How You Can Become a Chiropractor

A Chiropractor treats people with musculoskeletal system.  That means that the doctor will work with your bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments.  Through spinal manipulation and other techniques like ultrasound and heat and ice, pain in the back or neck and other ailments can be relieved or lessened.  While patients may need to be on an exam table during an appointment, they remain fully clothed as a general rule. Sometimes people go for chiropractic appointments on a regular basis for an "adjustment" that may keep the pain from reoccurring. These appointments can be as little as five minutes long.  Insurance will cover some chiropractic care, but there is usually a ceiling of how many times you can go before the benefit is exhausted per calendar year. Others just go when they have pain for a one time or limited amount of visits until they heal and feel better.  A strong client base is built by having all sorts of clients and by having a good reputation.

If this career interests you, then the first step is to learn about the training and licensing that is needed to open a practice.  In order to be a chiropractor, you must earn a Doctor of Chiropractic degree.  A DC is the abbreviation since it is a different study than a medical doctor, an MD.  A license from the state that you will practice in is also needed.  Check with the state board of chiropractic examiners or the board of health to understand what you need to do for any exams and licensing.

n order to be accepted to most chiropractor schools you will need to have completed three years of college.  The training takes four years to complete. A background in liberal arts and physics, chemistry and biology is helpful and some prerequisites may exist before being accepted into a program.  Some people have bachelor degrees or even master degrees in areas like nutrition or sports medicine, but neither is required.  Courses are taken during the first two years of the program and then there is a supervised clinical portion of the training.  Once finished school, some new DCs will specialize in fields like chiropractic radiation or pediatrics. Make sure before you begin a program it is an accredited one.  The Council of Chiropractic Education has only accredited fifteen chiropractic schools to date, so getting the list shouldn't be that difficult.

After you complete all the training and you are ready to hang your shingle out, how much can you expect to make from your new practice?  A chiropractor salary can average about eighty-five thousand dollars, but it may depend on how many hours you work and if you are self-employed.  The chiropractor salary can be different if you have another specialty like sports medicine, if you are affiliated with other doctors or even a hospital.  Of course, the more experience you have and the bigger the practice, you may expect to earn more.  If you are interested in this profession, this could be a good time to train.  This field is expected to grow faster than others in the next decade

Becoming a chiropractor can take about four years after your undergraduate studies.  The studies are similar to a medical doctor in that physics, chemistry and anatomy are required subjects, but the medical doctor degree requires different training and specialty.  With a rapid growth rate expected in the field in the next decade, it may be a perfect time to search the Internet for training programs and to get started, unless your neck is sore from the computer work, then wait until tomorrow.

Category: Chiropractor

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