Have You Heard Someone Say, "Chiropractors are not real doctors."

Myth  - Chiropractors are not real doctors.

For those of you out there who may be on the fence about this topic, let me shed some light as to the difference between an MD and a DC.

A chiropractic college grants a D.C. or Doctorate of Chiropractic degree. Chiropractors are licensed as primary health care providers in every U.S. state and dozens of countries around the world.

While the competition for acceptance in chiropractic school is not as fierce as medical school, the chiropractic and medical school curricula are extremely rigorous and virtually identical. The first 2 years of both medical and chiropractic schools are spent studying all the basic sciences and obtaining an intricate knowledge of the workings of the body and all its systems.  In fact, chiropractors have more hours of classroom education than their medical counterparts.

Like medical students, chiropractic students start patient interaction and training in the 3rd year and continue it into the 4th year as part of their education. During the 3rd and 4th year of their schooling, chiropractic students and medical students work with real patients in a clinical setting, supervised by licensed doctors. Chiropractic students graduate at the end of the 4th year, and then have to pass four sets of national board exams as well as state board exams in the states where they want to practice. Medical students also graduate at the end of their 4th year, pass a number of board exams and then can go on to specialize.

Just like medical doctors, chiropractors are professionals that are subject to the same type of testing procedures, licensing and monitoring by state and national peer-reviewed boards. Federal and state programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Workers' Compensations programs cover chiropractic care, and all federal agencies accept sick-leave certificates signed by doctors of chiropractic. Chiropractors are also commissioned as officers in the military.

The biggest difference between chiropractors and medical doctors lies not in their level of education, but in their preferred method of caring for people. Medical doctors are trained in the use of medicines (chemicals that affect your internal biochemistry) and surgery. Consequently, if you have a chemical problem, such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, or an infection, medical doctors can be very helpful. However, if your problem is that your spine is mis-aligned or you have soft tissue damage causing pain, there is no chemical in existence that can fix it. You need a physical solution to correct a physical problem. That is where chiropractic really shines.

Chiropractors provide physical solutions -- adjustments, exercises, stretches, muscle therapy -- to help the body heal from conditions that are physical in origin, such as back pain, neck pain, sports injuries, muscle spasms, and headaches. Another distinction is the fact that it is completely appropriate to receive chiropractic care even if you do not have symptoms. Unlike standard medical doctors, whom you visit when you have a symptom to be treated, chiropractors offer adjustments to improve spinal alignment and overall well-being before symptoms develop.  This is called wellness care and has been shown to help prevent injuries, improve the immune system, and improve quality of life.