Chiropractic Vs Physical Therapy? For My Career?
how do u guys think about the career of chiropractic and physical therapy. ( would be better if you are on the profession)
in my opinion, chiropractic is little riskier then P.T because of negative concepts of the people. They help patients to stay at their top natural healing point by fixing the problems of muskeletal and nervous system.
Physical therapy is really rewarding career. Their job is to help patients to overcome their injuries by supporting and motivating them.
I really have hard time on picking between chiro and p.t. what do u guys think that should b good?
Tagged with: Career • Chiropractic • Physical • Therapy
Filed under: Chiropractic Therapy
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I agree with the previous people, you’ve somewhat made your mind up.
You’re right about Chiros having to deal with more sh*t than most health care practicioners.
So I guess the only thing I can add are the pros for considering Chiropractic;
The biggest difference between Chiro and PT is that Chiros make more money, have a lot more freedom in what they can do, and affect/help a lot more people (whereas PTs do more for a much smaller scope of people).
I prefer to do 80% of the stuff to fix someone really quickly than spend a while to get 100% so just there my bias lies with Chiropractic (although there are other body work systems I like much more). At the very least, Chiropractic lets you be a lot more flexible and learn a lot more techniques or methods later on.
I think you can make either career rewarding…it depends on how you approach it. I chose physical therapy because I believe in teaching people how to help themselves…not just doing something “to them”. I viewed chiropractic as a way to keep patients dependent on you to keep coming back for more and overbilling for unecessary procedures such as electrical stimulation and hot packs (which really isn’t necessary in all cases). However, once I got out into the field, I realized that there are PTs who practice this way too. I also found that there are chiropractors who are using evidence based practice and do practice based on the patients actual needs and not just a cook book approach. So, my original view of chiropractors was prejudicial. There are good ones and bad ones…just like PT.
You can take either career and make it what you want. However, I advise you to critically look at every procedure you do and decide if :
1. Is it medically necessary
2. Is it really going to help the patient
3. Am I teaching my patient how to prevent reoccurance of their problem and make them less dependent on the health care system, etc.
PT, as a pt you can get a job at a hospital, a clinic, have your own practice, work for the government, teach etc. WIth chiro your only options are working for someone else’s office or starting your own. In chiro these doctors can not offer you retirement benefits, paid days off, you won’t get overtime, or double time for working on a holiday.and chiro associates get paid crap. Go to this website and look at the defualt rates of chiros and that lets you know that a lot of them can;t even afford to pay their own student loans. You can see from this government website that chiropractors have defualted the most out of any of the health professions and that means they can’t pay their bills. Think about it, the last thing you’d want to default on is you student loan because that can not be discharged and you have that for life and if you can’t pay it, they take it out of your social security and or snatch away your professional license. In addition PTs have sign on bonuses, chiros do not. Financially it is a losing proposition. Here is the website..check it out,http://www.defaulteddocs.dhhs.gov/discip…
I’ll start with saying that I’m in Chiropractic school at Logan College of Chiropractic so I’ll admit I’m a little biased. Having said that, Chiropractic is definitely the way to go! Many of the concepts you would learn in PT you will get in chiropractic school, however, there is an incredible scope of practice in chiropractic that PT can’t touch. Yes, as chiropractors we deal with musculoskeletal and nervous system health, but you can dig deeper than that. Personally, I will include nutrition and soft tissue into my practice and as I go through school I’m sure there will be other things I will adopt.
The thing that chiropractic has over and other health care profession is that we have a philosophy. For most of the people at Logan, Chiropractic isn’t just their profession but its their way of life, it’s how we sleep, and eat and really is the only profession that encompasses true, whole body, health. I’m not saying we’re all work-a-holics who do nothing other than school and work, but that as chiropractic students we are able to directly apply what we learn in every aspect of our lives. There is no useless information here.
I can’t speak of what it’s like to practice, because I haven’t “been there” but being able to help people without drugs or to prevent surgery . . . I can’t wait. Thomas Edison said “The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” T.E. was a smart man!
Hope to see you around school, soon!
It sounds like you have it figured out to me. EDIT: more insurances are covering chiro, so it is looking up in that aspect
Since nobody has answered, I’ll toss in my 2 cents.
Nobody here can say which one you would feel better pursuing. Each person at some point in their life needs to decide what makes them happy and what they would like to do daily for the next 20/30/40 years. Sometimes, people are surprised by the career they choose (especially if they’ve completed a degree for a different field), but if someone else tells you what career to pursue, it won’t be anywhere near as fulfilling or enjoyable.
In your question, you say that “Physical therapy is really rewarding career” and you have your doubts about Chiropractic. It sounds like you already know which one you would like to pursue, and it’s understandable that you are a bit hesitant about it…. it’s a big decision to make.
Just follow your heart and follow what you enjoy doing… think about which choice (both positives and negatives) you would like to work with for the next 40 years. Good luck!
I think chriropractic care is the greater good…..you can help people PREVENT a lot of things that they would be going to a physical thearopist for.. and you can treat patients for ailments that have been with them for years which would be very rewarding!
If you become a chiropractor, you will be a primary care doc. people can come directly to you for health care.
If you become a physical therapist you will rely on people being referred by MD, DO,or DC to build your practice.