 |
 |
       |
    |
|
|
|
Shaw Chiropractic Pre-requisites for the M.D. vs. D.C Degree While being cross examined recently a defense attorney spent some time and effort trying to down play the chiropractic education. After reviewing the medical and chiropractic curriculums it was clear that the basic chiropractic training as it relates to musculoskeletal disorders was far superior than the corresponding basic medical training (see previous newsletter Primary Care Physicians: Training Inadequate". Therefore, the attorney decided that since he could not discredit me from my graduate and post graduate training he would try to discredit my undergraduate training. He used some tactics which if not properly addressed by plaintiff council might prove damaging to the chiropractic expert's credentials. In this newsletter I will review some of the facts regarding pre-chiropractic and pre-medical training Pre-medical and pre-chiropractic training programs are nearly identical. All require an undergraduate core curriculum which consists of a minimum of one year of study in biology, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and physics. These courses always include laboratory hours and provide four credit hours per semester. In addition, both chiropractic and medical pre-requisites include both humanities and liberal arts classes. Depending on the chiropractic college a minimum of 2-3 years of undergraduate study must be completed before applying for admission. Beginning September 1999 many of the chiropractic programs will require a bachelors degree as a pre-requisite. To compare this with medical schools I surfed the internet and downloaded the admissions requirements for some of the United States best medical schools. From he table below you will notice that Yale, UCLA, Harvard, Emory and University of Chicago schools of medicine have exactly the same core requirements as the chiropractic colleges. None of the medical schools or chiropractic schools required a bachelors degree for admittance. Rather, it is based upon completion of a core curriculum and meeting the GPA and other non-curriculum based pre-requisites. Obviously, as admission competition increases so do the actual admission requirements. As such, over the past several decades it has become increasingly difficult for both pre-chiropractic and pre-medical students to find colleges for their training. Fortunately, given the number of chiropractic college candidates the entrance competition is not nearly as great as for medical school. It should be noted that many medical
and chiropractic schools will award a
bachelors degree upon completion. The
idea that the pre-chiropractic students
are lesser trained than pre-medical students
must be addressed if this tactic is used
to discredit the chiropractic expert witness. |
|
