What Does it take to become a Chiropractor

As a local born and bred kid from Centurion, I also had all these questions when I first started doing research on what to study etc.

So I went to my local Chiropractor near me with all these questions in mind. So the Chiropractor in Centurion sat me down and we had a long conversation about Chiropractic in general.

So there are two schools to study in South Africa, University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Durban University of Technology (DUT). Because I am from Centurion I went to study at UJ. It is a 6 year Masters degree. The first two years is basically the same as any medical field with subjects like Anatomy, Physics, Chemistry, Physiology, just to name a few.

From the 3rd year the subjects became more specialized for Chiropractors and to pass a subject a score of 60% or more was required. Subjects include, pathology, diagnostics, auxiliary therapies, and Chiropractic adjustments. 4th year it really specializes in chiropractic, with subjects like adjustments, diagnostics, research, and Radiology (Yes we are allowed to take x-rays, and read it properly).

From the 5th year it changes slightly, in the morning there is still class with subjects like Clinical Chiropractic, adjustments and a full year of Dry needling. The afternoons you will have to go and start seeing patients in the local university Chiropractic Clinic. 6th year is just seeing patients in the Chiropractic clinic, do an internship program that consists of observations from local chiropractors, doing courses etc. The big hurdle is to do a Minor dissertation of your choice.

After all this you can register to be a Chiropractor at the Allied Health Professions council of South Africa (AHPCSA