The American College of Surgeons declares that, except as
provided by law, there are no ethical or collective impediments
to full professional association and cooperation between doctors
of chiropractic and medical physicians. Individual choice by
a medical physician voluntarily to associate professionally or
otherwise cooperate with a doctor of chiropractic should be governed
only by legal restrictions, if any, and by the individual medical
physician's personal judgment as to what is in the best interest
of a patient or patients.
Professional association and cooperation, as referred to above,
includes, but is not limited to, referrals, consultations, group
practice in partnerships, HMOs, PPOs, and other alternative health
care delivery systems; the provision of treatment privileges
and diagnostic services in or through hospital facilities; working
with and cooperating with doctors of chiropractic in hospital
settings where the hospital's governing board, acting in accordance
with appliable law and that hospital's standards, elects to provide
privileges or services to doctors of chiropractic; association
and cooperation in hospital training programs for students in
chiropractic colleges under suitable guidelines arrived at by
the hospital and chiropractic college authorities; participation
in student exchange programs between chiropractic and medical
colleges; cooperation in research programs and the publication
of research material in appropriate journals in accordance with
established editorial policy of said journals; participation
in health care seminars, health fairs or continuing educations
programs; and any association or cooperation designed to foster
better health care for patients of medical physicians, doctors
of chiropractic, or both.
Reprinted from Bulletin of the American College
of Surgeons
Vol. 72, No. 11, Page 10, November 1987