When searching for the right school for your chiropractic education, it’s important to consider what will set you apart from the competition in terms of employment and, more importantly, what will benefit your future patients.

National University of Health Sciences’ (NUHS’) doctor of chiropractic (DC) program offers a unique approach to health care. This methodology, designed to produce “whole health healers,” trains chiropractic physicians to treat the whole person in an individualized and proactive way.

What does this mean for prospective students comparing various schools? And, how do you know whether you’ve found the right school for your doctor of chiropractic degree?

Here are five unique qualities that set NUHS’ doctor of chiropractic medicine apart from other institutions for chiropractic education.

1. You’ll Receive Superior Diagnostic Training

NUHS champions broad-scope medical training for chiropractic students as opposed to a narrow focus on only spinal health and adjustments. 

Learning to make informed medical diagnoses and to employ a wide range of clinically proven treatment modalities is the mainstay of what is termed a “broad-scope” chiropractic curriculum.

To help you become a skilled diagnostician, NUHS provides a rigorous and holistic chiropractic education that covers both basic and clinical sciences. You’ll also benefit from evaluation and management courses that combine technique and diagnosis training. These courses teach you to think like a doctor so that you learn not only how to adjust but why, where, and when to adjust, if articular adjusting is the correct intervention for the patient’s condition.

2. You’ll Learn How to Treat the Whole Person, Not Just Symptoms

A patient who comes in with a headache isn’t just a “head problem.” Neither does that patient automatically need a neck adjustment. A chiropractic physician trained in NUHS’ doctor of chiropractic program will evaluate the full range of possibilities that could be causing the patient’s headache. They will consider the total person, as well as the patient’s complete health profile and medical history.

A headache could be caused by something as serious as a brain tumor, or is perhaps a sign of infection in another part of the body, or the result of work-related stress. It even could be caused by a neglected dental problem. A whole health physician has the medical training necessary to ask the right questions and evaluate the total picture before making a diagnosis and treatment plan.

3. You’ll be Trained to Use Manipulation Along with Other Tools

Whole health physicians learn how to tap into a wide range of treatment options to help their patients in the most effective way possible. A chiropractic physician who sees manual adjustment as the only effective health treatment is like a mechanic with a toolbox that contains only a hammer. Students graduating from National University, on the other hand, are trained in a wide variety of medical modalities and have a well-stocked “toolbox.”

NUHS graduates are able to employ a host of clinically-proven treatment options for the good of their patients, including:

• Modern medical diagnostic testing
• Nutritional assessment and lifestyle counseling
• Botanical medicine
• Physical rehabilitation therapy

Many patients, especially those with chronic health problems, see vast improvements when treated using a variety of tools. What works for one patient may not work for another.

4. You’ll Learn How to Work Integratively with Other Health Professionals

Since 2000, when National University changed from a single purpose college to a multipurpose university, our mantra has been “collegiality not competition.” This emphasis on integrative medicine means learning how to effectively co-manage patient cases with professionals from other medical specialties when appropriate, including:

• MDs
• Naturopathic physicians
• Licensed acupuncturists
• Massage therapists

While interning at the on-campus Whole Health Center clinic, students work alongside other health care students and practitioners within chiropractic medicine, naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, oriental medicine and massage therapy.

By understanding how each field treats patients, you can provide more treatment options to patients through referral. You will also be better prepared to discuss diagnosis and treatment options with other doctors and understand the kind of care a patient may have already received under a different physician. 

5. NUHS Will Prepare You for the Future of Health Care

With the ongoing opioid epidemic and antibiotic crisis, people today are realizing that there are no shortcuts when it comes to maintaining long-term health. Combined with the high rate of chronic conditions in America, the types of preventative care and whole health healing National University graduates provide are increasingly in demand.

National University has long been ahead of trends by pioneering a broad-scope curriculum and clinical care policy that emphasizes whole health healing and integrative medicine. With a doctor of chiropractic degree from National University, you can be a part of the whole health healing revolution and offer patient-centered care that is truly effective.

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