Daniel David Palmer, a self-educated teacher and healer, did the first spinal manipulation on a patient in late nineteenth century and that was the start of modern chiropractic. Today, chiropractic is the third largest health care profession, next only to dentistry.

Chiropractic is a Greek word and it means "treatment by hand". Chiropractors use their hands to influence the body and promote healing and wellness. The need for more chiropractors is out there and it is continuously growing because of its success in treating back and neck problems.

A licensed chiropractor could start a private practice or can join any health institute. The average chiropractor salary is around $80,000 per annum based on experience, skill level and education. As, it's becoming a rewarding career, several people are attracted to this profession.

What is Chiropractic Education?

Doctors of Chiropractic undergo a rigorous and demanding professional education just like other physicians. Anatomy, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Public Health, Physiology, Pathology are the part of basic courses in a chiropractor school. Total course duration is around 5000 hours.

How you can become a chiropractor?

Before joining a chiropractor school, you first need to acquire a medically focused undergraduate degree at a university. Students are thoroughly trained in the appropriate use of sophisticated analytical equipments like X-rays, examination procedures, and state of the art chiropractic investigative technologies.

What you must know before considering chiropractor as a career?

1. You should have a drive to help people and the willingness to put in the needed educational work in order to become a chiropractor.

2. Just like with traditional hospital or clinic doctors, you have to come across devastating illnesses and patients suffering from tremendous amount of pain.

3. In order to become a lisensed chiropractor, you need to pass examinations. These examinations determine whether you learned enough in their schooling in order to be a licensed chiropractor.

To become a physician in the United States, you should graduate from a 4-year college or university. (Although a 4-year degree is not always a requirement, it is highly recommended.) After you graduate from a 4-year college or university with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, you go to medical school for 4 years.

The first two years of medical school are primarily spent attending biomedical science classes. The courses taken in the first two years include Gross Anatomy, Physiology, Neuroscience, Microbiology, Pharmacology, and others. After the second year in medical school, medical students take an exam called USMLE Step 1, which covers all basic sciences material that is taught in the first two years of medical school. After passing USMLE Step 1 you enter the second half of medical school. The last two years of medical school are spent both taking classes and on clinical rotations in hospitals. This is where you get hands on training under the guidance of physicians. During the fourth year, most students take the USMLE Step 2 exam, which tests clinical knowledge. Successful performance on USMLE Step 2 is required in order to receive the M.D. degree.

After four years of medical school, you graduate with a M.D. degree in medicine but you still cannot practice medicine. You must spend anywhere from 2 to 8 years more in residency, depending on medical specialty or subspecialty you want to pursue.If you want to be a generalist physician/family physician/primary-care physician you need to spend 2-3 years after medical school in residency training. If you want to specialize in some area of medicine, i.e. surgery, urology, cardiology or oncology, your residency will be anywhere from 3-8 years depending on the medical specialty you choose to pursue. As a resident you are in training, but you are employed earning a modest income. During your residency you must pass USMLE Step 3 in order to be state-certified for practice of medicine. USMLE Step 3 covers clinical thinking and clinical management