See How a Chiropractic Degree Fits Your Healthcare Goals

A well-known quote goes, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.” Funny, yes, and true. Everyone wants to maintain health for as long as possible…and low back pain is the most common musculoskeletal condition worldwide. Two-thirds of the U.S. population will encounter low-back pain. When your healthcare goal is to lead people to a healthier life, the Doctor of Chiropractic degree offers a way to do that.

Chiropractic Degree: A Non-drug, Patient-focused Profession

When you become a doctor of chiropractic, you’re a specialist whose goal is preserving, restoring, and optimizing health. The practice of chiropractic emphasizes the body’s ability to heal without drugs or surgery by focusing on the proper relationship between the body’s structures and its nervous system.

The more you know about chiropractic, the more attractive it becomes. Misconceptions about chiropractors are still out there, but here are four fast facts about the profession that are helpful when choosing a healthcare career:

• Doctors of Chiropractic are portal-of-entry, primary healthcare providers. This means patients can go to chiropractors without a referral, just like dentists and optometrists.
• Chiropractors receive more than 4,200 contact hours of education. The 3.3-year trimester curriculum includes diagnosis, orthopedics, physiologic therapeutics, nutrition, and basic and clinical sciences. Students receive two years of hands-on clinical experience.
• Among the surveys included in a 2017 chiropractic report is one from recent patients who saw a doctor of chiropractic. If again having neck or back pain, 97% of them would return for more chiropractic care.
• After an initial physical exam of the patient, chiropractors lead their patients to conservative, non-drug treatment options. Typical recommendations to restore function and movement include therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, posture corrections, nutritional and dietary assistance, lifestyle counseling, and proper spinal and extremity joint biomechanics.

It turns out that right now is the right time to join the chiropractic profession – the third largest doctoral-level healthcare profession.

Five Reasons to Earn a Chiropractic Degree

1. Growing evidence of effectiveness

Patients have long accepted chiropractic care, and now there’s evidence-based research to show why.

Since 2012, no fewer than four major medical journals have acknowledged the benefits of turning first to chiropractic treatments and conservative care options: the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Spine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.

In 2017, the American College of Physicians (ACP) changed its clinical recommendations, advocating first choosing conservative, non-invasive treatments, including spinal adjustments.

2. Emergence of integrative healthcare

Chiropractors are at the forefront of the move toward integrative care. The profession’s collaborative, whole-person approach fits naturally into the desire for the most accurate diagnosis and targeted care options. Chiropractors regularly coordinate care with M.D.s, occupational health practitioners, physical therapists, and sports medicine specialists.

3. Legislative action supports chiropractic care for veterans

In 2018, the U.S. Congress passed new legislation expanding the ability of U.S. armed forces veterans to seek a chiropractic physician’s non-drug approach to pain relief.

4. Medical plans include chiropractic care

More than 90% of U.S. medical plans include chiropractic care, according to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA).

Coverage is also provided by workers’ compensation, Medicare, some Medicaid plans, and Blue Cross Blue Shield plans for federal employees.

5. Chiropractic offers specialty options

You also have options for providing specialized care. So, while most choose to provide care in a solo or group family practice, there are specialty areas:

• • Sports
  • Pediatric
  • Animal chiropractic
  • Chiropractic radiology.

What’s It Like to Be a Chiropractor?

More than half of all chiropractors choose to start a practice or join one, and practices are found in cities, small towns, and rural areas.

Whether you are someone who prefers country life or a city location, you’ll find a chiropractic degree that can deliver the freedom and flexibility that many people only dream about. Imagine the joy of setting your hours of service and controlling all aspects of your practice.

Of course, salaries will vary, with higher incomes naturally requiring outreach efforts to gain new patients. The data site Salary.com reports that the national median salary for new associate chiropractors is $58,101, often rising to $100,000 or more later, which typically includes bonuses, commissions, and profit-sharing.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sees a 4% growth rate from 2019 through 2029.

3.3 Years to a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree

Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) is a private, nonprofit, healthcare-focused university located in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of the Kansas City metro. Most students earn their Doctor of Chiropractic degree (D.C.) in 3.3 years through a year-round, trimester schedule.

Points of distinction for the CUKC chiropractic degree include:

• In 2022, the CUKC College of Chiropractic celebrates 100 years as a chiropractic college, graduating more than 11,500 doctors of chiropractic
• CUKC has multiple Force Sensing Tables in its techniques lab, which increases student confidence in their chiropractic adjustment skills
• CUKC students begin hands-on classes as early as the first trimester. CUKC chiropractic students intern in the on-campus student chiropractic clinic, then advance to the on-campus public chiropractic clinic
• 95% of CUKC graduates pass all parts (I, II, III, IV) of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) exams within six months. This exam demonstrates competence in academic and adjusting components of their chiropractic education.

There’s much to know about earning a chiropractic degree. You’ll find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions in this FAQ blog.

Learn more by requesting more information here, and click this link to download a free eBook: Your Complete Guide to the Chiropractic Profession.