CF 127 w/ Dr. William Morgan: A Conversation About Excellence, Research, Parker University, and Chiropractic

Today we’re going to be joined by Dr. William Morgan, President of Parker University and over-all impressive human being.  But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music  

OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around.  We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers. I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.   If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do. 

Do it do it do it.  You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #127 Now if you missed last week’s episode, we talked about immunity-boosting, coconut oil failures, and screen time and its apparent association with autism. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.  While we’re on the topic of being smart, did you know that you can use our website as a resource? Quick and easy, you can go to chiropracticforward.com, click on Episodes, and use the search function to find whatever you want quickly and easily. With over 100 episodes in the tank and an average of 2-3 papers covered per episode, we have somewhere between 250 and 300 papers that can be quickly referenced along with their talking points.  Just so you know, all of the research we talk about in each episode is cited in the show notes for each episode if you’re looking to dive in a little deeper.  When we have a guest, we typically dispense with my personal thoughts and practice experiences over the course of the week. We will do that same this week outside of this; I was with many of you. I closed the shop for 2 weeks. Solid. Closed. Then, I gradually started back with urgent/emergent care just like our governing board in Texas recommended.  At this point, I’m in my 3rd week of being completely re-opened. Even to wellness and maintenance care. While I’m used to 180-220 patient visits per week, I’m now experiencing about 110-120. We’re low. Obviously. But, it’s growing every week. People are beginning to tire of the restrictions on their activities and, I’d assume to some extent, are becoming somewhat numb or less concerned…..or more comfortable I guess with the risk aspect of it all.  Regardless, they’re starting to return. I’m pretty sure those of you that closed and did a gradual re-opening like me are experiencing much the same. Now if we can get the massage therapists back to work safely. We’re still waiting to see what happens on that end of it.  OK, let’s get to our guest today. I tell you sincerely, we are hitting the high spots on this show. WI’m just sitting here thinking about all of the amazing guests we’ve had over the last three years and just in the last few months we’ve had Dr. Stu McGill, Dr. Mike Massey, and now Dr. Williams Morgan. It’s been fun to watch this thing of ours grow and continue to grow. You, the listener, is the main reason for that growth and I just want to continue to thank you and tell you how important you are to me and how much I appreciate you.  Usually, bios and intros can be a bit mundane. Not today, my friends.  When your guest has been the chiropractor to the US Congress, the US Supreme Court, and to the White Hosue, well, you know it’s going to be a good one don’t you? Not only that but Dr. William Morgan, as mentioned, is the President of Parker University, and an active member of the Texas Chiropractic Association and has been testifying on chiropractic issues in the last two Texas Legislative Sessions and is happy and proud to be a Texan. That’s my kind of guy right there!! Our Texan pride is indeed legendary and probably annoying to anyone outside of the state.  At age 17, he joined the Navy and served with an elite Marine Recon company as a hospital corpsman. During that time, he qualified in parachuting, military diving, submarine insertion, jungle warfare, combat swimming, explosives, mountaineering, winter warfare, and Arctic survival. Additionally, he attended anti-terrorist training at the FBI Academy. After leaving active military service and transferring to the Navy Reserves, Dr. Morgan began his educational journey to become a doctor of chiropractic. While at Palmer College of Chiropractic-West, he transferred to a Naval Special Warfare platoon as the unit’s primary hospital corpsman. He was sent to Special Operations Technician training to learn the principles of dive medicine. For the next eight years, he served as a dive medicine corpsman/combat swimmer for a platoon of Navy frogmen in Naval Special Warfare Unit One.   In 1985, Dr. Morgan received his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic–West and soon after, married fellow Palmer graduate, Clare Pelkey. They practiced for thirteen years in California. In 1998, Dr. Morgan was chosen to establish the first chiropractic clinic at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, which later became Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. In 2015, Walter Reed recognized Dr. Morgan with its highest honor for clinical excellence, the Master Clinician’s Award. During the last 18 years at the military’s most prestigious medical centers, he practiced in an integrative setting, providing chiropractic care to the injured troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  In the year 2000, Dr. Morgan was appointed as the Chiropractor to Congress at the U.S. Capitol. At the Office of the Attending Physician to Congress, doctors of many specialties care for members of Congress and the Supreme Court. In 2007, Dr. Morgan began serving as the White House Chiropractor. He was appointed chiropractor for the United States Naval Academy football team in 2009 (which never lost to Army while under his care).  In 2011, Dr. Morgan was appointed to the United States Navy Musculoskeletal Continuum of Care Advisory Board, an entity created to address the prevalent injuries sustained by U.S. Armed Forces Personnel during active-duty operations. Dr. Morgan also served on the Spine Subcommittee, which helps develop care algorithms for treating spinal conditions and determining the future of musculoskeletal management in the U.S. Armed Forces.  Dr. Morgan has completed a 2,000-hour residency in Integrated Medicine. He served on the Board of Trustees for Palmer College of Chiropractic for ten years. He is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management and has held adjunct faculty positions at F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and New York Chiropractic College. Additionally, Dr. Morgan served as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), helping to implement the VA’s chiropractic benefit and advocate for chiropractic research  Parker University inaugurated William E. Morgan as their seventh President in 2016. Upon arriving in Texas, he became an active member and supporter of the Texas Chiropractic Association (TCA). Almost immediately, he organized a leadership summit to establish a legislative agenda strategy for chiropractors in Texas. Texas Chiropractors had not won a significant legislative victory in two decades, but in 2017 four bills advantageous to the chiropractic profession passed. Additionally, Morgan has assisted in fundraising, membership recruitment, and awareness for the TCA. As a lifetime member of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), he has also held several leadership positions in the organization.  Just last year, I was at the TCA President’s Gala when Dr. Morgan was awarded the Keeler Plaque which is awarded to the chiropractor of the year but is also a life time service award of sorts. It’s the most prestigious award the TCA gives so it’s quite an honor. And here in Texas, we are quite honored to have Dr. Morgan on our team. As a side note, I’m honored to know Dr. Morgan personally and really appreciate him agreeing to come on this podcast so let’s hop into it.  Welcome to the show Dr. Morgan, thank you so much for caving to my pestering and agreeing to shut me up by finally coming on the show.  Having the background you have, you’ve spent serious time on both coasts of our great nation. Now you find yourself dead center, right in the middle of the country. What was the allure of Texas for you, how has Texas treated you, and what has been your favorite thing about living here in Texas? Did you have any early perceptions of Texas or Texans when you moved here that proved to be false and did you have any that proved to be absolutely true? Everyone has a chiropractic story, what led you to want to be a chiropractor? Can you share a little about how you got to the point of climbing the ranks and becoming the chiropractor to Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House? How did it all come about? Can you share some of the legally shareable and more unique stories or experiences of treating those types of patients? You moved to Dallas, TX to take the helm of Parker University as their 7th President. Just a little background on me personally, I was there when Jim Parker was still around. I was there when he passed away and his son Karl took over and I believe Fab Mancini was coming on board about the time I graduated. I’m well acquainted with Parker of yesteryear. When you got to Parker, what was one of the first things you wanted to change? What would you say has/have been the changes you’ve made since arriving that you are the proudest of? When I was in school there, exercise/rehab honestly was not a big aspect of the curricula. I know a bit about you and Parker Fit. Have exercises and rehabilitation taken on a larger role since 1998? Some areas of the country never experience something you all, unfortunately, went through last year. Tell us a bit about the tornado, the aftermath, and going forward from it.  Now, from one awful event to another. Our current global pandemic. How is Parker University handling this event? What can students expect going forward? During this crazy time, there have been a lot of divisions in the country from opening vs. closing to ‘I refuse to wear a mask’ vs. ‘can you please wear a mask’? Our profession, unfortunately, is no different. It’s been divided along clear lines for decades and this pandemic has brought some of the divisions into the spotlight. One of them is between those that promote spinal manipulative therapy as a way to boost immunity and those that do not support that. When this was really first unfolding and our Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners, the WHO, the WFC, and the ACA were all telling chiropractors the support for immunity boosting is not present in the research literature, you and Dr. Katie Pohlman (I love Katie and need her on the show BTW)…you and Dr. Pohlman recorded a very smart and well-stated video saying that indeed, the research literature cannot support immunity-boosting at this time. Obviously, I was and am 100% on board with it and I said all of that to ask you this, was there any fallout to that? How did you handle it? And what went into the decision to record it in the first place.  Let’s move to legislative issues. What have you felt is our biggest issues in Texas and on the national level when it comes to chiropractic?  I have said repeatedly on this show that due to the opioid crisis and due to the emerging research over the last 5-10 years, I truly feel there’s not been a better time to be a chiropractor since the 1980s. As the President of a chiropractic college, what is the status of our profession right now? Not just in terms of the pandemic but over the course of the last year. Over the course of the next 5 years. Am I right about it being a great time? Am I wrong? Or a little bit of both? Thank you for joining us today! Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Continue taking care of yourselves and taking care of your neighbors. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, believe it, count on it. Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.  Remember the evidence-informed brochures and posters at chiropracticforward.com.   

The Message I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots. When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few. It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient. And, if the patient treats preventativly after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health! Key Point: At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints…. That’s Chiropractic! Contact Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes.  Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms.  We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.  Connect We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward. Website https://www.chiropracticforward.com Social Media Links https://www.facebook.com/chiropracticforward/ Chiropractic Forward Podcast Facebook GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938461399501889/ Twitter https://twitter.com/Chiro_Forward YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtc-IrhlK19hWlhaOGld76Q iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing/id1331554445?mt=2 Player FM Link https://player.fm/series/2291021 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing-through TuneIn https://tunein.com/podcasts/Health–Wellness-Podcasts/The-Chiropractic-Forward-Podcast-Chiropractors-Pr-p1089415/ About the Author & Host Dr. Jeff Williams – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger      

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