Education of a Clarksville TN Chiropractor
Choosing a chiropractor shouldn't mean decoding a wall of initials. Three things get lumped together when people talk about a chiropractor's education: the D.C. degree, a state license and any specialty training. They answer different questions. Here's how to tell them apart and check a Tennessee license yourself.
What degree does a chiropractor earn, and how much schooling does it take?
A chiropractor earns a Doctor of Chiropractic, or D.C., degree. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the usual route is at least three years of undergraduate education, then a chiropractic program that typically takes four years. Coursework at chiropractic schools includes anatomy and physiology, with supervised clinical experience in assessment and chiropractic techniques. Paths vary. All of our chiropractors are Palmer College of Chiropractic graduates.
A D.C. isn't an M.D. The degree names the profession, and no one degree covers every kind of healthcare.
Are chiropractors licensed or board certified?
The state issues the license to practice. The National Board of Chiropractic Examiners writes exams whose results state licensing boards use when evaluating applicants, but passing them isn't a national license. So the usual path runs from the D.C. degree to the national board exams to a state license, overseen here by Tennessee's Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
Some chiropractors go on to postgraduate programs that can lead to diplomate credentials in particular fields. Those sit apart from the basic degree and license. A general chiropractic degree isn't a pediatric, prenatal, sports or other specialty certification.
"Board certified" only tells you something once you know which board, which credential, and that it's current. As for our own team: none of our doctors currently holds a separate pediatric or prenatal chiropractic certification or specialty license.
How do you check a chiropractor's license in Tennessee?
The Tennessee Board of Chiropractic Examiners regulates chiropractic licensing in the state. The state's license verification service lets you search by name and compare the name, profession and license status with the person you plan to see.
For our own doctors, start with the team page, and you're welcome to bring questions about their training to your appointment. A lookup confirms the license. The plan is a separate conversation, and here it comes after the exam, once we've gone over what we found.
When did chiropractic begin?
Palmer College dates D.D. Palmer's first chiropractic adjustment to 1895 in Davenport, Iowa, and the first classes of the Palmer School to 1897, according to the college's historical account.
Those dates are where the profession started. They say nothing about what an adjustment does for any condition today, and neither do the early stories you may have read about chiropractic and hearing.
What matters more than classroom hours?
Whoever you see, five things say more than any transcript, and each one is good to know before you agree to a plan of care:
- what the exam suggests is causing your symptoms
- the likely benefits, limits and risks of the proposed care
- the alternatives, and what they offer
- how progress will be measured, and how you'll decide together if care should continue
- when you'd be sent to someone else
On that last one, we'll tell you when what we find isn't something we treat. If we are not able to help you with your problem or are unable to reduce your pain levels, we will make sure to give you a recommendation to another experienced provider.
Our guide to what chiropractic care involves covers treatment, and our first-visit page covers what to expect. If you'd rather size up our chiropractors' training across a desk than on a state website, give us a call.
Follow the evidence
Research, with context.
Selected published sources behind what we've written, each with what it found and what it can't tell us. We give you both halves because no paper can diagnose you or predict how your own care will go.
Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions
209 studies of decision aids across a range of treatment and screening choices.
What it foundDecision aids improved knowledge and understanding of risks and helped people make choices that reflected their informed values.
What it can't tell usMost of the decisions studied had nothing to do with chiropractic care. It supports laying out the options and trade-offs plainly. It doesn't rank clinics, check credentials or show that any particular treatment works.
Publication details & citation
Stacey et al. Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2024. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001431.pub6.
Read the publication record
Our editorial policy explains how to read these sources and what our clinical-review labels mean.