Schools and Salaries

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

I receive questions via email about chiropractic schools and chiropractic salaries more than any other topic related to the field. I took the time to answer a particular question today (Doctrine Degree and Chiropractor Intoxication Manslaughter) but the reality is I have hundreds of questions remaining unanswered that are growing stagnant. I do hope to get more of the emails answered but I find it takes about 30 minutes per email to provide a good reply. It’s a losing battle when 10+ queries come in daily.

While looking for information on a question asked today, I found quite a few news and blog posts I had not organized, which may contain answers to some of the regular questions coming in. Consider this post a related posts starting point for various questions I’m receiving.

6 different chiropractors make suggestions on choosing a chiropractic school. I thought that was a good one, I like the idea of getting opinions from other chiropractors, so answers are not coming from me alone.

Sometimes it’s a straight question, Can You offer Advice about Chiropractic Schools? I’ve been answering some of these questions for years, but many of the basics have not changed, it’s worth a reread for those considering chiropractic as a career.

In most cases, the subject line received via email becomes the post title, in this particular case it was a… Question Concerning Chiropractic Schools. I reread that post myself, information still stands, research chiropractic schools and attend the one that most suits what you’ll be seeking in becoming a successful chiropractor.

How about some atlas vertebral art?

Sometimes I ask the questions, like… Did your Chiropractic College experience Suck? If your life sucks, I doubt chiropractic college is going to magically make things better. And anyways, you don’t have to had liked school in order to be successful in practice, at least not that I am aware of.

In 2006, an aspiring chiropractor named Melissa emailed me and she had several questions, I think I gave some pretty good answers (I especially like the 10 Year Chiropractic Success Plan).

Not many questions answered in the 10 Years After Chiropractors Graduation post but at least I’m getting closer to doing a 15 years after article. The reminder for myself here was keep in touch with old classmates, it can come in handy when you need someone to talk to in the later years. They have been there too, they know what you are going through.

Choosing to become a chiropractor is not an easy decision and in answering Questions About Practicing Chiropractic I mentioned I don’t think anyone should jump to the decision. Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking chiropractic school is easy. Same goes for the advice that running the business is easy.

Not all students are 21 years old, some choose Chiropractic as a Mid Life Career Change. I did my best to answer based on what I’ve seen at chiropractic schools and the chiropractors I’ve met who entered the field as a 2nd or 3rd career.

Regardless if you are planning to work before going to chiropractic school, are planning to work during chiropractic school, or are going to load up all your debt until after graduation, please make serious plans towards paying off your chiropractic student loans. Don’t take it lightly and don’t just assume you’ll figure it out after you get into practice. No point going into business with a noose halfway tightened around your neck. You’ll have other things to be focusing on, so try and get the loan thing figured out in advance and do your best to keep debt to a minimum.

Finally, if you want to be successful, you have to get in the habit of Seeing Yourself as a Success. Nothing to do particularly with chiropractic schooling but I came across it today and thought it’s a mindset that would be beneficial to adopt.