Pre-Chiropractic

If you are a prospective student, you can contact the Office of Admissions & Scholarships, (785) 864-3911, www.admissions.ku.edu, to schedule a tour and information meetings.

If you are currently a KU student, you can schedule an orientation meeting with Paul Crosby by calling 864-3500. 

For a career description, including nature of the work, education, job outlook & earnings, see the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook at www.bls.gov/oco/ocos071.htm.

Interview chiropractors to find out what they do, what they like and dislike about their jobs, and what advice they have for people preparing to enter the profession. Most successful candidates have visited a chiropractor, and some have worked in chiropractic offices and/or found a mentor in the profession.

Different chiropractic schools have different education requirements, but most require 90 hours of pre-requisite coursework, typically including:

2 semesters of English/communications, e.g., ENGL101 Composition and ENGL 102 Critical Reading & Writing

2 semesters of biology w/labs, e.g., BIOL 150 Molecular & Cellular Biology and BIOL 152 Organismal Biology. 

2 semesters of chemistry w/labs, e.g., CHEM 184 Chemistry I and CHEM 188 Chemistry II

2 semesters of organic chemistry w/labs, or 1 semester of organic & lab and 1 semester of biochemistry & lab, e.g., CHEM 624 Organic I & 625 Lab and CHEM 626 Organic II & 627 Lab, or CHEM 622 Fundamentals of Organic & 625 Lab and BIOL 600 Introductory Biochemistry & 637 Lab

2 semesters of physics w/labs, or 1 semester of physics with one semester of biomechanics, math-based statistics, kinesiology, or exercise physiology, e.g., PHSX 114 College Physics I and PHSX 115 College Physics II, HSES 670 Introduction to Biomechanics, MATH 365 Elementary Statistics, or HSES 672 Exercise Physiology. 

1 semester of psychology, e.g., PSYC 104 General Psychology

~15 hours of social sciences & humanities

Most require "C" grades or better in all prerequisites. 

In addition to minimum requirements, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, cell biology, nutrition, immunology, genetics, public speaking, technical writing, accounting, marketing, small business, and additional psychology courses are recommended.

There are different ways of sequencing courses, so it's important to seek additional input from a faculty advisor from your major department.

Admissions. You should request application information directly from chiropractic colleges. For a list of programs and contact information, see www.chirocolleges.org/prospective_students.html.

The two closest chiropractic colleges are Cleveland Chiropractic College in Overland Park, Kansas, and Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, Missouri.