Career/educational Pathway

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being licensed. Master degrees are common, yet not required for becoming one. The median annual wage for athletic trainers was $42,090 in May 2012.

Between the three careers I researched the one that pleased me the most and brought me the most interest was definitely chiropractics. To pursue this career I dug deeper to find out what schools offered professional programs for chiropractors. The two leading schools that interested me where Palmer College of Chiropractic and the University of Bridgeport. Palmer College is the one I am most intrigued in between the two though. Both colleges provide several programs, yet the program that I will enter will be the Doctor of Chiropractic. This program provides you with the degree to practice chiropractics on patients and implement all the education you have learned onto actual patients. The prerequisites to qualify for the Doctor of Chiropractic program are a minimum of 90 credit hours, 3.0 GPA or greater on a 4.0 scale, 24 semester hours in life and physical science with labs, well-rounded general education program in the humanities and social sciences.(Palmer.edu) Labs are suggested, mainly required in; biology: human anatomy and physiology, embryology, genetics, microbiology, immunology, cellular biology, exercise physiology and kinesiology. Chemistry: general chemistry, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, biochemistry, toxicology/pharmacology, nutrition and nuclear medicine. Physical sciences: physics, biomechanics and statistics.(Palmer.edu) Students who’ve earned 90 semester hours in the appropriate course work with a 2.75 GPA may also qualify for admission to the Doctor of Chiropractic. The tuition at the University of Bridgeport was a pretty hefty one. As a full-time student at the university, the tuition is 12,685 dollars. Part-time is slightly better at 745 dollars per credit hour.(BridgePort.edu) The Palmer College varies by campus locations that they have around the nation. They have campuses in Davenport, Iowa, San Jose, California, and Port Orange, Florida. The Iowa campus charges vary. 16-21 credit hours ─ $10,828 per trimester, and the program is ten trimesters long.(Palmer.edu) For the campus in California, the tuition with 16-21 credit hours ─ $8,084 per quarter while the program is thirteen quarters long.(Palmer.edu) The Florida campus offers 16-21 credit hours ─ $8,084 per quarter. Program is 13 quarters long.(Palmer.edu) Palmer really interested me because of their campus locations and their reputation. I heard a saying one time that there are two type of chiropractors, a palmer chiropractic, and just a chiropractor. The college has pretty low tuition as well for being such an honorary college.

After researching these careers I obtained a great deal of knowledge on the different career pathways I wanted to take. The indecisives by me between my career choices was a bit cleared up to me. I believe I truly found what I want to do in life, that is being a chiropractor. The field just seems right to me, I enjoy the natural and hands on side of chiropractics the most. I believe medicine is not always the route for people, the body is a machine that can achieve all sorts of things including natural healing.The different techniques used in chiropracits is just amazing. For example they use the length of your legs as a measure of unevenness in the spine. We do not notice our spines slowly worsening as we age. What if you did not go to the dentist for the entirety of your life, the side effects are devastating. Now if you never had your back checked by a professional, how would you ever recognize any conditions that may be plaguing you. Chiropractics just exemplifies that for me, and that is what makes it so right as a career path. I fully understand the requirements to achieve this career, and will transfer the knowledge I received through this