The Chiropractic School Self-Esteem Issue

Coming from a family of 7 chiropractors has allowed me to see some of the amazing benefits of the profession. Growing up in a large chiropractic family went so far as to provide me the delusion that chiropractic was as main stream as any other health profession. I was rarely sick, I was surround by successful doctors and all I encountered were amazing testimonials to the credit of chiropractic care. Attending chiropractic school has given me a much different perspective.

I was a rather distinguished undergraduate student. I graduated with a gpa north of 3.8 and dual degrees in Biochemistry and Chemical Biotechnology. I won many awards and made many friends. My original thought was to pursue medical school and specialize as a non-surgical sports physician. I had the ability and honestly figured, "why not?" To make a long story short, just before I officially signed off on my acceptance to medical school and began that journey I decided that, if I was going to be non-surgical then why not just be a chiropractic sports physician like my father. He does very well and I could finish with a lot less debt and in less time. When I told my parents I had changed my mind and would be attending chiropractic school instead they all but disowned me. You would think I told them I was quitting school all together and telling them I would just live off of them at home for the rest of my life.

The reaction confused me as I'm sure it confuses you. Why would a successful chiropractor coming from a family of chiropractors be upset that his first born was following his foot steps? The answer was quite simple, he warned me that I had only been exposed to one side of the profession. He warned me that I would not be challenged and that I was throwing away everything I ever did in undgrad. He told me anyone with a pulse can go to chiropractic school and that that was one of the professions largest problems. I did what any other good child would do, I ignored him.

Going into my third year of chiropractic school, I have seen where my father was right and where he was wrong. I am very much proud of my decision and of chiropractic. I was fortunate to go to a good school with some amazing professors. In a profession that is a relative underdog in main stream health care I can say I have been given the best advantage at UBCC. I have been given a much larger diagnostic ability than I ever imagined and arguably more than I ever cared to know. This truly is pleasing because my father has always said, "the manipulation does not make the chiropractor a doctor: anybody can master that skill. What makes us doctors is our ability to diagnose. That is what differentiates us from the person that cracks their friends back", and I feel whole-heartily that he was right. Nothing aggravates me more than when someone references a student that has recently failed out of chiropractic school and they say "its a shame, he was such a great adjuster." The adjustment is a tool and a skill that anyone with a good book and a daring friend can master with enough time.

My father was wrong about the level of education I could attain from chiropractic school. It is something he gladly admits defeat in. If anything, I have made him a believer again in the longevity of the profession. Where he was undoubtedly right though was in the acceptance issue of chiropractic schools.

Our best doctors in chiropractic dominate over the medical general practitioner when it comes to soft tissue dysfunction. However, our worst chiropractor doctors make the worst medical practitioner look like a Nobel laureate. It is a conflict that must be reconciled for us to achieve true positive recognition from our medical peers. Dissenters do not look for the best chiropractor to make an example out of, they look for the worst and we give the worst to them.

Chiropractic suffers from a self-esteem issue. It believes it isn't good enough to attract the eights, nines and tens out there so it settles for the threes and fours, discarding of any self-worth or value. It is insulting to someone that truly wants to be a chiropractor to sit next to the students that simply do it because they know they can get in and that if they can pass the classes they can make a good living. The schools are not doing the profession or the student any favor when they blatantly ignore the fact that a particular student should not represent the profession and probably will not succeed either as a student or as a business person. It would seem unethical to allow someone to go into great debt knowing that they will undoubtedly fail, harm every other chiropractor, or even worse harm a patient. A pulse is simply just not good enough to be the test for admission. We desperately need to raise our standards. Life as a chiropractor does not have to be an uphill battle. I am tired of defending our profession due to the below average students we falsely label doctors. Chiropractic schools, I say to you, have some self-worth and stop proselytizing yourselves to the low caliber applicants. Is it really that simple? Probably not. This may mean the closure of the privately owned schools and growth of the chiropractic colleges that exist with the university setting. Perhaps this will be my next blog. Thank you for reading.

Share Openly and Share Freely,

John Giacalone Jr

Type and Number of Schools	% with Bachelor's Degree	Avg. Minimum GPA Required	Avg. GPA of Enrollees
Medical (17)	99.35%	3.16	3.56
Optometry (16)	76.88%	2.55	3.30
Osteopathic (16)	97.00%	2.68	3.26
Dental (15)	66.87%	2.79	3.13
Podiatry (7)	89.40%	2.76	3.06
Chiropractic (16)	42.25%	2.38	2.90

Reference

1. Doxey TT, Phillips RB. Comparison of entrance requirements for health care professions. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 20:86-91, 1997.