Part
III
New
Jersey State Board Questions National Board
The
New Jersey State Board of Chiropractic Examiners has sent a letter
(dated 12-10-99) and survey to all licensing boards nationwide. This
letter questions the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE)
Part III Examination development procedures and proposes sweeping new
changes. The Part III examination tests written clinical competency in
areas such as case history, physical examination, chiropractic technique
and other relevant chiropractic elements. The New Jersey Board is
seeking to have their concerns addressed prior to deciding whether to
mandate the Part IV Examination for licensure into their state. the
Board is expected to have a final vote in February 2000.
The New Jersey Board’s explicit letter points out flaws in the
current NBCE procedures that include failure to allow all states to
participate equally in the development process, failure to allow the
individual licensing boards to choose which of their members is most
appropriate or qualified to attend development process, failure to allow
participating representatives to review and consider questions deemed
appropriate to their state at the meeting they attend, and failure to
distribute copies of the exam to licensing boards to ensure that the
exam continues to address appropriate areas of concern to their state.
The letter points out that the states that require Part III have
never been provided copies of the examination. The New Jersey Board
writes that they “believe that recent Part III examinations may be
focusing more on obscure academic facts as opposed to the practical
application of chiropractic in a practice setting.” The letter also
states, “The individual licensing boards may wish to reconsider their
their support of any mandatory licensure examination that fosters
limited input and participation, and does not allow for the opportunity
for review.” The letter is concluded by stating, “The NBCE exists
solely because the individual licensing boards make their examinations a
requirement for licensure. Those same boards should ensure that the
exams continue to address areas of concern.”
This letter appears to be another attempt by licensing boards to
reign in the unquestioned authority the NBCE has enjoyed in recent
years. It is particularly important that the licensing boards gain
control over the content of the examinations. It is no secret that the
chiropractic institutions must continually update their curriculum to
ensure that their students pass the NBCE examinations. The content of
these examinations should be derived directly from the licensing boards
mandating the examination. If these boards are not providing the content
for the examinations, as the New Jersey Board points out, who are the
individuals within the NBCE who are developing the questions? The people
who are writing the questions are literally controlling the direction of
the chiropractic profession, as the chiropractic institutions must teach
their students the NBCE information in order to pass the examinations.
This is an unfortunate example of the tail wagging the dog.
The New Jersey Board is to be commended for taking the initiative
to expose these inappropriate examination development procedures. The
nation’s licensing boards should support NJ’s proposals that help
ensure that the individual licensing boards are directly responsible for
the content of the NBCE examinations. the NBCE has been reminded that
they serve at the pleasure of the individual states. New Jersey has
requested that the NBCE address their concerns by letter to all
licensing boards, we all await their response.
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