Every now and then I get a patient who asks me the above question. My answer is usually very succinct and revealing, “Depends.”
Wow, that just clears it all up doesn’t it?
The real answer is, it does depend. What is your definition of a doctor. According to Webster a doctor is a person skilled or specializing in healing arts, one (as a physician, dentist, or veterinarian) who holds an advanced degree and is licensed to practice.”
Hmm, that sure sounds an awful lot like what I do.
Another one I get, usually right after I was treating someone in the kind manner that I am known for, “Did you really go to school for this?” No, you would be amazed at what you can learn from youtube these days!! Of course I went to school for this. As a matter of fact here is a breakdown in hours of my science education vs that of an MD, tell me if you can see a difference:
|
Subject |
Chiropractic Schools |
Medical Schools |
||
|
|
Hours |
% of Total |
Hours |
% of Total |
| Anatomy |
570 |
40 |
368 |
31 |
| Biochemistry |
150 |
11 |
120 |
10 |
| Microbiology |
120 |
8 |
120 |
10 |
| Public Health |
70 |
5 |
289 |
24 |
| Physiology |
305 |
21 |
142 |
12 |
| Pathology |
205 |
14 |
162 |
14 |
| Total Hours |
1,420 |
100 |
1,200 |
100 |
As you can see our basic science training is virtually identical. The MD’s spend more time in public health and we spend more time in anatomy and physiology.
As we both go along in school they take courses that are more medical in nature and we take courses more chiropractic in nature. According to the Center for Studies in Health Policy, we will take 1975 hours in chiropractic science course work.
Hopefully this will answer those questions as to whether or not we received our training from the back of a matchbook cover 🙂
