What does a chiropractor do?
A chiropractor is a healthcare professional who provides care and relief to patients with neuromusculoskeletal problems by re-aligning the spine and adjusting other joints. Your duties typically include working with patients on their lifestyle, guiding them on nutrition, exercise, and sleeping habits, and evaluating patients' condition based on their medical history and symptoms. Additionally, you will be responsible for examining the spine and posture, running tests and taking X-rays, and using massage, heat, and cold therapy to treat patients.
Chiropractor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real chiropractor resumes:
- Manage AR and EOB's from insurance companies.
- Perform cervical whiplash protocols to manage pain and increase function.
- Set patients up for MRI's.
- Treat patients with chiropractic, physical therapy, exercise, and acupuncture
- Used techniques including diversify, activator, drop piece, Graston and acupuncture.
- Treat patients in all aspects of chiropractic care as well as acupuncture care.
- Set up appointments for patients requiring additional services such as MRI's and other physician appointments.
- Focus on rehabilitation, acupuncture, physiotherapy, manual therapy, spinal manipulations.
- Provide professional preventative and diagnostic chiropractic care to patients with spine and joint misalignment.
- Meet with clients individually to evaluate evidence and other information, provide recommendations and legal advice, and devise/review litigation strategy.
- Focuse practice on litigation avoidance successfully negotiating disputes to ensure clients an amicable and cost effective resolution to their legal issues.
- Preform follow up exams and x-rays.
- Implement manual exercises, traction, massage to alleviate pain or prevent deformity.
- Advocate on behalf of clients at mediation, arbitration and mandatory settlement conferences.
- Experience in radiology, diagnosing, treatment plans, and clinical re-evaluation of patient status
Chiropractor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 46% of Chiropractors are proficient in Patients, Medical Histories, and Spine. They’re also known for soft skills such as Empathy, Dexterity, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Chiropractors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 46%
Initiated and managed natural care for hypothyroid and type II diabetic patients using nutritional counseling, lifestyle modification and supplementation.
- Medical Histories, 23%
Collect medical histories, explain treatment procedures to patients, prepare patients for examinations and assist physicians during examinations.
- Spine, 12%
Provided professional preventative and diagnostic chiropractic care to patients with spine and joint misalignment.
- Manual Adjustments, 4%
Perform manual adjustments to spinal and extremity articulations to correct dysfunction.
- Musculoskeletal System, 4%
Performed spinal and bodily adjustments to correct the musculoskeletal system.
- Patient Care, 3%
Managed a busy predominantly personal injury based clinic and responsible for every aspect of patient care.
Most chiropractors use their skills in "patients," "medical histories," and "spine" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential chiropractor responsibilities here:
Empathy. One of the key soft skills for a chiropractor to have is empathy. You can see how this relates to what chiropractors do because "chiropractors often care for people who are in pain." Additionally, a chiropractor resume shows how chiropractors use empathy: "position required complete understanding of and compliance with all hippa laws and requirements. "
Dexterity. Many chiropractor duties rely on dexterity. "chiropractors must have good coordination when performing manual adjustments to a patient's spine and other joints.," so a chiropractor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways chiropractor responsibilities rely on dexterity: "modified the joints of the spine using special chiropractic equipment, devices and bare hands. "
Interpersonal skills. A big part of what chiropractors do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to chiropractor responsibilities because "chiropractors must be personable in order to put patients at ease and expand their practice." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical chiropractor tasks: "provided patient care, organized and filed important documemts, insurance verification skills enthusiastic outgoing strong interpersonal"
Detail oriented. Another common skill required for chiropractor responsibilities is "detail oriented." This skill comes up in the duties of chiropractors all the time, as "chiropractors must pay attention when diagnosing and treating patients to avoid mistakes that could harm them." An excerpt from a real chiropractor resume shows how this skill is central to what a chiropractor does: "performed all aspects of patient care including detailed patient histories, exams and x-rays. "
The three companies that hire the most chiropractors are:
- The Joint Chiropractic384 chiropractors jobs
- Private Practice9 chiropractors jobs
- Complete Care3 chiropractors jobs
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Chiropractor vs. Associate doctor
A chiropractic assistant is an employee who works directly under a senior chiropractor by providing administrative support and clinical assistance. Chiropractic assistants maintain order in the clinic's waiting room by greeting their patients and checking them in for appointments. They are often specially trained to assist patients with x-rays and take their vital signs. Since chiropractic assistants usually deal with patients, they must able to communicate well and have the ability to stay calm under pressure.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a chiropractor are more likely to require skills like "medical histories," "spine," "manual adjustments," and "musculoskeletal system." On the other hand, a job as an associate doctor requires skills like "chiropractic," "physical exams," "patient exams," and "practice management." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Associate doctors tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $64,154. In contrast, chiropractors make the biggest average salary, $64,134, in the professional industry.associate doctors tend to reach similar levels of education than chiropractors. In fact, associate doctors are 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 15.5% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Chiropractor vs. Chiropractic physician
Each career also uses different skills, according to real chiropractor resumes. While chiropractor responsibilities can utilize skills like "spine," "manual adjustments," "musculoskeletal system," and "health problems," chiropractic physicians use skills like "physical therapy," "diagnosis," "soft tissue," and "physical exams."
Chiropractic physicians earn a higher average salary than chiropractors. But chiropractic physicians earn the highest pay in the non profits industry, with an average salary of $199,088. Additionally, chiropractors earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $64,134 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Chiropractic physicians tend to reach similar levels of education than chiropractors. In fact, they're 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 15.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Chiropractor vs. Chiropractic internship
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a chiropractor is likely to be skilled in "spine," "musculoskeletal system," "rehabilitation," and "physical examinations," while a typical chiropractic internship is skilled in "physical exams," "soft tissue," "physical therapy modalities," and "patient exams."
When it comes to education, chiropractic interns tend to earn similar degree levels compared to chiropractors. In fact, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 25.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Chiropractor vs. Chiropractor assistant
Updated January 8, 2025
