Chiropractic programs prepare people to work as chiropractors. Students learn to adjust and realign the bones in people's bodies. They learn to diagnose health problems, counsel patients, and prescribe exercises.
Do you want a career as a healthcare provider but can't stand the sight of blood or needles or surgical blades? Chiropractic might be the field for you. Chiropractors are a type of physician who believes that the human body has the natural power to heal itself without the interference of medication or surgery.
If you've heard anything about chiropractic, you may associate it with "back-cracking." Though hardly glamorous, this term refers to the spinal manipulation that doctors of chiropractic, or chiropractors, often carry out. They place a great deal of emphasis on the spine's central role in the musculoskeletal and nervous systems.
In fact, it's a common belief that chiropractors treat only patients who have neck or back injuries or disorders such as headaches, lower back pain, or compressed spinal discs. It's true that they often do treat these problems.
But chiropractors are also primary care providers. This means that they can both diagnose and treat patients for health problems that may not seem back-related. These problems might include general sprains and strains, as well as asthma, digestive disorders, and allergies. Chiropractors can often diagnose these problems by tracing them back to the spine. When necessary, they consult with or refer a patient to other healthcare providers such as surgeons or cancer doctors (oncologists).
As chiropractic gains growing acceptance, the number of opportunities for practicing chiropractors is increasing as well.
As a student in this program, you learn many of the same things that a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) learns in medical school. You study the anatomy and physiology of the body. You learn different ways to diagnose health problems.
In addition, you focus more extensively on the structure of muscles and bones in our bodies, and how they are connected with our spine and nervous system. This is because structure and function play important roles in chiropractic. You also study chiropractic skills, such as ways to realign backbones to proper positions. These are just some of the things you learn in this program of study.
About 15 schools in the U.S. offer accredited chiropractic programs where you earn a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree. This typically takes between eight and nine years of full-time study after high-school, which includes the approximate four years you need to earn a bachelor's degree.