Christopher Cordima DC
690 Broadway, Somerville, MA, 02144
Phone: 617-629-2600
office@somervillechiropractor.com
http://www.somervillechiropractor.com
SELECTED OCCUPATIONAL HISTORY
Director, Cordima Chiropractic Center, P.C., Somerville, Massachusetts, 1990 - Present
Director, Pioneer Valley Chiropractic, Ware, Massachusetts, 2003 - 2006
Director, Cordima Chiropractic Center, P.C., Dorchester, Massachusetts, 2002 - 2005
Associate, Cordima Chiropractic Health Services, Inc, Arlington, Massachusetts, 1987 - 1990
EDUCATION AND LICENSURE
Doctor of Chiropractic, Licensed in the State of Massachusetts, License # 1349, 1988-
Doctorate of Chiropractic, Palmer College Of Chiropractic, Davenport, Iowa, 1987
Internship, Palmer College of Chiropractic Outpatient Facility, Rock Island, Illinois, 1986 - 1987
National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Part I, 1987
National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Part II, 1987
Undergraduate Studies in North Adams State University, North Adams, Massachusetts, 1981 - 1983

SELECTED POST-GRADUATE EDUCATION, CERTIFICATIONS AND DIPLOMATES

Neurodiagnostics, Imaging Protocols and Pathology of the Trauma Patient, An in-depth understanding of the protocols in triaging and reporting the clinical findings of the trauma patient. Maintaining ethical relationships with the medical-legal community. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Diagnostics, Risk Factors, Clinical Presentation and Triaging the Trauma Patient, An extensive understanding of the injured with clinically coordinating the history, physical findings and when to integrate neurodiagnostics. An understanding on how to utilize emergency room records in creating an accurate diagnosis and the significance of “risk factors” in spinal injury. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
MRI, Bone Scan and X-Ray Protocols, Physiology and Indications for the Trauma Patient, MRI interpretation, physiology, history and clinical indications, bone scan interpretation, physiology and clinical indications, x-ray clinical indications for the trauma patient. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Crash Dynamics and Its Relationship to Causality, An extensive understanding of the physics involved in the transference of energy from the bullet car to the target car. This includes G's of force, newtons gravity, energy, skid marks, crumple zones, spring factors, event data recorder and the graphing of the movement of the vehicle before, during and after the crash. Determining the clinical correlation of forces and bodily injury. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Medical-Legal-Insurance Documentation, Accurate and compliant documentation of history and clinical findings inclusive of functional losses, loss of activities of daily living, duties under duress and permanent loss of enjoyment of life. Prognosing static vs. stable care, gaps in care both in the onset and in the middle of passive care with a focus on detailed diagnosing. The integration of chiropractic academia, the court system and the insurance reimburser’s requirements for complete documentation. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Documentation and Reporting for the Trauma Victim, Understanding the necessity for accurate documentation and diagnosis utilizing the ICD-9 and the CPT to accurately describe the injury through diagnosis. Understanding and utilizing state regulations on reimbursement issues pertaining to healthcare. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Documenting Clinically Correlated Bodily Injury to Causality, Understanding the necessity for accurate documentation, diagnosis and clinical correlation to the injury when reporting injuries in the medical-legal community. Documenting the kinesiopathology, myopathology, neuropathology, and pathophysiology in both a functional and structural paradigm. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Triaging the Trauma and Non-Trauma Patients, Correlating clinical findings and the patient history in determining the correct course of care in triaging the patient utilizing orthopedic and neurological evaluations in the clinical setting. Understanding the parameters for immediate referrals vs. following the continuum of care to determine the necessity for referrals. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Patient Intake, History and Physical Examination, Determining the etiology of the patient's complaints in a traumatic or non-traumatic scenario. Analyzing the patient's past history and review of systems along with the performance of a complete orthopedic, neurological and clinical examination to correlate both past, current and causality issues to formulate an accurate diagnosis, prognosis and treatment plan. There is an emphasis on triaging both the trauma and non-trauma patients. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Accident Reconstruction: Terms, Concepts and Definitions, The forces in physics that prevail in accidents to cause bodily injury. Quantifying the force coefficients of vehicle mass and force vectors that can be translated to the occupant and subsequently cause serious injury. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Accident Reconstruction: Causality, Bodily Injury, Negative Acceleration Forces, Crumple Zones and Critical Documentation, Factors that cause negative acceleration to zero and the subsequent forces created for the vehicle that get translated to the occupant. Understanding critical documentation of hospitals, ambulance reports, doctors and the legal profession in reconstructing an accident. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Accident Reconstruction: Skid Marks, Time, Distance, Velocity, Speed Formulas and Road Surfaces, The mathematical calculations necessary utilizing time, distance, speed, coefficients of friction and acceleration in reconstructing an accident. The application of the critical documentation acquired from an accident site. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Accident Reconstruction: Research, Causality and Bodily Injury, Delta V issues correlated to injury and mortality, side impact crashes and severity of injuries, event data recorder reports correlated to injury, frontal impact kinematics, crash injury metrics with many variables and inquiries related to head restraints. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
Heads Up Concussion Injury Prevention & Control, Traumatic brain injury, pathophysiology, diagnosing, management and prevention strategies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The American College of Sports Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, 2014
Neurodiagnostic Testing Protocols, Physiology and Indications for the Trauma Patient, Electromyography (EMG), Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV), Somato Sensory Evoked Potential (SSEP), Visual Evoked Potential (VEP), Brain Stem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAER) and Visual-Electronystagmosgraphy (V-ENG) interpretation, protocols and clinical indications for the trauma patient. Academy of Chiropractic Post Doctoral Division, Recognized by the PACE Program of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, Long Island, New York, 2014
National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners (NRCME),, Physician training to perform the Department of Transportation (DOT) medical exam and apply the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Medical Standards, advisory criteria, and guidelines when determining driving status. NRCME Training System, LLC, Boston, Massachusetts, 2013
How To Create and Defend Your Records, Treatment documentation, patient encounters, medical necessity, consent, compliance, documenting Medicare and routine office visits, preventing common problems in trauma/injury treatment documentation, risk management strategies. New York Chiropractic College, Westford, Massachusetts, 2012
BASIC MRI PART 1, Review of the basic principles involved in producing MRI images shared by all MRI scanners. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2011
BASIC MRI PART 2, Reviewing multiplanar images of MRI, the shades of gray and the differences between T1 and T2 weighted images. Reviewing the special MRI studies that have been created to help identify different pathologies, including fat suppression, contrast enhanced and functional MRI studies. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2011
BASIC MRI PART 3, Contraindications to MRI, how to read an MRI report, the MRI appearance of DDD, ligamentum flavum hypertrophy, disc herniations, annular tears and post-disc surgical cases. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2011
Case Management, Evaluation, diagnosis, setting goals and treatments while utilizing outcome assessments. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Conditions of the Disc, Functional anatomy of the disc, including disc innervation, disc nutrition and structural composition. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Conditions of the Disc Part 2, MRI interpretation, detailed analysis of disc herniations and normal disc aging. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Conditions of the Disc Part 3, Normal disc aging, a discussion on the differences between normal disc aging and degenerative disc disease, internal disc disruptions, and nerve in-growth. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Function Based Care, Basic principles of function based care, how to perform physical capacity testing, and how to prescribe specific exercises related to the patient’s ability to perform the tests. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Function Based Care 2, Neuromuscular re-education overview. Medical necessity for stretching exercises and postural correction exercises. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Radiculopathy: Patient Assessment, Evaluation of Radiculopathies, Neuropathic pain syndromes, orthopedic evaluation, neurological work up and MRI interpretation. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Spinal Decompression, Decompression therapy overview and objective review of the medical and chiropractic literature regarding its efficacy. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Spinal Pain Syndromes, Sclerotogenous, myofascial, visceral and neuropathic pain syndromes. This included a review of the literature of Bogduk, Lord and Kuslich. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Neurology of Pain, Neurological and physiological aspects of pain transmission and pain perception. In depth analysis of the innate pain modulation systems that, when activated, will reduce a patient's perception of pain without medication. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Understanding Whiplash, Part I, The biomechanics of low speed rear impact collisions, discussion of the S-shaped spine, general magnitudes of force, injury risk factors, and types of injuries resulting from these collisions. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Understanding Whiplash, Part II, Specific conditions and symptoms related to whiplash, including the etiology of neck pain and headache, radiculopathy, TOS, myofascial pain syndrome, fibromyalgia, post-concussive syndrome, and TMJ. Life University, Boston, Massachusetts, 2010
Chiropractic Wellness Certification Program, Module 1, Scientific and Philosophical Validation of the Chiropractic Wellness Paradigm, Defining wellness with respect to research, patient assessment, and clinical analysis and intervention. Identifying structural and neurophysiological effects of vertebral subluxation complex (VSC) in adaptive (stress) physiology and illness. Reviewing referenced literature, identifying scientific evidence relating chiropractic's health promotion and illness prevention benefits in relation to chiropractic adjustments and optimizing spinal motion. Life Chiropractic College West, Boston, Massachusetts, 2009
Practice Compliance and Record Keeping within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Standards of chiropractic practice within Massachusetts: (MA laws, regulations, policy guidelines and professional conduct) and compliance planning, record keeping in clinical practice, outcome measures and federal recordkeeping requirements. MA Board of Registration of Chiropractors, Westford, Massachusetts, 2008
Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries, Injury biomechanics, human factors, diagnosis, evidence based treatment management, complicating factors, acute versus chronic management and objectives, clinical diagnosis and whiplash associated research. Springfield, Massachusetts, 2006
How to Successfully Rebut IME & Peer Review Reports, How to properly document a case file, forensically examine insurance doctors and successfully rebut IME’s and peer reviews. Greater Boston Chiropractic Society/MCS, Boston, Massachusetts, 2004
Chiropractic Peer Review Essentials, Fundamentals of the peer review process. Peer review report writing format and skill development. State/regional/national, chiropractic, and cross discipline treatment guidelines. Deposition and court room testimony skill development. Insurance industry red flags. Texas Chiropractic College, Boston, Massachusetts, 2003
Validating Chiropractic, Review of current peer-reviewed literature and research affirming appropriateness of chiropractic care for spinal and nervous system health. Various clinical issues, such as proprioception, dizziness and the cervical spine, back problems and imaging, types of diagnoses of back pain, the recurrent nature of back pain, headaches, whiplash, chronicity and chiropractic care, chiropractic and neurology, stages of tissue injury and repair, physical impairment, disability. Life College of Chiropractic West, Boston, Massachusetts, 2002
Whiplash & Brain Injury Traumatology, Whiplash: advanced topics, basic and special concepts of biomechanics, experimental whiplash studies, soft tissue lesions and common syndromes. History taking, physical examination strategies. New developments in radiographic, CT and MRI evaluation of CAD trauma. Spine Research Institute of San Diego, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2001
Chiropractic on Purpose, Chiropractic science, politics and philosophy. Life Chiropractic College West, Boston, Massachusetts, 2000
Chiropractic Rehab, Understanding pain, stages of healing for soft tissue injuries, therapeutic exercise protocols, management of soft tissue injuries such as sprains and acute cervical hyperflexion/hyperextension conditions, progressive dynamic lumbar stabilization, prevention and management of back pain through educating back school protocols. Palmer College of Chiropractic, Boston, Massachusetts, 1996

SELECTED MEMBERSHIPS

Academy of Chiropractic, Member, 2013 - Present
American Chiropractic Association, Member, 2000 - Present
Massachusetts Chiropractic Society, Member, 2000 - Present