Olympian Scholarship

In the spirit of the Olympic Movement and in partnership with the International Federation of Sports Chiropractic (FICS) and ten Educational Institutions, this program offers chiropractic scholarships to Olympians.

Scholarship Information 

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Colleges / Universities

Since the establishment of this initiative in 2001, six Olympians have graduated from this program and are now seeing patients, including Olympians athletes. Scholarship recipients are from Jamaica, Australia, Canada and the US.

As of June 2021:

  • As of June 2021 FICS currently have six (6) scholarships in place.  These receptions have been offered a full academic scholarship with the exception of the school in Canada, whereby they were offered a half (1/2) scholarship.

FICS has nine (9) schools participating in this program, consisting of seven (7) from within the United States, one (1) UK and (1) in Canada. Participating schools in this program include:

  • Life University
  • Logan University
  • Northwestern University
  • National University
  • Parker University
  • Texas Chiropractic College
  • University of Western States
  • McTimoney College of Chiropractic          
  • Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College
Testimonials
Dr Jay Greenstein Chair of the World Olympic Program talks with Dr Tom Hyde who was the brainchild behind this program. Jay and Tom discussed the program and the opportunities available to Olympics applying for this scholarship.

The Foundation is a charitable arm of FICS. FICS believe in investing in the future and developing the next generation of Sports Chiropractors. As an organisation, we achieve this through our Student Scholarship and World Olympic Scholarship programs. Check out some of our recent and current graduates and what they have to say.

Dr Melissa Hoar talks about her Olympic Journey and what the World Olympic Scholarship program means to her.

Dr Jimbo Haley, 1992 Olympic athlete, talks about his remarkable story, from athlete to qualifying as a chiropractor via this scholarship program.

Catalina Escobar Gomez is an Olympian Gymnast from Colombia.

Program History

The Olympic Scholarship program provides educational support for Olympians worldwide who are academically qualified and interested in pursuing a career in Chiropractic. In partnership with selected Universities with a chiropractic program, FICS provides full academic scholarships to successful Olympians. 

Established in 2001, FICS  builds partnerships with the universities and colleges to provide Olympians with opportunities for a chiropractic degree and the ability to give back to the profession which helped them throughout their Olympic Journey.

As of June 2021, FICS holds partnerships with nine (9) educational institutions with chiropractic programs.  All offer a full academic scholarship with the exception of the schools in UK and Canada, whereby they offer a 1/2 scholarship. Olympians selected for this program will serve as an Ambassador for the Olympic Movement and for Chiropractic as an advocate for how the profession fundamentally enhanced the Olympian’s athletic pursuit and success.

Eligibility:  Competed as an athlete at an Olympic level. 

WOSP was created by FICS following the 2000 Sydney Games, and is providing Olympian with opportunities and pathways to continue their career in sport. They get the chance to pass on their experience and knowledge to current day Olympics. The World Olympians Association(WOA) https://olympians.org/woa/about/history/ created in 1994 by the IOC, created an association to gather all Olympians from around the world. They established 5 offices around the world to handle issues related to Olympians or potential Olympians in that region.

This included several issues such as treatment of injuries or health care in general, education, training, etc. Miami was designated as the site from Canada to the tip of South America and the Caribbean. Liston Bochette, PhD was the person put in charge of the Office of the Americas that was located in the Biltmore Hotel in Miami.

They had a small staff which included Jose Rodriguez who has been active for 40 years or more in the athletic arena. Jose helped with the Pan American Games, the Olympic Games and was the head individual who was responsible for every detail in the Atlanta Games in 1996. In 2019, through the connections and efforts of Dr Brian Seaman (Liaison from the RCCSS(C)), the WOSP was able to establish a MOU with the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), to promote the 50% scholarship at CMCC in Toronto. This is now part of the Post Olympic Program of the COC, in which the COC assists retiring Olympians transition into the post competitive stage of their lives. The request had been to increase the scholarship from 50% to 100%, however CMCC is limited by space (ie. seating) and fiscal factors. CMCC also has a 50% scholarship for an Indigenous/First Nations student.

FICS was able to send several doctors to these events at several Games which included the Pan American Games, 2001 All Mediterranean Games for one year, Central American, Caribbean Games, the Pan American Games and the Bolivariano Games.

  • One of the former Olympians working for the WOA in Miami was Dr Jimbo Haley who competed in the Pentathlon in Barcelona and finished 4th. His wife, Henrietta Onodi, whom he met at those games also helped at the office in Miami. She won a Gold medal in Gymnastics and in her second Olympics her second Olympics, a Silver for the team medal. Neil Gardner worked in the IOC office and was an Olympian from Jamaica. He and Jimbo both took advantage of the FICS World Chiropractic Scholarship program.
  • Liston Bochette was the Secretary General of the WOA for several years and a four‐time Olympian, two (2) for the US and two (2) for Puerto Rico. He is also an artist and lives in Fort Myers, FL. He established a museum there to house art from Olympians. Liston organized for FICS representative’s Dr Tom Hyde and Dr Angela Salcedo to attend several meetings in various regions. They went to Switzerland for their annual meeting and were able to speak about the Scholarship Program and Dr Salcedo also attended a meeting for the Pan American Region and others.
  • Dr Jay Greenstein, current chair of the FICS World Olympian Scholarship Program accepted the care of this program from Dr Hyde. Since 2017 Drs Greenstein and Salcedo and the rest of the commission members have worked to establish partnership with Nine (9) Colleges and Universities offering Chiropractic programs. This has allowed FICS to connect Olympians with an academic scholarship in Chiropractic.
Application Process

Start the journey from Olympic Athlete to a Chiropractic Degree today. 

  1. Take the first step to starting a chiropractic degree today. Fill in the application form below and send your transcript and cover letter which communicates why you deserve a scholarship.
  2. We will acknowledge receipt of your application. The committee of the Foundation and FICS World Olympic program will review your application and may contact you to have a conversation about the application.
  3. Approval stage: Once your application is approved by the committee, they will submit your application to the university partner as part of the vetting process.

If a scholarship is being awarded, the Olympian and the college makes the determination. The college will submit an agreement with their signature and the Olympian signature to Foundation.

The Foundation President, FICS Chair of WOSP will countersign. A press release on their social media platforms announcing the placement of this scholarship.

Scholarship ambassador Dr Nicholas (Nic) Taylor 

Nicholas (Nic) Taylor, is our Olympic Scholarship Ambassador!

Nic is not only a bobsled Olympian but has also completed his Chiropractic scholarship with Life University.

As our ambassador, Nic will help us spread the word about the scholarship program and provide more athletes with the opportunity to pursue a career in Chiropractic. We believe that everyone should have the chance to follow their dreams, and Nic is a shining example of what can be achieved with dedication and hard work. We are honored to have Nic on board and can’t wait to see the incredible impact he will have on the lives of athletes everywhere.

Apply for Scholarship 

World Olympian scholarship application form