How much education does a chiropractic doctor have?
The facts may surprise you. Today, highly specialized training is required to graduate and earn licensure. Chiropractic school is quite similar to medical school, especially during the first 2 years of the 4-year program. A Chiropractic program consists of 4 academic years of professional education after completing a 4-year undergraduate degree. Chiropractic education averages 4,822 hours, ranging from 4,400 hours to 5,220 hours in the 16 colleges. This includes an average of 1,975 hours in clinical sciences and 1,045 hours of clinical clerkship. The minimum hours for accreditation by the Council on Chiropractic Education is 4,200 hours. Chiropractic doctors are well trained to refer to other health care providers when clinically necessary. For this reason, a chiropractor’s training includes courses such as Immunology, Cardiology, Gastrointestinal, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Pathology amongst others.In comparing the curricula of these two professions into subjects how much is taught? They are relatively similar in total student contact hours: an average of 4,822 hours in chiropractic schools compared with 4,667 hours in medical schools (Coulter, et al, submitted). Basic science comprises 25-30 percent of the total contact hours in both the chiropractic and medical programs and the two programs have roughly similar contact hours in Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Pathology. Where does the difference come in? Chiropractors receive substantially more hours in Diagnosis, Orthopedics, Anatomy, and Neurology, but many fewer in public health including pharmacology and chemistry. Upon graduation, chiropractors are considered physicians and can order MRI/CT, bloodwork, etc. Chiropractors can continue on post graduation to specialize in areas such as neurology, orthopedics, sports, radiology, immunology, etc. Click the link below to find out.