Chiropractic Education

Chiropractic colleges require a minimum of four academic years of professional resident study (not less than 4,200 clock hours), including clinical experience under strict supervision, preceded by a minimum of two years of college work with a curriculum concentrated in the biological and basic sciences, and clinical disciplines. The remaining two years emphasize practical or clinical studies dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of disease with approximately half the time spent in college clinics.

Purpose

The purpose of the curriculum is to give a student a thorough understanding of the structure and function of the human organism in health and disease. A well-balanced presentation gives the student an understanding of the essential features of the life processes: digestion, excretion, physical and mental growth, nutrition, metabolism, energy, nervous control, the significance of development defects, behavior, and other elements fundamental to the understanding of pathological conditions. An understanding of structure and function makes it possible for students to identify deviations from the normal and provides the essential facts required later for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of disease.

A minimum of four academic years of study at a chiropractic college, including practice in a teaching clinic, is required for the doctor of chiropractic degree.

In the teaching clinics of the colleges, the advanced student obtains experience in diagnosis, treatment or referral, that represents the culmination of the academic learning experience and the transition from student to chiropractic physician.

Offerings

The offerings include the following disciplines:

• Human anatomy: myology, osteology, arthrology, histology, angiology, genesiology, splanchnology;
• Neurology: central nervous system and peripheral nervous system;
• Embryology;
• Special senses;
• Human dissection and topographical anatomy;
• Biochemistry;
• Physiology: cellular physiology, general physiology, cardiovascular physiology, endocrine physiology, neurophysiology, digestion and nutritional physiology, renal and pulmonary physiology;
• Pathology: microbiology, general pathology, hematology, public health and sanitation, neuromusculoskeletal pathology cardiovascular pathology, gastrointestinal and urogenital pathology;
• Laboratory procedures;
• Roentgenology: physics, positioning and diagnosis;
• Diagnosis: roentgenological, physical, regional, neuromusculoskeletal diagnosis;
• Clinical human behavior;
• Obstetrics and gynecology;
• Pediatrics and febrile disorders;
• Geriatrics and cardiovascular disorders;
• Toxicology;
• Dermatology;
• Otolaryngology;
• Psychology;
• Dietetics;
• Orthopedics;
• Physical therapy;
• First aid and emergency procedures;
• Spinal analyses;

Principles and practice of chiropractic: manipulation, mobilization, manual therapy, adjustive techniques and clinic.

Such courses are taught in sufficient depth to fulfill the concept of the chiropractic physician as set forth within the Educational Standards of the Council on Chiropractic Education.

The above standards of the CCE have been adopted by the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB). The FCLB has recommended to the various state licensing boards that a rule of law be adopted, either by statute or by administrative regulation, wherein it will be provided as follows:

"All applicants for licensure who matriculate in a chiropractic college after October 1, 1975, must present evidence of having graduated from a chiropractic college having status with the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Chiropractic Education, or its successor, or from a chiropractic college which meets equivalent standards thereof."

Council on Chiropractic Education

The Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) and its Commission on Accreditation is recognized by the Secretary of the United States Department of Education as an authority on the quality of training offered by chiropractic colleges.

The purpose of the CCE, as a reputable national organization can be briefly stated as: (1) advocating high standards of quality in chiropractic education; (2) establishing criteria of institutional excellence for educating primary health care chiropractic physicians; (3) inspecting and accrediting colleges through its Commission on Accreditation; and (4) publishing lists of those institutions which conform to its standards and policies.

Certain requirements must be met before a chiropractic college is considered for evaluation. First, requirements for a standard basic curriculum must be met. Second, prescriptions are met by CCE for faculty qualifications, faculty-student ratios, library holdings, and physical governance, administration, and financial stability. Third, a student entrance requirement of a minimum of two years of college work with a prescribed science content must be maintained.

The CCE is also recognized by the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation (CORPA), formerly the Council on Postsecondary Education (COPA), for programs leading to the doctor of chiropractic degree. CORPA, a private, non-profit educational association evaluates and recognizes responsible accrediting agencies in the United States.

In addition, CCE is a member of the Council of Specialized Accrediting Agencies (CSAA), and autonomous, nongovernmental accreditation agency. CSAA fosters the maintenance of high standards within the spectrum of postsecondary education.

CCE Accredited Colleges
As of January 1994, the colleges listed below had achieved accredited status with the CCE. Most colleges have achieved accreditation with regional accrediting agencies as well.

• Cleveland Chiropractic College
  6401 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64131
  816-333-8230
• Cleveland Chiropractic College of Cleveland University-Los Angeles
  590 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90004
  213-660-6166
• Life Chiropractic College
  1269 Barclay Circle, Marietta, GA 30060
  404-424-0554
• Life Chiropractic College-West
  2005 Via Barrett, P.O. Box 367, San Lorenzo, CA 94580
  510-276-9013
• Logan College of Chiropractic
  1851 Schoettler Road, PO Box 1065, Chesterfield, MO 63006-1065
  314-227-2100
• Los Angeles College of Chiropractic
  16200 E. Amber Valley Drive, Whittier, CA 90604
  310-947-8755
  National College of Chiropractic
  200 E. Roosevelt Road, Lombard, IL 60148
  708-629-2000
• New York Chiropractic College
  PO Box 800, Seneca Falls, NY 13148-0800
  315-568-3100
• Northwestern College of Chiropractic
  2501 West 84th Street, Bloomington, MN 55431
  612-888-4777
• Palmer College of Chiropractic
  1000 Brady Street, Davenport, IA 52803
  319-326-9600
• Palmer College of Chiropractic-West
  90 East Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134
  408-944-6000
  Parker College of Chiropractic
  2500 Walnut Hill Lane, Dallas, TX 75229
  214-438-6932
• Texas Chiropractic College
  5912 Spencer Highway, Pasadena, TX 77505
  713-487-1170
• University of Bridgeport College of Chiropractic
  Bridgeport, CT 06601
  203-576-4279
• Westem States Chiropractic College
  2900 NE 132nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97230
  503-256-3180
• Anglo-European College of Chiropractic
  13/15 Parkwood Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH5 2DF, England
• Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College**
  1900 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4G 3E6
  416-482-2340
• Macquarie University, Chiropractic Program**
  PO Box 178, Summerhill, N.S.W., 2130 Australia
• Royal Melbourne Institute Technology Chiropractic Program*
  Plenty Road, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia

*Status is under a reciprocal agreement with ACCOE
**Status is under a reciprocal agreement with CCE Canada

Institutional Recognitions
Chiropractic colleges are recognized throughout the nation at both the federal and state levels. On the federal level, the U.S. Department of Education recognizes those colleges having status with the CCE. Certified chiropractic colleges are eligible for guaranteed student loans, NDSL, student workstudy programs, Interest Assistance Programs, and HEAL loans (Health Education Assistance Loans). Chiropractic is listed in the Occupational Handbook of the US Department of Labor. Chiropractic colleges are eligible for loans from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition, the Veterans' Administration recognizes chiropractic institutions as institutions of higher education, and student visas for chiropractic students are granted by the US Department of Immigration and Naturalization.

On the national level, a substantial number of accredited colleges in various states include a pre-chiropractic curriculum in their catalogs, and it is not an uncommon instance to witness the transfer of credit into regionally accredited institutions from chiropractic colleges. By early 1976, several chiropractic colleges had established cooperative programs with regionally accredited institutions of higher education. Many if not most of the chiropractic colleges have achieved accreditation at the regional level by agencies that accredit other colleges and universities. This recognition is in addition to the accreditation conferred by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE). Both the regional accrediting agencies and the CCE are recognized by the US Office of Education.

Pre-Chiropractic College
All candidates must furnish proof of having acquired two years of 60 acceptable hours leading to a baccalaureate degree in the arts and sciences. The preprofessional education which has been acquired must have an average of 2.25 on a 4.0 scale, with no less than a "C" grade in courses with laboratory in biology, chemistry, and physics. No more than 20 semester hours of a candidate's preprofessional education (in courses other than the natural, biological and physical sciences) can have been acquired through CLEP exam or through challenging courses. Matriculants must present a minimum of:

• English or Communicative Skills - 1 Academic Year (not less than 6 semester hours)
• Psychology - 1/2 Academic Year (not less than 3 semester hours)
  Social Sciences or Humanities - 1/2 Academic Year (not less than 3 semester hours)
• Biological Science (with related laboratory) - 1 Academic Year (not less than 6 semester hours)
• General or Inorganic Chemistry (with related laboratory) - 1 Academic Year (not less than 6 semester hours)
• Organic Chemistry (with related laboratory) - 1 Academic Year (not less than 6 semester hours)
• Physics (with related laboratory) - 1 Academic Year (not less than 6 semester hours)

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