Chiropractic: Encyclopedia II - Chiropractic - Chiropractic education licensure and regulation

Chiropractic - Chiropractic education licensure and regulation

Chiropractic - United States

In the United States, the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) is in charge of setting minimum guidelines for chiropractic colleges; however, additional requirements may be needed for a license depending on the jurisdiction where a chiropractor chooses to practice.

Chiropractors often enter chiropractic school with a Bachelor's degree, or with three years of post-secondary education in the sciences and other appropriate coursework.

In 2005 "only one chiropractic college required a baccalaureate degree as an admission requirement."[19] The minimum prerequisite for enrollment in a chiropractic college set forth by the CCE is 90 semester hours. The minimum cumulative GPA for a student entering a chiropractic college is 2.50.

Commonly required classes include: communication or language skills, psychology, social science or humanities, biology, organic and inorganic chemistry, physics.

Other common medical classes are: anatomy or embryology, physiology, microbiology, diagnosis, neurology, x-ray, orthopedics, obstetrics, and gynecology.

However, the process of credentialing varies widely by country. The curriculum in a chiropractic school is quite rigorous, resembling medical school at the basic course level; however, the timeframe to attain a degree itself in a chiropractic school is much less than that of a medical school. Coursework in Chiropractic school may include study in gross anatomy, biochemistry, embryology, microbiology, anatomy and physiology in the first half of formal schooling. The last half of formal education focusses on clinical patient care through clinical rounds in various settings. Graduates of chiropractic schools have to complete five years of schooling and pass four national board exams in order to complete their education.

Graduates of chiropractic schools must sit for State examination to qualify for licensure. Once licensed, most States require chiropractors to annually attend 12 to 48 hours of continuing education courses.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Chiropractic education licensure and regulation", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki