Doctor of Chiropractic, Alumnus

“Chiropractic Serves Lasting Purpose at Ground Zero and Beyond”

Dr. Salvatore Minicozzi is proud to be a Life University (Life U) Doctor of Chiropractic 1994 graduate. Dr. Minicozzi says his biggest accomplishment is being in practice for nearly 30 years. He was also an instructor at Life U after his graduation and worked in the Division of Chiropractic Sciences as the Head Assistant in the Clinical Proficiency Department, teaching for five years.

“I was quite proud of the contributions that I made to the educational process at Life U,” Dr. Minicozzi shared.

Shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania, Minicozzi resigned his position at Life U to work as a Ground Zero doctor in New York City right at the foot of the tower collapse and provided chiropractic care to police, firefighters, rescue workers and those who were affected on that fateful day.

“Having been a Ground Zero doctor presented me an opportunity to be invited to join the Post 9/11 Foundation. I had an opportunity to serve as a board member for several years. The foundation’s mission was to safeguard the American flags that flew around the site.

In 2011, on the 10th anniversary, the foundation donated one of those flags to the Post 9/11 Museum and Memorial in New York City. It was a very moving experience, and it evoked a host of emotions: sadness, grief, joy, happiness, patriotism. These emotions roll through you at times like that; it’s what makes us human,” Dr. Minicozzi said.

Through this work, Dr. Minicozzi met many people, one of whom became the Director of the Post 9/11 Museum. He worked with the director to create a transitory chiropractic exhibit, which shares how the chiropractic profession helped first responders at Ground Zero. Dr. Minicozzi is also the narrator for this exhibit.

“The exhibit displays chiropractic memorabilia. There are the tables that we used, some of the instrumentation; there’s a lot of memorabilia that chiropractors left ­– items that they brought from their respective parts of the world. These are the items that are on display. I am very honored to be part of that,” said Dr. Minicozzi.

Dr. Minicozzi shared the quote he created for his high school yearbook, which is how he lives his life. “What you are is God’s gift to you. And what you make of it is your gift to him.” And this is the sense of Lasting Purpose that brought Dr. Minicozzi to Ground Zero. He noted that being a chiropractic clinician is extremely important to him.

Dr. Minicozzi said that he wants to be able to deliver a good product to his patients through the perspective of Lasting Purpose and that everything good follows this way of living. He noted that he has had the opportunity to work with the Life U Research Department to continue the quest for furthering the chiropractic profession. Additionally, he has published at least six articles in peer review publications to also help Chiropractic.

“Last year at ACC-RAC, the annual chiropractic research convention, my team and I won an outstanding scientific paper award. This was presented to us by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. The research sought to understand the COVID experiences of chiropractic patients. Logistically, it was a lot of work organizing data collection from around the country. While it was very challenging, it was also very rewarding. At the time of this interview, we are in the publishing stages. In general, I think that research is important,” Dr. Minicozzi said.

Minicozzi also mentioned his words of wisdom to fellow chiropractors.

“We didn’t select Chiropractic, Chiropractic selected us. There are times in our professional day-to-day when we are rewarded. There are also times of frustration. Knowing that anything worth doing is worth doing right is important. I think that if you keep in mind that you were called for a purpose, it makes the rough times easier and the rewarding times more rewarding. I would leave most young chiropractors with that thought. Even some of my contemporaries need to remember from time to time why they got into Chiropractic. Know that every day that you deliver an adjustment you’re doing God’s work; what you’re doing will work to better humanity.”