Today’s Doctors of Chiropractic are highly trained professionals. Chiropractic Physicians are trained as primary-contact health professionals with an emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of conditions related to the musculoskeletal system.
Special emphasis is placed on the human spine, its muscles, ligaments, and nerve supply. Education requirements for Doctors of Chiropractic are among the most demanding for healthcare professionals.
Acceptance into an accredited chiropractic college requires that the applicant has already received a four-year degree with a pre-medical undergraduate curriculum in biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and health-related lab work.
Once accepted into the accredited chiropractic college, four to five more years of intense, demanding training is the standard for Doctors of Chiropractic. Training and curriculum involve psychology, orthopedics, neurology, pathology, human anatomy, clinical diagnosis, Radiology, exercises, nutrition, and more. Chiropractic Doctors receive intense training in biomechanics and skilled manipulation (adjustment) of the spine and extremity joints. In total, the chiropractic college curriculum includes "a minimum" of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory, and clinical experience. This course of study is approved and recognized by the US Department of Education.
After this intense training, D.C.s must pass State Board Exams in the Sciences listed above.