Think back to when you were just a little kid, sitting crisscross applesauce on the teacher’s mat, eager to learn. You were just starting to get a sense of what a job or a career even was, that thing that your parents rushed off to in the morning so they could care for you and buy toys, snacks and everything that makes life wonderful. When your friends were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, they shouted things like teacher, firefighter, astronaut or doctor. It’s pretty unlikely, however, that anyone said they want to be a chiropractor.

Life University (Life U) hopes to play a part in changing that, inspiring people of all ages to understand why Chiropractic is not only a clear pathway to whole health but also an ever-growing professional field that offers immense satisfaction and joy for those truly dedicated to it. As outlined in the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress’ (F4CP) article “Chiropractic: The Ultimate Lifestyle Pursuit,” chiropractors report high levels of job satisfaction that rival and often exceed those reported in other healthcare professions.

For all the good that healthcare professionals create for their patients, working in a patient care environment can be physically and mentally taxing. Burnout is a constant, present concern, with Medscape’s 2024 Physician Burnout and Depression Report outlining that nearly half of physicians report feeling burned out for over two years, while it’s at an even higher rate of 63% for emergency room physicians.

Now, let’s compare that to the satisfaction rates of chiropractors. A scholarly article published in the April 2021 Edition of the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association titled “The best aspects of being a chiropractor” discusses an anonymous online survey of 369 chiropractors in which roughly 75% of them reported feeling very satisfied with their career, while only a 2.2% of them reported being unsatisfied.

 The three major factors that were mentioned in the survey and that are often echoed among Life University students and alumni are as follows:

  1. Whole-being focused- At Life U, we like to call it a focus on whole health. True chiropractors are not interested in contributing to “sick care.” “Sick care” is a revolving door healthcare paradigm of identifying symptoms and attempting to resolve or suppress symptoms with no genuine curiosity into the root cause. Of course, chiropractors often meet patients seeking care for a specific issue, such as back or neck pain, but our mission is to move beyond that and offer care that is preventive and supports the overall healthy lifestyle and well-being of our patients.
  2. Flexibility- Many DCs are practice owners and can therefore set their own hours, allowing for a fair amount of flexibility in scheduling, patient care time and ability to specialize care. That is attractive to many people in the healthcare workforce seeking a more balanced work life.
  3. Chiropractic is healthful personally- Chiropractors benefit from comprehensive chiropractic care and a health-focused lifestyle just like their patients, so that trickles down into their overall job satisfaction as well as their overall well-being.

If you have ever considered becoming a chiropractor, now is the time to learn more about what it takes. For more information on what a Doctor of Chiropractic program entails and next steps, please visit Life University’s Doctor of Chiropractic program page. Better yet, sign up for the next Life Leadership Weekend, a comprehensive on-campus opportunity to experience an in-depth look at the chiropractic profession and the kind of chiropractic education available through Life University.