Chiropractic Education

In Europe, most chiropractic programmes are given at universities or affiliated with universities. All new programmes are set within a university framework. The entry requirements are identical to the ones set for medical students at the university I attended. In fact, the bachelor programme at the University of Southern Denmark was identical for medical and chiropractic students (with extra classes for the chiropractic students). Currently, 5/6 of the two programmes are identical the first 3 years, where they split up in two different Master’s degrees in year 4.

Because there is no chiropractic programme in The Netherlands as of yet, a fair portion of the chiropractors here are foreigners such as myself; all have enjoyed their training outside of the country. To ensure a higher degree of cohesion within the group and to equip new graduates even better to practice life in the Netherlands, the Netherlands’ Chiropractic Association hosts a mandatory one-year Graduate Education Programme. During this year the new graduate works under the supervision of an experienced chiropractor, attends seminars on technique, the Dutch health care system, laws and regulations, etc.

Due to the diversity in educational background, the titles of chiropractors practising in The Netherlands are many: BSc(Hons) – Bachelor of Science Honours or MSc of MChiro – Master of Science / Master of Chiropractic or DC – Doctor of Chiropractic. The level of educational standard, however, remains high and under regulation of the European Council on Chiropractic Education (ECCE) for the European programmes.