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Studies & Degrees in Chiropractic

Chiropractic is a health profession concerned with the spine, the joints and the muscles and nerves that work with them. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) describes chiropractors as practitioners who assess, treat and care for patients by manipulating the spine and musculoskeletal system. They review a patient's medical history, adjust the spinal column and other joints, and refer patients to other healthcare professionals when needed. Most of their patients come with pain in the back, neck or joints.

How chiropractic is taught and regulated differs sharply from one country to another. In some countries it is a licensed profession with a protected title and a long university programme; in others it has no place in the law on health professions.

What students learn

A chiropractic programme starts with the same basic sciences as other health degrees: anatomy, physiology and biology, followed by diagnosis, imaging and adjustment techniques. Supervised clinical work with patients takes up a large part of the final stage. According to the BLS, courses in business management, such as marketing and finance, may also be included, because many graduates run their own practice.

Qualifications and levels

  • United States. Chiropractors must hold a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree from an accredited chiropractic college. The D.C. usually takes four years, and admission requires at least three years of undergraduate education; applicants commonly have a bachelor's degree. Every state requires a licence, which at a minimum means an accredited D.C. degree and an exam. Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC), whose D.C. programme is accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education, states that the degree can be finished in as few as 10 trimesters, or 3.3 years.
  • Switzerland. The University of Zurich teaches chiropractic inside its Faculty of Medicine as a six-year accredited university programme under the Swiss federal law on the medical professions. The first three years are identical to the Human Medicine programme, with additional modules in chiropractic, and lead to a Bachelor of Medicine. A three-year Master of Chiropractic Medicine follows, with clinical training at Balgrist University Hospital. Graduates then sit a federal examination and complete a two-year postgraduate programme before they qualify for independent practice.
  • Australia. Chiropractors are one of 15 health professions in the national registration scheme. The Chiropractic Board of Australia registers chiropractors and students and approves accredited programmes of study; the Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia accredits the programmes.
  • Rest of Europe. The European Council on Chiropractic Education (ECCE) accredits programmes that give a first qualification in chiropractic. Its list includes master's-level programmes such as the Master of Chiropractic (MChiro) in the United Kingdom and the Diplôme de chiropracteur in France.
  • Spain. The Spanish law on health professions (Ley 44/2003) names medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and veterinary medicine, and nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, optics and optometry, speech therapy and human nutrition and dietetics. Chiropractic is not named in that list. Two colleges in Spain have ECCE-accredited programmes: the Barcelona College of Chiropractic (Título Superior en Quiropráctica and Máster en Quiropráctica, accredited since 2017) and the McTimoney College of Chiropractic in Madrid (Master of Chiropractic, accredited since 2024). Ask the school what recognition its qualification has in Spain and in the country where you plan to work.

Chiropractic should not be confused with quiromasaje, a form of massage widely taught in Spain in short private courses. CIM Formación, for example, offers a quiromasaje course of 130 hours in Barcelona. Such a course trains massage practitioners, not chiropractors.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 12 active schools under chiropractic: five in Spain, three in the United States, two in Australia and one each in Switzerland and Ukraine. They are of very different kinds. The University of Zurich and CUKC in Overland Park, Kansas, teach full chiropractic programmes. In Australia the list has Macquarie University in Sydney and CQUniversity, and in the United States also the College of Southern Idaho and Bismarck State College. The Spanish entries include training centres such as CIM Formación, CCC Centro de Estudios, Formación Universitaria and Churruca Formación, and the Real Centro Universitario Escorial-María Cristina near Madrid. Check with each school whether it offers a full chiropractic degree, preparatory science study or a short manual-therapy course.

Careers

Most chiropractors work in private practice. In the United States they held about 61,700 jobs in 2025: 57 percent worked in offices of chiropractors and 36 percent were self-employed. The BLS projects employment of chiropractors to grow 9 percent from 2025 to 2035. In Spain, the Asociación Española de Quiropráctica (AEQ), founded in 1986, states that it has more than 430 members; it admits only graduates of programmes recognised by the ECCE.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to become a chiropractor?

In the United States, about four years for the D.C. degree on top of at least three years of undergraduate study, according to the BLS. At the University of Zurich the university programme takes six years and is followed by two years of postgraduate training.

Is chiropractic a regulated health profession in Spain?

Chiropractic is not among the professions named in Spain's law on health professions (Ley 44/2003). Two colleges in Spain have programmes accredited by the European Council on Chiropractic Education; ask them what their qualification allows you to do in Spain and abroad.

Is a quiromasaje course the same as chiropractic?

No. Quiromasaje is massage, taught in short courses such as the 130-hour course at CIM Formación. Chiropractic is a university-level programme of several years with supervised clinical training.