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Chiropractor Career Guide

If helping people with their physical health and well-being is important to you, then becoming a chiropractor may be a great career path for you to consider!

Chiropractors specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of the neuromuscular system with an emphasis on spinal care. To become one, you are required to have a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree.

If you’re a social person who enjoys the company of others, being a chiropractor provides plenty of opportunities to do that. Once you establish where you’d like to practice, immerse yourself in local organizations and groups and spread the word about what you do. Being a part of your community will lead a steady stream of customers to your doors.

Chiropractor Career Ratings

Income

Career
Growth

Personal Growth

Contribution

Influence

Job Profiles

Real-Life Chiropractor Job Profiles

Below is a list of links to anonymous job profiles of REAL PEOPLE who have filled out our survey and offered to share their insights with our users about their job in the Chiropractor field.
ID Job Title Gender Age Earnings City & State Date
33305 Chiropractic Assistant Female 27 $34,000 San Mateo, CA 01/01/2010
33117 Chiropractor And Instructor At Chiropractic College, Also A Teaching Assistant Female 28 $28,000 Vancouver, WA 01/01/2010

Overview

What a chiropractor actually does

Chiropractors specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of the neuromuscular system with an emphasis on spinal care. Typically, chiropractors see patients to help alleviate neck pain, back pain, sciatica, or other injuries. Many chiropractic offices have state-of-the-art technology to help diagnose the patient’s problem. Chiropractors administer spinal adjustments and other gentle treatments to help heal any pain or injuries. They typical duties of a chiropractor include:

  • Assessing a patient’s medical condition by reviewing their medical history, listening to their concerns and by performing a physical examination
  • Analyzing the patient’s posture, spine, and reflexes
  • Conducting tests to diagnose a patients issues, including evaluating a patient’s posture and taking x rays
  • Providing neuromusculoskeletal therapy, which often involves adjusting a patient’s spinal column and other joints
  • Giving additional treatments, such as applying heat or cold to a patient’s injured areas
  • Advising patients on health and lifestyle issues
  • Referring patients to other healthcare professionals if needed

Why they are needed

Chiropractors are needed to help us treat and/or cope with pain in the back, muscles and joints. In fact, about 22 million Americans visit chiropractors annually. Chiropractors offer safe and effective ways to treat different types of pain, which can dramatically improve the quality of our lives. There are many benefits of chiropractic care, which include:

  • Reducing the frequency and intensity of migraines and neck-related headaches
  • Treating whiplash
  • Tackling joint issues in the arms, legs and shoulders
  • Treating neck or spine injuries
  • Can calm hyperactive minds
  • Decreases degeneration of the joint and its connective tissue
  • Improves individual organ system functions

Pros and cons of a career as a Chiropractor:

Pros:

  • They are in demand and therefore, there are lots of career opportunities available
  • Its a sociable career that involves meeting lots of people every day
  • No two days are the same
  • You get to help people have a better quality of life, which is very rewarding
  • Chiropractors can become self-employed and set up their own practice

Cons: 

  • Chiropractors may have to work with difficult clients
  • It can be a hard career to enter as extensive skills, knowledge and experience are required
  • Chiropractors may work long hours, which can be draining
  • It can be physically demanding, as chiropractors may need to spend lots of their day bent over their patients and on their feet

Employability

Job market

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of chiropractors is projected to grow 4 percent from 2019 to 2029, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations.

This employment growth is predicted because people across all age groups are increasingly becoming more interested in integrative or complementary healthcare, that doesn’t require prescribed drugs, as ways to treat pain and improve wellness. Furthermore, chiropractic treatment of the back, neck, limbs and involved joints has become more accepted and researched in recent years. As a result, chiropractors are increasingly working with other healthcare workers through referrals and complementary care.

The aging of the baby-boom generation will also lead to new opportunities for chiropractors because these older adults are more likely than younger people to have joint or neuromusculoskeletal problems. These adults will seek treatment for these conditions, creating a demand for chiropractors.

Career paths

In order to become a chiropractor, you are required to have a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree. This is a postgraduate professional degree that typically takes 4 years to complete. Ideally, chiropractors should aim to complete a degree accredited by The Council on Chiropractic Education. These programs include classwork in anatomy, physiology, biology and similar subjects. Chiropractic students will also get supervised clinical experience in which they train in spinal assessment, adjustment techniques, and making diagnoses. D.C. programs also may include classwork in business management and in billing and finance.

In order to get accepted onto a D.C. program, you are typically required to have at least 90 semester hours of undergraduate education. However, for many D.C. programs, you are required to have a bachelor’s degree for entry. Different schools will have specific requirements for their chiropractic programs, but they generally require coursework in the liberal arts and in sciences such as physics, chemistry, and biology.

Example Job Titles for Chiropractor

Below is a list of common job titles in the Chiropractor field. Click the links below for more information about these job titles, or view the next section for actual real-life job profiles.

Benefits & Conditions

Income and benefits

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for chiropractors was $70,340 in 2019. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $35,290, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $147,480.

The top paying industry for chiropractors in the United States was offices of physicians, where the median annual salary was $88,020. This was followed by offices of chiropractors, where the median annual salary was $69,460.

It is important to note that earning for chiropractor will vary significantly with the number of years they have in practice, their geographic region and the hours worked.

Autonomy and Flexibility

As chiropractors are highly qualified, they often get to make lots of decisions regarding their patients care. Therefore, there is a lot of autonomy in the career. Chiropractors can also become self-employed and own their own practice. As a result, their working hours can be quite flexible.

Locations and commute

According to Zippia, the best states to be an chiropractor, based on salary and total number of jobs, were:

  1. Florida, where the average annual salary is $69,525
  2. Vermont, where the average annual salary is $75,065
  3. Arizona, where the average annual salary is $69,893
  4. South Dakota, where the average annual salary is $62,142
  5. New Mexico, where the average annual salary is $64,447

The worst states for chiropractors were Washington, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Delaware and District of Columbia.

Work environment

The largest employer of chiropractors in the United States was offices of chiropractors, which employed 63% of all chiropractors in the United States. 31% of chiropractors in the United States were self-employed workers, and a further 3% were employed by offices of physicians.

Chiropractors typically work in office settings. They may work with other healthcare professionals and they may be on their feet for long periods of time.

Career Satisfaction

Common Matching Personality Types

Which personalities tend to succeed and thrive in Chiropractor careers? Based on our research, there is a relatively strong positive correlation between the following personality types and Chiropractor career satisfaction. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t many exceptions, of course, but if you fit into one of the following personality types then we suggest you give strong consideration to a career in Chiropractor.

16 Types (Myers-Briggs)

Big Five (OCEAN)

  • None

DISC

  • None

Enneagram

  • None

Holland Codes (RIASEC)

Personality types

Chiropractors are likely to be empathetic, understanding, caring and compassionate. They will be the types of people that enjoy working with others and are able to comfort others and build trusting relationships.

Accomplishment and mastery

As there is a lot of education required to become a chiropractor, the sense of accomplishment and mastery is high when they eventually qualify and get given responsibility. On top of this, chiropractors are expected to continue to develop their skills, meaning their accomplishment and mastery will continue to increase throughout their life.

Meaning and contribution

Chiropractors play an essential role in ensuring that their patients quality of life is greatly improved by curing their back and joint pain. This means that their work is incredibly meaningful and makes a valuable contribution to patient care.

Life fit

Chiropractors tend to work full time, and may sometimes have to work evenings or weekends to accomodate patients.. However, a lot of chiropractors become self-employed and can therefore set their own hours.

Who will thrive in this career?

You will thrive as a chiropractor if you enjoy helping others, as improving the lives of others is at the forefront of what a chiropractor does. You will also thrive if you have the natural ability to communicate and empathize with lots of different people. Those who have the ability to solve problems will also have an advantage, as chiropractors will have to pinpoint patients problems and great a plan to treat these problems!

Who will struggle in this career?

Those who are seeking a desk job that doesn’t involve interacting with or helping lots of people are likely to struggle. Finally, if you are not physically fit, you may struggle to keep up with the demands of job, which involves lifting heavy things and standing up all day.

Requirements

Quick Glance

Skills and talents

As well as being able to endure being on their feet all day, chiropractors need to have skills such as:

  • Problem solving skills, as chiropractors will need to diagnose a number of different problems with a patients back, muscles or joints. They will also need to overcome problems with treatment programmes.
  • Patience, as working with illness and disease can be a slow and frustrating process.
  • Compassion and empathy, as chiropractors may work with people in pain and they need to be able to understand and related to them.
  • Communication skills, both written and verbal, as chiropractors will need to communicate their ideas to patients and keep written documents up to date
  • Dexterity, as chiropractors need to use their hands to perform manual adjustments to the spine and other joints

Education

In order to become a chiropractor, you are required to have a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree. This is a postgraduate professional degree that typically takes 4 years to complete. Ideally, chiropractors should aim to complete a degree accredited by The Council on Chiropractic Education. In order to get accepted onto these programs, a bachelors degree is typically needed.

Certifications

All states and the District of Columbia require chiropractors to be licensed. Although specific requirements vary by state, all require the completion of an accredited Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree program and passing all four parts of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) exam.

Many states also require applicants to pass a background check and state-specific law exams, called jurisprudence exams. Furthermore, all states require a practicing chiropractor to take continuing education classes to maintain his or her chiropractic license.

How to Become

Summary

Chiropractors specialize in diagnosing and treating the neuromuscular system with an emphasis on spinal care. Typically, chiropractors see patients to help alleviate neck pain, back pain, sciatica, or other injuries. Many chiropractic offices have state-of-the-art technology to help diagnose the patient’s problem. Chiropractors administer spinal adjustments and other gentle treatments to help heal any pain or injuries.

Immediate action

To have the best chances of getting accepted onto a chiropractic program, aspiring chiropractors should aim to have as much experience as possible. They should also have many extra curricular activities, such as sports or art.

Education and learning

In order to become a chiropractor, you are required to have a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree. This is a postgraduate professional degree that typically takes 4 years to complete. In order to get accepted onto these programs, a bachelors degree is typically needed.

Skill development

Chiropractors develop lots of their skills through their university education and through their supervised clinical work. Once qualified, many states require that chiropractors keep training throughout their career, which further progresses skill development.

FAQs

Ask a Question

Have a question about Chiropractor careers? If so, our mentors would love to help! Just click on a mentor’s profile below and then fill out the “Ask a Question” form on that page. Your question will then be emailed to the mentor, who can then email you a reply.

ID Job Title Gender Age Earnings City & State Date
33305 Chiropractic Assistant Female 27 $34,000 San Mateo, CA 01/01/2010
33117 Chiropractor And Instructor At Chiropractic College, Also A Teaching Assistant Female 28 $28,000 Vancouver, WA 01/01/2010

Resources