Board Candidate Dr. Andrew Cregg

Your Board Candidates Answer Three Townhall Questions

1. What do you think is currently the most important opportunity (or highest priority) for the chiropractic profession in Ontario and why?

The most important opportunity for the chiropractic profession is to highlight how chiropractors can fill current gaps in the health care system following the COVID pandemic. The Ontario health care system is currently experiencing lengthy wait times, increased reliance on Virtual Care and a departure away from opiate based pain prescriptions. Chiropractors across Ontario have fulfilled these voids for decades by seeing patients in-person, in a timely manner while providing effective and evidence-based pain management options. We have an incredible opportunity to double-down on defining a clear role within health care. Chiropractors are neuromusculoskeletal experts that provide evidence-based and patient-centered in-person care that Ontarians can depend on. Now more than ever, chiropractors should be included in every Ontarians health care team.

2. What do you think is the most important role OCA can play during the next three years?

In keeping with the mission statement, I see the OCA’s primary role as supporting its members, the public and the health care system at large. This involves providing members with meaningful continuing education opportunities, clinical and business resources, frequent public health updates and unwavering advocacy. To support the public and overarching health care system, the OCA should consider campaigns that disseminate information regarding the benefits of including chiropractic care and how chiropractors can fill the current gaps left in the wake of the COVID pandemic. This would help ensure that patients are matched with the proper health care provider for their health and wellness needs while also relieving pressure from the publicly funded health care system. There has never been a better time to argue that chiropractors should be included in every Ontarians health care team and the OCA’s most important role over the next three years will be to capitalize on this opportunity. Attention should be focused on supporting OCA members directly, increasing community awareness about the benefits of chiropractic and lobbying government and insurance companies to strengthen their support for chiropractic services.

3. What key difference do you want to make during your tenure on the OCA Board of Directors (for 2024-2027)?

My objective as an OCA board member will be to advance our profession within the health care environment, represent my colleagues by putting words into action and to help chiropractors flourish within their local communities. I will listen to members feedback and represent the diverse needs of chiropractors across Ontario while keeping the professions long term goals in mind. I am interested in exploring the expansion of our scope of practice to include the right to order diagnostic ultrasounds. This addition to our scope would improve diagnostic accuracy of soft tissue injuries, reduce wait times for patients seeking requisitions and reduce government health care spending. Secondly, I would like to advance communication with insurance companies and encourage them to recognize the value of maximizing chiropractic benefits to better serve their insured members. This would allow chiropractors to provide comprehensive treatment plans and improve patient outcomes. The OCA has been working on these two areas for quite some time, and over the next three years I would like to contribute towards the advancement of these goals.

Biographical Profile

Why did you become a chiropractor?

I entered my undergraduate education with the intention of becoming a teacher and coach. While playing for the varsity rugby team at Wilfrid Laurier University, I sustained a Concussion that sidelined me for quite some time. Despite growing up with an athletic background, this was my first experience with intensive rehabilitation for a sports related injury. It was also the first time that I put my undergraduate kinesiology knowledge to good use and did a deep dive into what it would take to rehabilitate such an injury. I received advice from a chiropractor which opened my eyes to the profession. It was also the first time I started to question whether I truly wanted to become a teacher and decided to explore chiropractic as a profession. Once I applied to chiropractic school and visited the campus, I dove in with both feet and could not be happier that I did. This great profession has allowed me to work with a wide demographic of patients, see the world and has given me an appreciation of human functioning. I have also returned to my teaching roots on a part-time basis when I am not treating patients. I currently work as a timesheet clinician at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) and have held sessional lecturer positions at University of Toronto and Ontario Tech University over the past three years.

Where do you practise?

What is your motto or mantra?

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”

This motto helps me to maintain perspective throughout many areas of my life and reminds me to always keep moving forward. I firmly believe that stepping outside of your comfort zone is one of the most potent accelerators for growth and development. This motto has led me to pursue careers abroad, expand my clinical skills in acupuncture and concussion management, explore teaching opportunities and led me to applying for this board member position. None of this would have been possible without stepping outside of my comfort zone which is what this motto represents.

Credentials and Designations

• M.H.Sc. – Ontario Tech University, 2016-2018
• D.C. – Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC), 2012-2016
• B.Sc. in Kinesiology and Phys. Ed. – Wilfrid Laurier University, 2008-2012

Related Credentials:

• Complete Concussion Management Institute (CCMI), In progress
• First Aid and CRP Level C (HCP), 2016-current
• Teacher Education Program – Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC), 2020
• Neurofunctional Acupuncture – McMaster, 2016

Leadership Engagement

Do you conduct research related to chiropractic?

1. Young JJ, Važić O, Cregg AC. (2021). Management of knee and hip osteoarthritis: an opportunity for the Canadian chiropractic profession. Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, 65(1):6-13.

2. Cregg AC, Foley RC, Livingston LA, La Delfa NJ. (2021). A biomechanical evaluation of different footrest heights during standing computer work. Ergonomics. 2020 Oct 13:1-2.

3. Cregg AC (2018). Changes in spinal posture, muscle activation, center of pressure and discomfort while standing with different footrest heights during a standardized computer task. A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Health Sciences in Kinesiology Faculty of Health Sciences. University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT).

Do you now or have you served on any other boards?

Although I have not served as a board member, I have been an active contributing member of the OCA since 2016. I also have experience forming an expert committee to provide feedback and direction to my master’s thesis which required extensive collaboration and subcommittee division. Additionally, I volunteered as a panel judge for undergraduate and graduate thesis presentations in 2018 at Ontario Tech University. Many skills that I developed through these experiences will be useful as a board member.

Do you volunteer in your community generally and/or for the profession specifically?

For many years, I’ve volunteered as sideline medic at various sporting events including rugby and hockey. I’ve also delivered volunteer lectures to high school, university, and chiropractic schools in various capacities regarding our profession. In 2020, I delivered a virtual lecture series on the biomechanics of sporting injuries to chiropractic students at the at French Institute European De Chiropraxie (IFEC). In 2021, I provided a national work-from-home (WFH) ergonomics seminar series for small business associated with the Digital Main Street (DMS) organization. On an ongoing basis, we accept interns from Ontario Tech University who are interested in chiropractic as a profession to shadow at the clinic. They observe me as I treat patients, they attend clinical meetings and engage in meaningful clinical discussions.