Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health.  Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches. Doctors of Chiropractic, often referred to as chiropractors or chiropractic physicians, practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to health care that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment. Chiropractors have broad diagnostic skills and are also trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, as well as to provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle counseling.

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements vary from school to school.  Please consult the website of the school in which you are interested in matriculating to get a list of required pre-requisite classes. Prior to beginning their chiropractic education, applicants must have completed a minimum total of 90 semester credit hours of non-duplicate coursework with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75.  In addition the following are required:

• 24 semester hours in life science courses, to include:
  • 6 semester hours in biology-related courses
  • 6 semester hours in chemistry-related courses
  • 12 semester hours in life/natural science  courses
• 3 semester hours in English composition/writing
• 3 semester hours in College Algebra or higher
• 3 semester hours in Humanities
• 3 semester hours in Social Sciences

In situations in which one or more courses have been repeated with equivalent courses, the most recent grade(s) may be used for grade point average computation and the earlier grade(s) may be disregarded (unusual among health professions schools).

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