Where to go to college, then chiropractic school?

February 11, 2009 9:29 AM

I might like to go back to college - and then to chiropractic school. Help?

Long story short, I'm considering becoming a chiropractor. I'll apparently need to finish college first. I'd like recommendations on chiropractic schools and what I need in a college degree to get in. Tell me all about your experiences! I'm less interested in subluxation theories and more in proper alignment to alleviate muscle stresses. My wife is a massage therapist who is skilled in trigger point/myofascial work, and we'd like to be able to work together in a complimentary manner.

Also good are recommendations for colleges, particularly in Western Colorado or online, especially less expensive ones. (To be honest, I view the college degree as a bit of a hindrance to just going straight into learning what I need to know to become an effective chiropractor. This may certainly be misguided, but I'd like to be able, if possible, to test out of as much as I can / get credit for work experience / skip classes and self-study.)

posted by attercoppe to education (12 comments total)

I feel obligated to point out that chiropractic "care" can, in some instances, hurt people. Perhaps if you really want to help people, a bit of (real) medical knowledge would be useful? Personally, I'd be afraid of visiting a medical professional who just views a degree as a "hindrance." I think you should consider what you're trying to get out of this and why you have a suspicion of proper medical instruction.
posted by saeculorum at 10:34 AM on February 11 [1 favorite]

To be honest, I view the college degree as a bit of a hindrance to just going straight into learning what I need to know to become an effective chiropractor.

I read this as meaning that you don't want to be stuck taking English classes when you really want to be studying muscles and whatnot--am I on track? If so, my first thought would be that you should talk to admissions counselors at your nearest public universities about how to transfer your existing credits (you say "finish" college, so I assume you have existing credits) towards the major requiring the least superfluous coursework and which will best position you to apply for grad programs. I don't know anything about chiropractic grad programs, but once you find one, their admissions can advise you on BA-finishing strategies as well.
posted by Meg_Murry at 11:30 AM on February 11

chiropractic makes me nervous. would you be competitive at osteopathic medical schools?
posted by lblair at 1:19 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]

after rereading, this

(To be honest, I view the college degree as a bit of a hindrance to just going straight into learning what I need to know to become an effective chiropractor. This may certainly be misguided, but I'd like to be able, if possible, to test out of as much as I can / get credit for work experience / skip classes and self-study.)

kind of sounds to me like:

'i want to have a medical-ish, high paying job while doing as little work as possible.'

i'm sorry, but if you're going to be doing anything that involves caring for patients, skipping out of education seems like a poor idea. you need to have a very thorough understanding of how the entire body functions, which involves chem, anatomy, physiology. you need to be able to read and understand scientific literature (doing well in english classes is a good start.) I don't know, something about your whole question just rubs me the wrong way. Then again, I'd never go to a chiropractor.
posted by lblair at 1:25 PM on February 11

This might be impractical for your situation but you could move to England and just start your course there. I think their entry requirements wouldn't call for you to get a BA:

http://www.aecc.ac.uk/college/admissions/index.asp

Of course, you'd probably have to stay over there for your career.
posted by anniecat at 2:36 PM on February 11

No offense, but I would never trust anyone with my spine - ie my nervous system - who learned what they know through self study and work experience. You need to have a strong knowledge of anatomy and physiology. IANAchiropractor but you can't just learn techniques to alleviate stress. You need to learn why you're performing those techniques and what the possible side effects are.
I'm pretty untrusting of chiropractors in general, but I'm even more untrusting of people who want to skip merrily through foundational sciences to practice something that - in a worst case scenario - could leave people paralysed.
posted by asparagrass at 2:55 PM on February 11

This doesn't really fit much of your criteria but I have a friend who entered Logan Chiropractic with only an associates. They have a program that allows you to complete your B.A. and then go into the D.C. program. One advantage is that you enter the D.C. program will all of the prerequistes.
posted by mcroft at 3:04 PM on February 11

I will give you my opinion and some general information.

My opinion:

The way your question is framed, (college = hindrance) I suspect you are not ready for the crushing load of work and debt that will ensue if you pursue a Doctor of Chiropractic. So, you might want to investigate other allied health care fields that require less time and effort before the pay off.

Talk to a counselor at one of the college you most recently attended about pre-requisites for various allied health fields including Chiropractic and then do a cost/benefit analysis. Also, you mention being un-interested in subluxation theory. Subluxation theory = chiropractic. Maybe you want to consider Physical Therapy? The requirements for PT are similarly stringent and even more competetive from an admissions standpoint, though.

General Info:

Most good chiropractic colleges require a 4 year bachelors degree with pre-requisites coursework including Biology, Chem, Organic Chem, and Physics. For example, here are pre-requisites for Parker College in Dallas, one of the better chiro colleges. Once you've completed your undergrad pre-reqs, the Doctor of Chiropractic itself is a four year degree. Some schools offer the option to work through the summers and get it done in 3 years. But you're still paying for 4 calendar years worth of tuition. Students graduate on average with about $160,000 in student loans, so there's that to consider.
posted by aperture_priority at 3:15 PM on February 11

Chiropractic school alone may leave you with a six-digit student loan debt. Are you comfortable with that? With that amount of debt, it would be extremely difficult to get the necessary financing to start a business with your wife, especially if the economy doesn't improve for a while. Just something to think about long-term.

That said, a relative who recently graduated from chiropractic school got a bachelor's in exercise science as well as a bachelor's in biology. Chiro school was very challenging - she had to do extensive work with cadavers, and she spent time healing from when the students practiced on each other (sometimes they hurt more than they helped - it's a learning process).
posted by Ostara at 3:16 PM on February 11

A friend of mine went to Western States Chiropractic and describes its program as being heavy on the science/med-school curriculum, light on the flaky pseudoscience. You might look into them. She had a very solid undergraduate science background to get there, though -- so you might call the admissions office there and see what kind of undergrad courses you need to have under your belt.

Some undergraduate colleges do not have distribution requirements, so you would be more free to focus all your coursework on science and other courses that strike you as practical. Go to the public library and get out a couple of the big "Guide to all the colleges in the US" type books. They'll be indexed by geographic area, and byt other criteria as well. Hunt through for colleges with low cost and few distribution requirements, or colleges that will give you credit for life experience. If you want to do a quasi medical degree, though, you'll still need to do a lot of science coursework regardless of the requirements of the college.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:58 PM on February 11

You know, I almost put in my question that it wasn't necessary to run down chiropractic as quackery, express your total lack of interest or trust in chiropractic, or point out that I'm probably lazy or not to be trusted because I don't care to take a lot of undergrad classes that won't at all relate to the field (not referring to foundational sciences like anatomy and biology). Oh well. Thanks to those who actually answered the question with helpful info.
posted by attercoppe at 7:56 PM on February 11

Lots of people feel that way about chiropractors, so if you're going to be one you might as well be prepared for that and learn how to deflect skepticism gracefully. if you think about what makes (SOME, not all) of them seem like quacks- lack of knowledge, which leads to poor quality care- then it would seem you'd probably want to actively avoid being in that category. the opposite, in my mind, would be taking your time to do it seriously and right and not rush through everything. i'd say the vast majority of people with bachelors degrees- if not all- took at least SOME classes that weren't necessarily relevant to their careers, but were required anyway. thats what an undergrad degree is about- making you well rounded in your education. if you want to learn ONLY things for your career, isn't that what trade school is for?
posted by lblair at 11:52 PM on February 11