HISTORY

Written records from the ancient Greek and Chinese civilizations, dating back several thousand years, refer to spinal manipulation. The inception of modern chiropractic can be traced back to 1895 when Canadian Daniel David Palmer performed the first chiropractic adjustment and went on to found The Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa in 1897.

The 20th Century saw the growth and development of the profession worldwide, gaining recognition and respect for the place it has taken in the primary care environment. Influential research has underpinned the development of the profession and has come both from both within and outside of the chiropractic research communities.

Chiropractic is unique in that the profession is organised internationally and there are international standards for education.

The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) is the largest and longest-standing association for chiropractors in the UK. It was founded in 1925 and has a membership comprising well in excess of 50% of the UK's registered chiropractors. The BCA only accepts members who have graduated from a nationally or internationally-recognised college of chiropractic education, after a minimum of four years full-time training and ensures its chiropractors maintain high standards of conduct, practice, education and training.

It takes at least four years of full-time study to become a chiropractor at the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic (AECC) which offers a course leading to an MSc degree, or the University of Glamorgan, which offer's BSc (Hons) degree. The courses are followed by a postgraduate year spent on the British Chiropractic Association's Vocational Training Scheme (VTS), which students spend in a chiropractic clinic with the support of a qualified Trainer. Upon successful completion of the VTS the student is awarded the Diploma in Chiropractic (DC). Only chiropractors trained at an accredited college can become members of the British Chiropractic Association (BCA), the largest association for the profession in the UK, established since 1925, and now representing over 800 UK chiropractors.

The Chiropractors Act received Royal Assent in July 1994. Resulting from it, the General Chiropractic Council was announced in January 1997. It will be responsible for setting standards of both education and conduct within the profession, and will require all chiropractors to be registered to practise legally in the UK.