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When choosing any medical professional, the key is to find one that you are
comfortable with and who meets your specific health care needs. Such things
as education and training, treatment philosophy, communication skills, and personality
are important but so are other, more practical things, such as office hours,
location, insurance coverage, and cost.
The following are a few areas you may want to look into when choosing a Doctor
of Chiropractic. Once you have found a chiropractor you like, ask yourself the
questions listed at the end of the article to make sure you made the right choice.
Education and Credentials
A chiropractor has the initials DC after his or her name. This stands for Doctor
of Chiropractic. The educational requirements for Doctors of Chiropractic are
similar to that of Medical Doctors (MDs) and generally include 4 years of undergraduate
study, (usually pre-med) and 4-5 additional years of advanced study in the following
areas:
• Pharmacology
• Orthopaedics
• Basic sciences
• Radiology
• Gross anatomy
• Nutrition
• Physiology
• Diagnosis
• Neurology
• Internal medicine
• Biomechanics
• Chiropractic techniques
• Rehabilitation
• Internship
Currently, there are 15 Colleges of Chiropractic in the United States accredited
by the Council on Chiropractic Education, a national organization recognized
by the Department of Education as the authority on the quality of training offered
by chiropractic colleges.
The first 2 years of chiropractic and medical school study are very similar.
In fact, many chiropractic colleges rotate interns through hospital rounds with
medical students. The main differences occur in the third or fourth years of
study when medical schools emphasize drugs and surgery while chiropractic study
emphasizes biomechanics, radiology, adjustments, and natural medicine.
Licensure
Doctors of Chiropractic are licensed in all 50 states. State licensing boards
regulate the practice of chiropractic and grants licenses to chiropractors who
meet certain educational and examination requirements including:
• Completion of a 4- or 5-year chiropractic college course of study
at an accredited program leading to the Doctor of Chiropractic degree.
• Satisfactory completion of the clinical competency examination of
the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) as well as separate state
board exams.
• Yearly completion of continuing education courses or programs offered
by chiropractic associations.
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