The Typical American Doctor of Chiropractic

How Chiropractors Think and Practice, by Dr. William MacDonald, et al. (please see "New Study Finds Unity in Chiropractic" on the front page of this issue), provides us with a portrait of today's U.S. doctor of chiropractic. According to the survey, today's DC:

 

• wants to continue using the term "vertebral subluxation complex" (88.1% agreement);
• believes the adjustment should not be limited to musculoskeletal conditions (89.8%);
• believes the subluxation is a contributing factor to visceral ailments (62.1%); and
• routinely performs and provides the following for his or her patients:

   

  1. exercise recommendations (97.8%);
  2. periodic maintenance/wellness care (93.6%);
  3. differential diagnosis (93.4%);
  4. ergonomic recommendations (93.2%);
  5. general nutrition advice (87.7%);
  6. stress-reduction recommendations (86.4%);
  7. teaching a relation between spinal subluxations and visceral health (76.5%); and
  8. specific vitamin/herbal recommendations; (72.0%)


• opposes chiropractors writing prescriptions for all medicines, including controlled substances (88.6%);
• believes the following forms of care are appropriate for our chiropractic scope of practice:

   

  1. home-based exercise (98.6%);
  2. orthotics/pillows (97.7%);
  3. clinic-based exercise (96.9%);
  4. vitamins and minerals (96.7%);
  5. collars, supports and braces (96.6%);
  6. acupressure (94.0%);
  7. modalities (EMS, etc.) (93.5%);
  8. massage (93.1%);
  9. herbs (91.1%);
  10. TENS units (90.6%);
  11. thermography (88.6%);
  12. surface EMG (86.9%);
  13. homeopathics (82.1%);
  14. acupuncture (76.8%);
  15. hospital admitting privileges (74.2%);
  16. in-house labwork (68.2%); and
  17. manipulation under anesthesia (67.2%).

In addition, the authors bring our attention to the fact that almost half of the profession (46.4%) see themselves as "middle-scope" practitioners. These DCs seemingly have rejected the extremes of the "narrow-scope" (straight) and "broad-scope" (mixer) philosophies in exchange for a more inclusive position. About one-third (34.3%) of U.S. DCs see themselves as broad scope; about about one-fifth (19.3%) consider themselves narrow scope.

So, these are today's doctors of chiropractic:

• We retain the subluxation complex, and believe it is more than musculoskeletal.
• We differentially diagnose and use exercise, ergonomics, nutrition and stress reduction in our practices.
• We continue to oppose DCs writing prescriptions for all drugs.
• We are comfortable with a broad scope of chiropractic practice, although not every DC wants to utilize every form of care.
• We are less likely to see ourselves in one of the two traditionally opposing philosophical camps than previously thought.

This study clearly supports those who have long been saying we have more in common than not. It flies in the face of those who continue to exaggerate the different factions within chiropractic and the need for such fractionalization. And while some chiropractic politicians may still be posturing to continue our history of dis-unity, the average practicing DC knows full well that the vast majority of us think and practice along similar lines, and that we're willing to accept most of the noncritical differences we may have.

DMP Jr.