LP3
By Dr. Guy Riekeman, D.C.
President, Life University
This July 22-25 marks both
the beginning of a major annual profession-wide celebration and the unfolding
of the new Life University. It would be easy to ignore the event as just another
seminar, or write it off as a Life University Homecoming —especially if
you’re not a Life graduate. However, this program is intended for all
DCs, staff, and families who share a passion for the “big idea”
and believe that inclusion and working together in an environment of acceptance
and trust is critical for the survival and growth of our profession. There are
few events we can attend these days that offer these opportunities.
The program is unique in offering both substance and excitement, along with
a little bit of something for everyone. There are up to 28 hours of continuing
education credits with researchers like Colloca, Howe, Killinger, Clum and Fallon;
technique experts including Cox, Harrison, Sweat, Hochman, Morter, Roy and Jackson;
management gurus who will share their practice development expertise: Kindred,
Powers, Markson, Hoffman, Perman, Mertz, Morgan, Gentempo and Plasker; and literature
review and healthcare futurists like Lipton, Murphy and Slosberg. There will
also be themed presentations on geriatrics, pediatrics, sports, risk management,
medical errors, and Florida and Georgia laws and rules. Of course, we’ll
be presenting LifeSource, featuring Ribley, Sigafoose, Klapp, Lupo and many
others. Add to this our keynote speaker, author of Molecules of Emotion, Candice
Pert, Ph.D., the presidential inauguration with the whole Life University family
and a host of dignitaries, family fun, and a celebration dinner on Saturday
night with fireworks and it’s a “must-attend” event!
This event is more than speakers and programs though. It’s also about
Life University’s vision of itself and its role in the profession for
the future. A demand for the expenditure of much energy has been placed on Life
in its efforts to survive. While we currently focus on budgets, accreditation
demands, and enrollment needs, this aspect of our journey will, for the most
part, be answered by the end of this calendar year. Our vision goes far beyond
survival to development of world-class, privately-funded research programs,
curriculum design and educational standards that are innovative and demanding,
clinical and technique trials that improve patient care, and expanding degree
programs in areas from pediatrics to integrated healthcare policy.
With such an ambitious agenda and assemblage of dedicated administrators, faculty
and staff to accomplish it, it seemed appropriate to have a symbol for our efforts.
At an initial meeting in developing the July 22-25 program, a lively discussion
ensued regarding the name. We kept coming back to three objectives of Life University:
our dedication to the principles of our profession and of personal integrity
and responsibility, our unending reservoir of passion through thick and thin,
and a deep commitment to our purpose...LP3. We also were overcome with the sense
that, when combined, “Life’s Principles, Passion, and Purpose”
were much more than the sum of the parts; that they were, in fact, exponential.
Remember the game you played as a kid when you offered to give a friend a dollar
a day for 30 days if they would give you a penny the first day and then double
the amount each day for the same 30-day period? It is obvious to an adult—the
amount of doubling the penny results in millions of dollars when taken to the
30th power.
So what happens when you multiply principles, passion, and purpose? The answer
is always bigger and more magical than you expected. Life University is now
in this serendipitous state where people from within and outside the profession
have arrived to help us raise millions of dollars, develop and attract the brightest
talent, secure our campus, enliven prospective students, and, yes, gaze positively
into the future.
Please join us for LP3 on July 22-25. Put it on your “mental” calendar
to attend each year, and make sure you call it “LP-cubed,” not “LP-three”!
About the author: Dr. Guy Riekeman, serves as president of Life University,
and is the former president and chancellor of Palmer Chiropractic University
System. He is also a former vice president of Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic,
a noted lecturer in the chiropractic profession, and a 1972 graduate of Palmer
College of Chiropractic.
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