"Excuse me, but your patient has arrived..."

Many have been asking me in the past week or so how clinical internship works at chiropractic college, in particular at NYCC.  I"ll start from the basics, in case you are new to learning about chiro schools...

All chiropractic college programs require their students to attain certain clinical requirements working with patients, under the supervision of a licensed DC-clinician.  This is much like the requirement of all other health professions (ie. physiotherapy students and "placement terms", medicine students and "clerkship" or "residency").  Same concept.

At NYCC, clinical phase begins in 7th trimester, lasting til 10th (final) semester.  Essentially, more or less than 40% of your NYCC education is spent with clinical experience.  This proportion can vary depending on which chiropractic college you attend.

Initially, the first four months of NYCC clinical phase is spent at 7th trimester on campus, treating predominantly in-patients.  Treating hours are limited in 7th trimester, but student interns can accrue to as many as 6 regular weekly patients.

Student interns will have to perform and be evaluated on certain clinical procedures on their patients.  These evaluations are done by supervising clinicans, who serve in a mentorship capacity.  These procedures include health history taking, physical examination procedures, special imaging (ie. x-ray), diagnosis and treatment management/application. 

Paper work and managing patient files becomes a life style.  Handwriting and spelling/grammar scrutiny rises to an all-time high.

Then, it gets even more interesting, as outpatient arrives...more to come tomorrow...stay tuned!  The journey continues...