Chiropractors are quacks! 🦆

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How many times have you heard “Chiropractors are quacks!” or “They aren’t real doctors”.  I don’t know about you, but I have heard it a number of times.  To be fair though, even before becoming a chiropractor while still working as a nurse I also heard people (medical doctors included) singing the praises of chiropractic care.  So…who is right?

Let’s start by looking at each profession.   Medical doctors are licensed practitioners that typically specialize in a certain field, such as cardiology or oncology. These professionals work to promote, maintain, and restore the health of their patients. They may diagnose diseases, tend to injuries, or treat other physical and mental impairments. Medical doctors, unlike chiropractors, often prescribe medication and some have additional training allowing them to carry out surgical procedures.

Chiropractors are also licensed practitioners whose focus is improving the overall health and wellbeing of their patients by improving mobility in the spine.  While many people only consider chiropractic as a means of improving various types of pain it is important to mention that chiropractic is also known to be a means to promote health and improve overall wellbeing as the function of the spine is closely related to nervous system function.  While chiropractors do not prescribe medications or perform surgery, they are able to improve health by making adjustments to the joints of the spine are other areas of the body to help improve function; this can be done manually or with an instrument.

From the get-go these professions, despite having the same goal of health promotion for those they serve, get there by very different means.  Let’s dive into what it takes to become either a medical doctor or a chiropractor. 

A minimum of 90 semester credits at the bachelor’s degree level is required to get into chiropractic school however, in my experience, all but a few of my classmates had a bachelor’s degree before starting the program.  To get a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) degree and additional three and a half years are required for graduate-level study in anatomy, microbiology, radiology, functional kinesiology, and chiropractic care principles and philosophy. Upon completion of a Doctor of Chiropractic, graduates must take and pass a total of four board exams (five if your state of licensure requires you to pass the NBCE physical therapy board which SC does) to become licensed through the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE).

A medical doctor is a licensed physician who has graduated from an accredited medical school. Their postgraduate education also takes an average of four years to complete and includes courses in pathology, anatomy, biochemistry, medicine, chemistry, statistics, and calculus, among others. After graduation, medical doctors must complete a residency of 3+ years under the watchful eye of more experienced professionals.  From my research upon completion of this program medical doctors must take and pass a total of three board exams.

There are as many similarities as there are differences between each profession when it comes to education.  This graphic gives you a quick view to compare.

A few things I would like to note about the information presented above.  The first isn’t addressed on this graphic and that is the length of residency.  Many publications often cite the fact that medical doctors are required to have a longer residency than chiropractors.  While chiropractors typically spend a year adjusting in a clinical setting under the direct supervision of a licensed chiropractor, they also start laying hands on fellow students practicing and honing in on the art of palpation and learning how to feel and assess for misalignments in the spine from the start of their education.  While this isn’t calculated into the “residency” portion of the education I feel it is worth mentioning as one may get the impression that chiropractic students are only working with people for a short period of time before completing school and that just isn’t the case.

Now, let’s look a little deeper into the other differences illustrated in the picture.  You will see that in some areas the course study is close while in other areas it is very different, say for instance the area of anatomy.  Chiropractors spend way more time as compared to medical doctors when it comes to the study of anatomy. However, when you look at something like pathology the medical students are way ahead.  The reason for this is the difference in the approach to how we treat those we serve. 

When it comes to the study required for either type of physician it is important to note that they are more similar than dissimilar.  The difference is greatest when it comes to clinical practice and that makes sense because the approach to improving health is very different; these differences don’t make one superior over the other by any means.

One last thing I would like to mention.  A common argument I hear is that there “isn’t enough research” to back the claims that chiropractic makes and to that I say there may not be the same volume of research as medicine has but the research is there, and it is growing every single day. 

Like with everything in life you must “follow the money” so to speak.  It is important to consider the fact that holistic ways of achieving health, like chiropractic, aren’t driving customers towards pharmaceuticals like traditional medical care does and as a result isn’t funded and research takes lots (LOTS) of money.  However, like I said, there is a lot of research that has been done showing how chiropractic can help to improve physical and mental well-being. 

In closing, both medical doctors and chiropractors are real doctors and both do provide relief from pain and suffering.  The biggest difference is chiropractic is a more proactive approach that is holistic in nature.  Neither profession is any better or worse, just different and if we embraced more differences in all areas of life how happy we could be.  

Posted In: Chiropractic Chiropractor