Blair Chiropractic Society

 Instructor Certification

Guidelines for Instruction Certification

Purpose:

Principles of academic freedom dictate that any individual may teach any subject for which an employing institution or private student (s) deems him or her qualified.  However, in the area of chiropractic technic such purchasers of instructional services may wish to assure themselves beforehand that an individual is competent to present an authoritative exposition of a particular technique, consistent with its historical development and with its contemporary practice by qualified practitioners, by whose consensus he or she speaks as an expert.  It is intended that instructor certification by the William G. Blair Chiropractic Society, Inc., serve such a credentialing function relative to the Blair Technique.

Levels of Certification

Primary Level

Subject matter: Blair concepts of misalignment of the upper cervical spine and spinographic technic for the imaging of specific articular misalignments: interpretation of spinographic findings.

Prerequisites: Completion of primary and advanced Blair Technic seminars as approved by Committee on Instruction; 2 years of full-time practice (or equivalent part-time practice) using Blair Technic on at least 80% of patients; possession of , or access to, Blair Protractoclamps and stereo x-ray equipment.

Certification Requirements:

• Submission of complete Blair Preliminary Series (A-P Open Mouth, Scout Flat Lateral, Base Posterior, and Special Articular Series (Blair Oblique and Blair Stereo Lateral) spinographs on 20 consecutive patients.  Each film will be analyzed by the examinee on special forms provided for the purpose, noting: (a) Blair convergence angles, (b) any malformation (c) appositional judgement (overlap/AS, underlap/PI, juxtaposed) for he C-0-1 articulations, and (d) adjustive major. As many retake or supplemental views may be included in each film set as are necessary to obtain readable images of the articular margins of each of the joints in question. Each of these film sets will be reviewed by two instructors currently certified at the primary level and appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Instruction.  The series of film sets will be rated as “passing” if at least one of the raters agrees with at least 70% of the examinee’s determination in each of the categories (a) through (d) above.
• Written or oral (or both) examination on Blair principles of articular misalignment in relation to joint mechanics and spinographic imaging of the upper cervical spine.  Rated as “passing” or “not passing” by an instructor currently certified at the primary level, appointed as an examiner by the Chairman on Instruction.
• Practical examination on spinographic positioning for Preliminary and Special Articular views and on spinographic marking and interpretation according to the Blair system.  Administered  and rated as “passing” of “not passing” by an instructor currently certified as the primary level, appointed as examiner by the Chairman of the Committee on Instruction.

Fore initial certification at the primary level, a “passing” mark must be earned for each of the three requirements set forth above, in any order, within a period of three years of the initial examination or submission.

Fee:   A $300.00 application fee, payable to the Blair Chiropractic Society Treasurer upon approval of Application by Committee on Instruction, non refundable, due in full prior to the initial examination or submission. ($100 serves as certification fee to B.C.S., a 50.00 fee is paid to each certified instructor serving as film rater, and $50.00 is paid to each certified instructor administering part (2) and (3) examination.

Advanced Level

Subject matter:  Blair concepts and motor skills for correction of upper cervical misalignments; use of non-spinographic analytical indicators; principles of case management.

Prerequisites:  Completion of primary and advanced Blair Technic seminars as approved by Committee on Instruction; 4 years of full-time practice (or equivalent part-time practice) using Blair Technic on at least 80% of patients; current certification as instructor at primary level.

Certification Requirements:

• Demonstration on s toggle monitor (or other appropriate device) of a minimum of 20 simulated adjustments of assigned listings.  Each simulated adjustment may be attempted twice.  This series of simulated adjustments will be judged by an instructor currently certified at the advanced level, appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Instruction, and will be rated as “passing” if the examining instructor finds at least one of the attempts satisfactory on at least 80% of the listings assigned.
• Oral or written (or both) examination on principles and objectives of spinal correction under Blair Technic, including (but  not limited to) topics on adjusting technic, use of analytic indicators, and case management principles and their application. Administrated and evaluated by one (or, when available, more) instructor(s)  currently certified at the advanced level, appointed as examiner(s) by the Chairman of the Committee on Instruction. Rated as “passing” or “not passing” a majority of examining instructors must concur in a “passing” rating.

For initial certification at the advanced level, a “passing” mark must be earned for each of the requirements set forth above, in either order, within a period of two years of the initial examination of demonstration.

Fee   $300.00 application fee, payable to the B.C.S Treasurer upon approval of application by Committee on Instruction, non-refundable, due in full prior to initial examination or demonstration.  ($100.00 certification  fee to B.C.S. , $50.00 fee to examining instructor under part (1), $50.00 fee to each examining instructor under part (2), remainder to B.C.S….usually entire fee is donated to the B.C.S.)

Maintenance of Instruction Certification

• Certified instructor, both primary and advanced, must attend at least on Blair function (seminar or conference) per year.
• Certified instructor must be a current dues paying member of the Blair Chiropractic Society.
• Doctor must submit to periodic evaluations by the Committee in Instruction.
• Doctor must maintain outstanding professional ethics as a representative of the Blair Technic and the Blair Chiropractic Society.
• Failure to comply with the above mentioned requirements may result in revocation of certified instructor status.

Steps to become certified:

• Contact the Chair of Instruction Committee with a personal letter on your stationary stating your desire to be certified and in which category you choose. Chair can be found listed on the Blair web site, Blairchiropractic.com A $300.00 check made out to the Blair Chiropractic Society should be sent to the Chair on Instruction to then be forwarded to the Treasurer of the B.C.S.
• Choose two certified instructor to evaluate your x-rays and personally contact them for confirmation.
• Utilizing the enclosed x-ray sheet, list all observed subluxation listings and mark all angles bilaterally from C-1-4. Films can be sent in increments of 5, 10, or the full 20.
• When sending the x-rays to the evaluating doctor, include two stamped x-ray envelopes, one to be sent to the second evaluating doctor, and the other for the films to be sent back to the examinee.
• Once the applicant passes the x-ray examination, he/she will need to contact two instructors to agree on a date and location for the applicant to undergo the practical examination.
• Once the applicant passes the practical portion, the results are forwarded to the Chair  on Instruction.  The Chair then forwards recommendations to the Blair Society board of directors. The board has the final say regarding approval of the applicant for certification status. If approved, a Certificate from the Blair Society will be issued at the Blair Conference.

(Updated 01-20-08, by Chair of Instruction and Technique Committee, Tom Forest, D.C.)

Guidelines for Blair Faculty Certification

The following represents the agreed upon process in which a faculty member of a chiropractic college can attain status as a Certified Blair Faculty Instructor as determined by the Technique and Instruction Committee of the Blair Chiropractic Society.

Application Process:

The applicant must either be a full time faculty member of a chiropractic college or part time chiropractic college instructor and in private practice.  A minimum of two years of experience in teaching and/or practice is necessary to qualify for this special renewable teaching certification.  It is necessary for the applicant to attend a minimum of a full three part Blair seminar series.  The application should be in letter form on faculty stationary addressed to the Chair, Instruction and Technique of the Blair Chiropractic Society. The current Doctor overseeing this process can be found on the Blair web site, blairchiropractic.com. A fifty dollar non-refundable processing fee, made out to the Blair Chiropractic Society, should be included with the application.

X-ray examination:

If the doctor has a Blair-type x-ray setup available, five full sets of marked Blair x-rays, taken by the applicant, needs to be submitted to the Chair of the Blair Instruction and Technique Committee.  These films will include a marked base posterior, A-P open mouth view, right and left Blair oblique protractoviews (in stereo if needed), and lateral stereo views.  The listings and angles should be marked on an enclosed x-ray sheet.

If x-ray facilities necessary to take Blair films are unavailable, the Certified Blair Instructor heading the examination will send five full sets of Blair x-rays to be marked and returned by the applicant.

The films will be evaluated for quality, patient placement, artifacts, contraindications, Blair atlas listings, angles of joints bilaterally through the C-2, and any listing seen at the C-2 level. Once these films have been evaluated by the initial Advanced Certified Blair Instructor, the films will then be forwarded to a second Instructor for another evaluation. If the two examiners agree that the films pass, the x-rays will then be returned with comments and a passing grade. If the films fail, it will be noted and the faculty doctor must submit a second series of fives sets of films to be retested.  Failure to pass a second time will indicated the doctor does not possess the skills needed to be a Certified Primary Blair Faculty Instructor at the present time.  Films can be resubmitted after 90 days for evaluation.

Practical Examination:

The applicant to be tested will need to contact two Advanced Certified Blair Instructors from the list of qualified doctors. If these Instructors agree to perform the practical examination, they will choose an examination site (e.g. office, seminar, college, or Blair Conference) and the testing will be graded pass/fail.

• The applicant will be given atlas listings and must be capable of demonstrating same side adjustments at the C-1 level. The applicant must also show proficiency with proper patient placement, doctor positioning, palpation, mechanism of misalignment and correction.
• The doctor must discuss contraindications of the adjustments and options when a cleft posterior arch is present.
• Skill must be shown in graphing and pattern analysis. The applicant should be fluent with the types of scanning machines and the purpose of bilateral skin temperature differential devices.
• The applicant must demonstrate his/her skills in leg balance tests.  This should include patient placement, the Derifield, Cervical Syndrome test, and modified Prill leg balance tests.
• The applicant must show the capacity to take the Blair series of x-rays either in an x-ray setting or describing the process in detail.

Maintaining Blair Faculty Certification Status:

• The newly Certified Faculty Instructor must attend at least one official Blair function per year. This could include the Blair Conference or seminar series (separate from those seminars being given at the doctor’s college)
• The doctor must submit to periodic re-evaluation by Certified Advanced Blair Instructors at the choosing of the Chair of Technique and Instruction of the Blair Chiropractic Society.
• The Certified Faculty Instructor will only be allowed to teach the Blair technique on campus or at other college approved sites.  Attempting to present Blair seminars privately off campus could result in revocation of  Faculty Blair Instructor status.
• Failure to comply with the above mentioned requirements or altering the instruction away from the guidelines established by William G. Blair, D.C.  will result in revocation of the Faculty Certification and removal from the list of certified instructors listed on the Blair web site.