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Doctors of Chiropractic (DC) are sometimes mistakenly thought of as “pseudo doctors.”  Though this reputation is earned by some DCs (there’s bad ones in every profession), this is largely a misconception.

Why such a perception?  Lasting bias still hangs on after the illegal acts committed by the AMA trying to eliminate the chiropractic profession, a bias that has been resistant to change.  In September 25, 1987, a U.S. Federal judge ruled that the AMA was guilty of conspiracy.  Since then, Chiropractors have become increasingly accepted by the public, but misconceptions about what a DC is still abound.

DCs are one of many specialists in the field of medicine, and often have great working relationships with neurologists, spine surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, and primary care MD’s.

Chiropractors are real doctors.  Take a look at how their hours of education compare to MD’s:

Average Minimum Required Classroom Instruction Hours During 1st two pre-clinical years *

Chiropractic College Traditional Medical School
366.4 Anatomy/Embryology. 184.6
561.2 Physiology/Pathology 542.3
197 Microbiology/Public Health/Biostatistics 155.3
312.8 Physical Diagnosis/Clinical Medicine 200.5
141.4 Neuroscience 114
105.9 Cell biology/Histology 130.7
66.7 Nutrition 21.5
29.4 Pharmacology 99
1900.8 Average Hours for 1st two years 1556.3

Chiropractors are primary care physicians, able to diagnose any disease.  The difference is that MD’s will put more hours into pharmaceuticals and surgery, while DCs put them into adjusting.

Of course more school hours does not mean better doctors.  It is up to the individual Chiropractor to be the best doctor they can be.  The point is that Chiropractors are given more than enough training to make them competent doctors.

* Source: 2008-2009 Parker catalog