Life West Celebrates A Very Successful Festival 2004
Hayward, Calif., November 2, 2004

Attendees across the state, nation, and the world came to take part of Life Chiropractic College West's Festival 2004 . The college's annual celebration in chiropractic was once again a huge success. Held October 21-23, the program provided plenty of education, empowerment, recognition, fellowship, and fun.

Festival 2004 kicked off on Thursday, October 21 with SPA Day (Science, Philosophy, and Art). The morning began when Life West professor and Alumni Association board member Karen Franklin, D.C. presented the annual Life West Alumni Association Student of the Year Award to Tina Carrari of Santa Maria , Calif. Life West President Dr. Gerard Clum followed with his inspiring and informative keynote speech regarding the state of chiropractic.

Throughout the day, hundreds of attendees were able to select from 16 impressive breakout sessions addressing a wide variety of chiropractic-practice subjects, including running a successful chiropractic office, workman's compensation, marketing, Medicare billing, and a number of chiropractic techniques sessions. Many alumni enjoyed catching up with each other and the Life West staff and faculty during the breaks and at the SPA Day luncheon.

The Life West continuing education department offered up to 24 hours of continuing education credits over the three days of Festival 2004 . There were 182 doctors who took advantage of the credits for their relicensure requirements.

On Friday, October 22, Festival 2004 presented New Technology Day, which focused on the new wave of imaging and analytical technology that will be helping doctors better serve their patients. Participants took in sessions that included balance testing bone density testing, digital imaging, digital motion X-ray, and weight bearing MRI. Later that evening, a number of attendees joined the on-campus alumni reception. Also that evening, 120 prospective students and their families attended a Life West open house, directed by the college's admissions department.

On Saturday, October 23, Festival 2004 kicked off the morning with Technique Day . A number of chiropractors had the choice of selecting one of two technique seminars or taking part in the CPR certification program.

Later that evening, Oktoberfest served as the grand finale of Festival 2004. This special event turned the Life West campus into a large German beer hall. The attendees enjoyed the Oktoberfest décor and authentic German food, as well as festive music, which was supplied by a live “oom pa pa band.” The attendees featured an impressive mixture of returning alumni, students, faculty, staff, and guests. Opening the evening was the President's Circle reception, where Life West President Dr. Gerard Clum made several President's Circle presentations and acknowledged a number of contributors who have supported the college this past year. During the evening, Dr. Gloria Niles ('90) of Port Orange , Fla. received the Life West Alumni Association's Alumna of the Year Award for 2004.

Following the presentations and the delicious German style banquet, there were speeches made by representatives of this year's 10-year reunion and 20-year reunion classes. The speakers were Dr. June Gentle ('94), Miami, Fla., representing the 10-year class and Dr. Jimmy Hidalgo ('84), Las Vegas, Nev. and Dr. Jeff Torchia ('84), Redwood City, Calif. , speaking for the 20-year class.

The final hours of the evening continued with strong fellowship and a very popular Casino Night benefiting the Life West Student Council, where numerous participants “gambled” for great raffle prizes.

Life West Festival 2004 Presenters

Robert Adamich, D.C., One Year Out

Lisa Bilodeau D.C., Medicare Billing

Beau Casey , D.C. , One Year Out

J.C. Carter, D.C., D.A.C.B.R., Digital Imaging

Deborah Cherachanko, D.C., D.A.C.B.R., Radiology of Spinal Stenosis and Instability

Gerard Clum, D.C., The State of Chiropractic

Chris Colloca, D.C., Latest Technologies Communicating Chiropractic

Ed Cremata, D.C., What's New in Worker's Comp?

Shawn Dill, D.C., Upper Cervical Technique

Dean Falltrick, D.C., Worker's Comp

Bryan Gatterman, D.C., D.A.C.B.R., Digital Imaging & Radiology of Spinal Stenosis and Instability

Cindy Guillett, D.C., Running a Chiropractic Practice

Deed Harrison , D.C. , Chiropractic Biophysics

Abby Irwin , D.C. , ACL Injuries in the Female Athlete

Sana Khan, M.D., Ph.D., Weight-bearing MRI

Jonathan Lance, M.S., Publicizing Your Practice and Expertise

Michael Lenarz, D.C., The Chiropractic Way

Melissa McMullen, D.C., Bone Density Testing

Ron Oberstein, D.C., Living the Chiropractic Life for Success, Balance, and Happiness

Glenn Pfeffer, M.D., Sports Injury to the Foot and Ankle

Eric Rubin, D.C., One Year Out

Fred Schofield, D.C., Latest Technologies Communicating Chiropractic

James Sievers, D.C., Toggle Recoil Technique

Malik Slosberg , D.C. , Validating Chiropractic

Norman Strutin, D.C., D.A.C.N.B. Balance Testing

Richard Thorton, D.C., Gonstead: Lumbar & Pelvis

Life Chiropractic College West, established in 1976, is an accredited non-profit institution of higher learning offering the doctor of chiropractic degree through a four-academic-year program of academic study and clinical internship. The college currently enrolls close to 600 men and women from across the U.S. and abroad. More than 3,300 graduates of Life West are now practicing throughout the world. The college’s Public Health Center, operated by approximately 200 senior interns who are guided by licensed doctors of chiropractic, provides health care for more than 1,700 patient visits a week. Life West maintains a Web site at www.lifewest.edu.

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For updates or additions to our Latest News page, please contact Jonathan Lance at (510) 780-4500 ext. 2470 or email him at jlance@lifewest.edu