At the end of March, the Australian Chiropractic College (ACC) celebrated a significant milestone. At a ceremony in Adelaide, the College commemorated its inaugural graduating class. What began as merely an idea had fully evolved into a recognised tertiary education institution.
In December’s TAC, Dr Patrick Sim, ACC President, stated until the College graduates its first class, neither it nor its affiliates can be considered to have “done the job.”
To him, the College’s first graduates “mark the end of its establishment process.”
Motivated to create an environment where the profession and principles of chiropractic were set in bricks and mortar, Patrick established the Australian Chiropractic College. Last week brought about the end of one chapter for the ACC, just as their many inaugural graduates begin new ones.
Not only did last week’s ceremony mark the beginning of the graduates’ journey into chiropractic and the accompanying highs and lows, it also brought an end to the College’s establishment process.
For ACA president Dr Billy Chow, who works as an educator at the ACC, the College’s first graduation ceremony was an event punctuated by a wave of excitement and emotion.
“Not only because it was the first one, but also because it represented the success of a lot of hard work,” Billy explains.
Along with Patrick’s view that the College’s first graduating class marked the end of its establishment process, Billy believes it also closes a chapter that began a decade ago, when the idea for the ACC was first discussed.
He describes the atmosphere at the College not only on the mid-March graduation night but also in the preceding weeks as one not of nervousness or worry but rather filled with immense pride in the students’ achievements.
“Obviously everyone was extremely happy and very positive about everything. There wasn’t any worry because they had all passed, and were already established chiropractors,” he says.
“It was more about celebrating the moment of this achievement, representing the perseverance of students who endured five years affected by COVID, coming back, adapting to changes in the curriculum, and so on.”
“At graduation, you feel immense pride in what the students have achieved.”
Life is often defined by firsts; first steps, first car, first job, first heartbreak, first home. Each moment is shared either in celebration or remorse, turned into a memory that lasts a lifetime. For the ACC, these first graduates will be cherished for the remainder of the College’s life.
“You only have one inaugural group of graduates. They pave the way forward for others and will always be remembered in the history books,” Billy says.
That reality underpins why the moment held such a monumental weight for everyone involved in the ACC’s establishment and progression into a fully-fledged education institution.
Beyond those directly associated with the College,, Billy also believes the College successfully graduating its first cohort of chiropractors has positive implications for the profession as a whole.
“It means that we now have another accredited education institution in Australia that is producing chiropractors,” he says.
Moving forward, the ACC will continue delivering courses in Adelaide and Melbourne, where it currently offers a Diploma of Health Science course, with Bachelor of Chiropractic courses to begin in the Victorian capital next year.