What Makes A Chiropractor A Chiropractor
It’s not an easy road to becoming a chiropractor, a member of the third largest group of health care practitioners behind physicians and dentists. The training and education of chiropractors is very thorough and demanding, similar to that of medical doctors, with the exception of pharmacology and surgery.
Before entering chiropractic college, future chiropractors are often required 2-4 years of pre-med undergraduate studies. Throughout chiropractic college students must complete 4-5 years of studies involving extensive training in anatomy, physiology, pathology, neurology, radiology, differential diagnosis, chiropractic adjustive techniques, biomechanics and other health-related studies. In addition, each chiropractic student must successfully complete several hundred clinical hours of patient management in a clinical setting under professional chiropractor supervision. Most chiropractic colleges also require students to partake in clinical externship programs that place them in actual chiropractor offices, further enhancing their clinical practice skills.
Upon graduation, the new chiropractic doctors must successfully complete both National and State Board examinations before earning a license to practice chiropractic. Once licensed, most states require that chiropractors receive annual continuing education to ensure that a high level of competency is maintained.
The level of education and standards in licensing are important for chiropractic doctors as some 15 to 20 million Americans visit one each year. This also allows for chiropractic treatments to often be paid by private insurance companies, HMOs, state and Federal insurance sources.
