Chiropractic Medicine Program
Chiropractors integrate expertise in the body's muscular, nervous, and skeletal systems with holistic medicine to help their patients achieve their health goals. With Hamline’s chiropractic medicine pre-health track, you'll get hands-on experience in the skills you need for a career as a chiropractor and support in applying to graduate programs to become a licensed chiropractor.
As you develop a pre-chiropractic skill set in your courses, you'll have opportunities to meet and learn from professional chiropractors. Also known as doctors of chiropractic or chiropractic physicians, chiropractors diagnose and treat patients whose health problems relate to the body's muscular, nervous, and skeletal systems, especially the spine. The chiropractic profession is closely tied to complementary and alternative medicine due to its focus on holistic health care. Chiropractors often treat neck, back and joint pain without prescription medications or surgery.
Prerequisite coursework
Most chiropractic programs require that applicants have at least three years of undergraduate education, and an increasing number require a bachelor's degree, according to the Association of Chiropractic Colleges. Your pre-chiropractic undergraduate studies will include a prescribed number of prerequisite courses, as defined by the field's accrediting body, the Council on Chiropractic Education. Prerequisite coursework varies by school. Please check admission requirements for the schools of your choice.
Relevant exams
Many chiropractic schools do not require an entrance exam. However, some programs ask applicants to take the GRE. Please check the requirements of the programs that you intend to apply to.
Degree programs
Doctor of chiropractic (D.C.)
The doctor of chiropractic degree takes three and a half to four years. After completing the doctor of chiropractic program, graduates must take four exams administered by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) to practice in the U.S.
The primary difference between a chiropractor and a physician is their training: chiropractors are not licensed physicians and do not complete residency training in a hospital. According to the Association of Chiropractic Colleges and American Chiropractic Association, the scope of chiropractic practice is defined by statute as “including the diagnosing and locating of misaligned or displaced vertebrae and, through manual manipulation and adjustment of the spine and other skeletal structures, treating disorders of the human body. The practice of chiropractic does not include the use of drugs or surgery, or the practice of osteopathy, obstetrics, or any other branch of medicine.”
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