Western States Chiropractic College offers a four-year program leading to the Doctor of Chiropractic degree; an optional Baccalaureate of Science in Human Biology is available for students enrolled in the D.C. program. Educational opportunities are also available to meet continuing education requirements for chiropractic physicians through the Division of Postgraduate Education.

The Doctor of Chiropractic Degree

The Doctor of Chiropractic is considered a "first professional degree." Unlike pure academic degrees such as the doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.), first professional degrees do not presuppose that a student has earned a bachelor's and a master's degree. First professional degrees are characteristic of many fields, including other health professions such as dentistry (D.D.S.), medicine (M.D.), optometry (O.D.), and law (J.D.).

Prerequisites for admission to the Doctor of Chiropractic program include a minimum of three years of specific undergraduate course work. New students are admitted for fall and winter terms. Students typically enroll as full-time students and attend lectures, labs, or clinic, for an average of 31 hours per week. There are 12 sequential quarters of course work in the curriculum, and students enroll for at least three quarters (nine months) per year.

The curriculum at Western States Chiropractic College is a prescribed course of study in which all core curriculum classes must be successfully completed in the proper sequence. The curriculum at WSCC is dynamic and improvements and additions are created on an on-going basis.

The first and second years of the chiropractic program are devoted primarily to the basic sciences; chiropractic philosophy, techniques and skills; and biomechanic principles with some clinic observation. The third year emphasizes the clinical and chiropractic sciences and includes the clinical experience of treating student-patients in the Student Health Center. The fourth year provides for practical clinical experience through treating the public in the College clinics.

Enrollment in lecture classes averages about 140 in each class for first-year classes of fall entrants and about 50 for winter entrants. Second-year lecture class sizes range between 50 and 100. Third- and fourth-year lecture class size typically is between 35 and 75. Lab and clinic sections typically have one instructor, or assistant, for every 10 to 25 students.

View DC curriculum.