Alumni Spotlight
NUHS Alumna Receives ACA Board Appointment , Humanitarian of the Year Award
The American Chiropractic Association ( ACA ) recently announced that Dr . Karen Konarski-Hart of Little Rock , Ark . was appointed to its Board of Governors and also received the 2018 Humanitarian of the Year Award . Konarski-Hart , DC (’ 79 ) received the appointment and the award during the National Chiropractic Leadership Conference ( NCLC ) March 2 .
Dr . Karen Konarski-Hart Accepts Award
Dr . Konarski-Hart has been a member of the ACA since she was a student of NUHS , then National Chiropractic College ( NCC ). She has also served as ACA vice president . In addition to her private practice , she has been a proponent of public health throughout her career , and has extensive experience as an EMT / first responder . Dr . Konarski-Hart continues her efforts to champion chiropractors to become certified for federal disaster response teams .
One of her enduring memories is of Dr . Janse standing before the students , stating that it was their obligation to support the organizations that support them , and to join and be active in both the state association and the ACA .
“ This sentiment was echoed by instructors and doctors in the field ,” she said . “ I graduated with membership in both organizations , because of an expectation and a sense of duty .” Dr . Konarski-Hart said she believes that working together , “ practitioners can achieve so much more than any of one of us could as an individual .”
“ Through our state and national associations , there are people who are monitoring , lobbying and representing our professional interests so that we can engage in research , teach and treat patients in the way we choose ,” she continued . “ When I speak to doctors outside of Washington , I frequently tell them , “ The ACA is there so you can be here .”
In the following , Dr . Konarski-Hart discusses some of her experiences at NUHS and as a Doctor of Chiropractic .
Is there anything you learned as a student at NUHS that inspired you to serve and lead -- not just within the profession -- but in the broader community ?
As students , we were often involved in community activities , sports , health fairs , etc ., as well as being encouraged to explore chiropractic in a broader scope -- nutrition , kinesiology , acupuncture , and even gynecology . We were inspired by having speakers , or visiting the practices of Doctors of Chiropractic who took a more holistic approach to health .
We also had instructors who had degrees in other disciplines . Perhaps being a student and graduating just as the Wilkes suit began , when there was little inter-professional collaboration , required us to develop broad-based skills such as developing and reading X-rays , and drawing and analyzing blood .
It also instilled a creative instinct to form unconventional partnerships . I remember writing a letter to a young herbal tea company , telling them about this group of chiropractic students organizing a community health fair and asking them : Wouldn ’ t it be great if their natural product could be served at it ? A few weeks later , cases of Celestial Seasonings tea arrived at my door -- enough for the fair and for the school to continue to serve until we graduated . ( Red Zinger is still my