NCLC was a tremendous experience, I made new friends, potential job opportunities, I helped advocate for my future profession, and I learned a lot from the lectures.

If you have any questions feel free to email me at [email protected]