When thinking about attending a chiropractic college, be ready to learn more than you ever thought about natural ways to reduce pain and achieve better long-term health. That’s only the beginning of being ready, though. Here are five ways to evaluate how ready you are for chiropractic college and life as a doctor of chiropractic.
1. You match up well with the minimum educational requirements:
2. You can describe chiropractic accurately to a friend or family member:
Doctors of chiropractic are healthcare specialists who are devoted to proper spinal function, and other elements of the neuromuscular systems. Chiropractic care emphasizes a biopsychosocial approach instead of one limited to a biomedical approach.
Simply put, the chiropractic profession finds ways to relieve interference caused by disturbed joint biomechanics. Chiropractic treatment begins with a comprehensive health assessment and extends to corrective actions that can include spinal adjustments.
In choosing a chiropractic college, you’ll look for ways to optimize patient health in many different ways without using prescription medicine. Doctors of chiropractic do, however, refer patients to other physicians when necessary.
A chiropractic college teaches you how to help your patients with
3. You’ve prepared yourself to study harder than you’ve ever done before:
You’ll take nearly 2,000 tests and quizzes once enrolled in a chiropractic college; your instructors will see to it you’re fully prepared because they want you to be successful. The amount of knowledge to learn and techniques to master, however, will challenge even the best of students.
The education at a chiropractic college parallels education at a medical school. A chiropractic college student will have more than 4,575 hours in classrooms, labs, and getting clinical experience. You’ll have more time than a med school student in basic clinical sciences: anatomy, bacteriology, orthopedics, and physiology.
4. You understand that you can’t succeed by going at it alone:
Plan on spending as much time learning about your chiropractic college’s services to students as you do understanding the curriculum.
You’ll want to know where to go and whom to contact for help before you need it. The student services division of your chiropractic college can provide fantastic resources:
Learn (or get better) in your use of professional networking skills. This habit will help you benefit from the knowledge of your classmates, and being comfortable in “reaching out” will be valuable when you’re ready for a chiropractic business.
Expand your knowledge base by joining student chapters of professional chiropractic associations and participating in special interest student clubs. Don’t just commit time to textbooks – read chiropractic journals like ChiroEconomics and explore the latest evidence-based research about chiropractic.
Here’s a blog that can show you what the latest evidence-based research says.
5. You’ve looked at where healthcare is going, and chiropractic is in the center of it.
Beyond the intricacies of succeeding in chiropractic college, be ready for a great career in chiropractic. A multidisciplinary approach to healthcare – totally in line with the chiropractic philosophy – is considered essential for better patient care and to help drive down healthcare costs.
As healthcare knowledge continues to expand, it’s logical that we’re entering a healthcare environment increasingly populated by specialists. Those specialists must work together on behalf of the patient. When it concerns low-back, neck, and joint pain, chiropractors are specialists that people often turn to first.
According to the 2017 report Chiropractic: A Safe and Cost Effective Approach to Health, 95% of recent chiropractic users rated it as effective. For low-back and neck pain, nearly 90% of patients recommend chiropractic as a first option to family, friends, and neighbors.
Now, if you already knew that, you truly are ready for chiropractic college!
The Chiropractic College at Cleveland University-Kansas City
Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) is a private, nonprofit, healthcare-focused university in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of the Kansas City metro. Our history in chiropractic education began in 1922.
Today, CUKC is the only chiropractic university still guided by the founding family. More than one of every 10 chiropractors in the U.S. have earned their chiropractic degree from our College of Chiropractic.
Being prepared for chiropractic college will go a long way toward helping you achieve your healthcare career. Much of what you’ll want to know is included in this free ebook: Your Complete Guide to the Chiropractic Profession.
