Pre-Chiropractic
Career and
Major Information
Related
Career Titles
Web Sites
Salary
Information
The Associate of Science Degree in Pre-Chiropractic is intended to
fulfill the preadmission requirements for a school of chiropractic medicine.
The curriculum in the WSCC catalog is not designed for transfer to any specific
school. Students will need to talk with a faculty advisor about a particular
college or university’s courses and transfer. The link for the Natural Science
Division at Walters State is:
http://www.ws.edu/science/default.asp.
Career and Major Information:
Chiropractors,
also known as doctors of chiropractic or chiropractic physicians,
diagnose and treat patients whose health problems are associated with the
body’s muscular, nervous, and skeletal systems, especially the spine.
Chiropractors believe that interference with these systems impairs the body’s
normal functions and lowers its resistance to disease. They also hold that
spinal or vertebral dysfunction alters many important body functions by
affecting the nervous system and that skeletal imbalance through joint or
articular dysfunction, especially in the spine, can cause pain.
The
chiropractic approach to healthcare is holistic, stressing the patient’s
overall health and wellness. It recognizes that many factors affect health,
including exercise, diet, rest, environment, and heredity. Chiropractors
provide natural, drugless, nonsurgical health treatments and rely on the body’s
inherent recuperative abilities. They also recommend changes in lifestyle—in
eating, exercise, and sleeping habits, for example—to their patients. When
appropriate, chiropractors consult with and refer patients to other health
practitioners.
Like other
health practitioners, chiropractors follow a standard routine to secure the
information they need for diagnosis and treatment. They take the patient’s
medical history, conduct physical, neurological, and orthopedic examinations,
and may order laboratory tests. X rays and other diagnostic images are
important tools because of the chiropractor’s emphasis on the spine and its
proper function. Chiropractors also employ a postural and spinal analysis
common to chiropractic diagnosis (Occupational Outlook Handbook 2004-2005).
Related Career Titles:
|
Occupational Therapists |
Physical
Therapists |
|
Exercise
Physiologists |
Athletic
Trainers |
|
Personal
Trainers |
Massage
Therapists |
Web Sites:
American Chiropractic Association,
1701 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209.
Internet:
http://www.amerchiro.org
International Chiropractors Association, 1110 North Glebe
Rd., Suite 1000, Arlington, VA 22201.
Internet:
http://www.chiropractic.org
Council on Chiropractic Education, 8049 North 85th Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85258-4321.
Internet:
http://www.cce-usa.org
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S.
Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook,
2004-05 Edition, Chiropractors,
on the Internet at
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos071.htm
Salary Information:
Median annual earnings of salaried chiropractors were
$65,330 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $44,140 and $102,400 a
year.
Salary figures quoted are based on national figures. Local
or regional salaries may be lower.
Citation: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational
Outlook Handbook, 2004-05 Edition, Chiropractors, on
the Internet at
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos071.htm
