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Chiropractor

Chiropractors manipulate joints, bones and soft tissue to help clients control pain or prevent injuries from re-occurring.

Average salary (a year)

£20,000 Starter

to

£80,000 Experienced

Typical hours (a week)

37 to 39 variable

You could work

in your own business managing your own hours

How to become a chiropractor

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course

University

You'll need to complete a 4-year degree or postgraduate master's course recognised by the General Chiropractic Council.

This involves 3 years of full-time study and 1 year working under supervision.

You may be able to take an Access to Science course if you do not have the degree entry requirements.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English, maths and a science
  • 3 A levels, including two sciences

More information

Volunteering and experience

You'll need to get paid or unpaid experience of working with a chiropractor before applying for a course.

You'll also find it useful to get experience of working in a health or care role. You could contact the voluntary services co-ordinator or manager at your local NHS trust for more advice.

More information

Registration

  • you'll need to be registered with the General Chiropractic Council (GCC) before you can work as a chiropractor 

Further information

You can find out more about becoming a chiropractor from the General Chiropractic Council and the British Chiropractic Association.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

  • sensitivity and understanding
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • customer service skills
  • leadership skills
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work well with others
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Restrictions and requirements

You'll need to:

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

Your day-to-day duties may include:

  • using your hands to treat disorders of bones, muscles and joints
  • manipulating the spine
  • treating neck, back and shoulder pain
  • treating sciatica and leg problems
  • helping clients with sports injuries, poor posture and joint and muscle pain
  • making sure your client’s condition is suitable for treatment
  • discussing their symptoms and health problems in detail
  • carrying out examinations, sometimes using x-rays or blood tests
  • designing a programme of treatment for each individual client
  • giving advice on lifestyle, diet and exercise to support recovery

Working environment

You could work in a therapy clinic.

Career path and progression

With experience you could set up your own practice.

You could also move into education, or specialise in sports medicine, rehabilitation, neurology or research.

Training opportunities

Apprenticeships In England

We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a chiropractor right now.

The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.

Courses In England

Access to Health Science

  • Provider: Burton and South Derbyshire College
  • Start date: 16 September 2019
  • Location: Burton on Trent

NOCN Certificate in Progression to Further Studies in Health Science L2 - Pre Access to Health Science

  • Provider: Bishop Auckland College
  • Start date: 01 September 2019
  • Location: Bishop Auckland
Find courses near you

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