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Undergraduate study
Nursing & Health

Chiropractic MSci (Hons)

Chiropractic is a healthcare profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on the function of the nervous system and general health.

 

Course overview

Accredited

MSci (Hons) Chiropractic

Discover why you should study chiropractic at Teesside, from our accredited staff to our facilities which replicate practice. Hear from current students as they tell us about their experience and why they chose this subject.

You develop your knowledge, skills and behaviours which will enable you to deliver high levels of patient care in a safe and competent manner.

A mix of theory and practical-based modules develop the required knowledge base and practical skills required to be a chiropractor. You undertake several clinical placements throughout the course, including spending time in chiropractic practices throughout the North East of England. This will include four- ten days in Year 1, ten days in Year 2, and 26 days in Year 3. Year 4 includes a clinical placement in an on-campus outpatients’ clinic. 100% attendance is a course requirement.

Top reasons to study this course include:

> Chiropractic is an internationally recognised growing profession offering global career opportunities.
> State-of-the art chiropractic lab space to support the development of your practical skills
> On successful completion of the course, you will be eligible to apply for registration as a chiropractor with the General Chiropractic Council.

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Supporting information for applicants

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Our School reference policy (word - 276kb)

 

Course details

Course structure

Year 1 core modules

Clinical Anatomy for Chiropractic Practice

You gain a foundation of functional anatomical knowledge and biomechanical principles, which underpin normal movement and the neuromusculoskeletal components of clinical chiropractic practice.

Structural anatomy of the musculoskeletal system will be introduced and related to common movement tasks and movement patterns. Clinical biomechanical principles including tissue biomechanics of ligaments tendon and fascia; arthrokinematics (joint motion) and muscle function will be presented and their impact on normal movement and function explored.

Interactive practical workshops rooted in problem-solving will introduce key themes and develop relevant practical skills. Specific theoretical underpinning will be developed through small group work; peer formative assessment tasks and self-directed study. Theoretical content will be complemented by guided by self-study resource material and use of e-learning resources e.g. Anatomy TV.

Peer and tutor feedback will be given on practical skills application during the taught sessions. Self-directed quizzes, tutor-marked short answer questions and practical skills station tasks will be utilised to help you consolidate your theoretical knowledge.

Clinical Imaging for Chiropractic Practice

You are introduced to the scientific theory underpinning the practice of radiography, including radiation physics, radiation protection and the theoretical aspects of producing and reviewing radiographic images of normal anatomy and the joints and spine. You explore the theoretical aspects of imaging strategies with consideration of ionising and non-ionising radiation modalities, equipment and the physical and radiation safety of all individuals in the environment, introducing the risk-benefit philosophy and principles involved in the practice of radiography.

Clinical Neuroanatomy for Chiropractic Practice

You gain a foundation of clinical neuroanatomy knowledge which underpins normal movement and the neuromusculoskeletal components of clinical chiropractic practice. Structural anatomy of the central peripheral and autonomic nervous systems will be introduced and related to normal neuromusculoskeletal function. Interactive practical workshops will be used to introduce key themes and to develop relevant practical skills. Specific theoretical underpinning will be developed through clinical problem-solving, small group work, peer formative processes and self-directed study. Theoretical content will be complemented by guided self-study resource material and use of e-learning resources.

Clinical Physiology for Chiropractic Practice

The basic processes, principles and concepts of human physiology and pathophysiology, organisation of the body and body systems relevant to clinical practice introduced and the principles underpinning maintenance of homeostasis explored. Infection, inflammation and repair processes will also be introduced with reference to clinical therapy practice. Learning activities and small group working will be utilised to encourage, promote and develop independent study skills and collaborative, active learning.

Foundations Skills for Chiropractic Practice 1

You are introduced to core clinical and professional skills which include; effective communication, working with and understanding the role of the chiropractor and other healthcare professionals. You explore professionalism, statutory requirements for practice and transition to higher education. Key information, theoretical concepts and practical skills will be introduced and developed through pre-recorded lecture materials supported by interactive practical workshops. Small group work and directed supplementary reading will be utilised and formative feedback on practical skills will be given. You undertake five practice placement days to enable you observe interaction with patients and healthcare professionals. To prepare to go out in placement you complete mandatory sessions (such as health and safety issues, risk assessment, safeguarding, conflict resolution and information governance).

Foundations Skills for Chiropractic Practice 2

This module builds upon knowledge and skills identified within the Foundation Skills for Chiropractic Practice 1 module and enables you to develop an understanding of your profession-specific role within health care. You further develop knowledge and skills and to the core clinical skills for clinical assessment and principles of basic chiropractic therapeutic interventions.

Clinical case scenarios will be used to contextualise your practical learning and facilitate the integration of theory with practice. Small group work will be utilised and formative feedback on practical skills will be given throughout the module by tutors and peer feedback will be encouraged. You consolidate and reflect upon your learning through a reflective journal. Five practice placement days enable you to gain further observational experience of the assessment and treatment that is offered to patients in healthcare practice.




 

Year 2 core modules

Chiropractic Management of the Lower Quadrant across the Lifespan

You develop knowledge understanding and skills in chiropractic manipulative and manual therapy approaches to the assessment and treatment of neuromusculoskeletal dysfunctions and disorders of the lower quadrant; including the lumbar spine, hip, sacro-iliac joint, foot and ankle.

You work systematically through common pathologies and management of the lumbar spine and the peripheral joints of the lower limbs. Emphasis will be placed on developing practical manual therapy assessment and treatment handling skills alongside and promoting clinical reasoning skills to enhance problem-solving skills and appraisal of evidence underpinning practice. The concepts of altered neurodynamics and muscle imbalance impacting on lower quadrant on will also be explored.

Five practice placement days enable you to gain further observational and some hands on experience of the assessment and treatment that is offered to patients in chiropractic practice.

Chiropractic Management of the Upper Quadrant across the Lifespan

You develop knowledge understanding and skills in chiropractic manipulative and manual therapy approaches to the assessment and treatment of neuromusculoskeletal dysfunctions and disorders of the upper quadrant; including the cervical and thoracic spine, shoulder complex, elbow, wrist and hand.

The module is structured to work systematically through common pathologies and management of the cervical and thoracic spine and the peripheral joints of the upper limbs. Emphasis will be placed on developing practical manual therapy assessment and treatment handling skills alongside and promoting clinical reasoning skills to enhance problem-solving skills and appraisal of evidence underpinning practice. The concepts of altered neurodynamics and muscle imbalance impacting on upper quadrant on will also be explored.

Five practice placement days enable you to gain further observational and some hands on experience of the assessment and treatment that is offered to patients in chiropractic practice.

Clinical Neurology for Chiropractic Practice

You build on the knowledge developed in the Neuroanatomy for Chiropractic Practice module, and examine neurological impairment and dysfunction. You will contribute to subjective and objective chiropractic neurological assessment and subsequent management.

Weekly interactive seminars will develop critical knowledge of clinical skills in relation to the therapeutic management of neurological conditions. Formative feedback from peers and tutors will run throughout the module providing an opportunity for you to reflect and receive constructive feedback.

Evidence-based Concepts for Contemporary Chiropractic Practice

This module will introduce the differing research approaches and methodologies underpinning the evidence supporting practice and practice development. You gain an overview of qualitative and quantitative research methods and facilitate the development of skills in interpretation of data and basic critical analysis of individual research studies. You explore how evaluation and integration of relevant scientific and clinical evidence enhances application of evidence-based practice to treatment and management rationales in chiropractic practice.

Health Wellbeing and Lifestyle Issues in Chiropractic Practice

You develop knowledge and understanding of health, wellbeing, and lifestyle issues for patient-centred chiropractic practice. You also develop knowledge and understanding of biopsychosocial and behavioural science theories which underpin and contribute to the health and wellbeing of the individual. You explore shared decision-making, client education and lifestyle changes to health and health initiatives across the lifespan continuum.

The module considers the role of chiropractic practice within multidisciplinary approaches to health and wellbeing initiatives and lifestyle choices. You develop an understanding of the individual person and their lived experience to enable their unique needs, preferences and values to be respected and autonomy and independence to be facilitated. Service users, carers and practitioners will contribute where appropriate to add the lived experience to the theoretical underpinning.

You will be challenged to look beyond a medicalised approach to health and to explore the multifactorial issues impacting on health including psychosocial, sociocultural and environmental factors.

Pathology for Chiropractic Practice

You develop knowledge of pathology and explore clinical reasoning required for diagnostics and therapeutics. The module explores pathology principles to support clinical assessment and differential diagnostic analysis and will focus on disease processes at cellular, tissue, organ and multi-system levels, this will enhance chiropractors understanding of disease processes. It also explores pathology and key mechanisms of disease offering the scientific knowledge a chiropractor needs to refine diagnosis and to make treatment decisions.

 

Year 3 core modules

Chiropractic Case Management in Special Populations

You enhance clinical skills and expand on clinical reasoning skills and abilities in specialist populations with specific focus on paediatric management and chiropractic in sport injury management. You build on the assessment, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation skills developed through the earlier modules to develop and justify your management approaches. Specific clinical conditions will be discussed and patient management strategies considered. Current evidence underpinning the principles of condition-specific therapeutic treatment approaches and protocols will be explored. You evaluate the challenges of implementing an evidence-based approach to chiropractic practice.

Complex Case Management in Chiropractic Practice

You enhance clinical skills and expand on clinical reasoning skills and abilities, and build on the assessment, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation skills developed through the earlier modules to develop management approaches to clients with problems of increasing complexity. Complex clinical conditions will be discussed and patient management strategies considered. Current evidence underpinning the principles of condition specific therapeutic treatment approaches and protocols will be explored. You evaluate the challenges of implementing an evidence-based approach to chiropractic practice. The module will draw on your ability to retrieve and synthesise material previously learned in the course and integrate it with new information, knowledge and skills.

Current Approaches to Pain Management

The contemporary understanding of pain science and current approaches to pain assessment and management are introduced in this module. You cover principles of pain assessment and management in chiropractic practice from a holistic perspective by exploring the meaning and consequences of pain to the individual (the psychological, social, physical and spiritual dimensions of pain) and its impact on patients and their families.

Designing Research Projects in Chiropractic Practice

You gain the necessary knowledge and skills to design and manage a primary or secondary research that is relevant to chiropractic practice. You develop skills in project design and management; primary and secondary research methods. You also cover research governance and ethics to prepare you for applying for ethical approval/release.

Functional Movement and Exercise in Chiropractic Practice

You build on the clinical management approaches available to chiropractors in the holistic management of movement and movement dysfunction. You explore the current approaches in the design and prescription of functional movement activities and exercise for the maintenance and improvement of function and health. The physiological effects of exercise on the main body will be considered in relation to exercise prescription in the management of musculoskeletal dysfunction as a result of disease, trauma and overuse disuse.

 

Final-year core modules

Leading and Managing in Chiropractic Practice

This module will assist you to lead and manage within post-qualifying contemporary health care practice. You consider the current challenges and drivers within contemporary chiropractic practice, issues associated with leadership, business and practice management and explore the behaviours and skills that enable effective service delivery and inter-professional working.

The module will use a masterclass approach related to business and practice management skills. Through online and directed learning you explore the contemporary drivers and challenges facing the chiropractic profession. You analyse leadership and quality improvement skills and behaviours that enable high quality, continually improving practice, thus enhancing the reputation of the profession.



Major Project for Chiropractic Studies

This module runs over two semesters and is your opportunity to carry out a piece of research and complete a research paper. You are also required to defend your area of research through an oral defence of a poster. You demonstrate advanced capabilities in retrieving, critically appraising and developing knowledge and understanding in a topic related to your area of practice. You develop skills in the consideration of ethical issues pertaining to your research and facilitate demonstration of advanced skills in presentation of research.

This is a 40-credit module.

Professional Chiropractic Practice

You consolidate and develop your clinical reasoning and practical skills in the skills laboratory and in a practice environment. The module offers and new educational challenges as you encounter patients across the lifespan, with a range of health care problems within the University's in-house Chiropractic Clinic. Masterclasses led by external experts in the field will be used to add richness to the your final year experience. You will be partners in the design of the module content and will be asked to decide on the topic areas covered in the masterclasses.

 

Modules offered may vary.

 

Our Disability Services team provide an inclusive and empowering learning environment and have specialist staff to support disabled students access any additional tailored resources needed. If you have a specific learning difficulty, mental health condition, autism, sensory impairment, chronic health condition or any other disability please contact a Disability Services as early as possible.
Find out more about our disability services

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Find out more about our course related costs

 

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

You are expected to have:
• a minimum of five GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above including English language, maths and science. Key Skills/Functional Skills Level 2 in Communication and Application of Number can be accepted in place of English and maths GCSE.

Plus 128 UCAS points from two or three A-Levels or equivalent T-Levels, including 40 points from a science or social science subject.

*Access to HE Diplomas, BTEC QCF Extended Diploma, Scottish and Irish Highers, and CACHE level 3 Extended Diploma. Use the UCAS tariff calculator tool to find out how many points your qualification is worth.

Costs associated with the course

Tuition fees, accommodation and living expenses are expected costs for students that choose to study in higher education. Costs associated with the course that you also need to be aware of include; travel to and from placement locations (up to 90 minutes from Middlesbrough Campus), smart shoes and trousers for placement (polo shirts will be provided), and any learning resources you choose to buy over and above the Teesside Advance scheme detailed below.
At Teesside University we have a scheme called Teesside Advance, that provides an iPad to full time students along with funds for learning resources for example, books or stethoscope. More details can be found here.

International Applicants

For entry to the chiropractic profession in the UK the GCC states that chiropractors must ‘be able to communicate in English to the standard equivalent to Level 7 of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), with no element below 6.5 (GCC 2019). Applicants who apply for GCC registration and have qualified outside the UK, and whose first language is not English and who are not nationals of a country within the European Economic Area (EEA) or Norway and Switzerland, must provide evidence that they have reached this standard. As this course provides successful graduates with eligibility to apply for GCC registration, applicants must be able to provide evidence of IELTS levels as per the GCC requirements above.

Students holding TOEFL qualifications at the required grade will be able to combine the qualification with a Teesside University English language test to meet the English language requirement. The English language test will assess listening and speaking competency.

For further international enquiries please email internationalenquiries@tees.ac.uk

All students will have an enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check, as the students will be working with vulnerable groups as part of the course. They will also be required to have an occupational health screening prior to commencement on the course. International students would need to provide evidence of an equivalent DBS check in their own country.

The selection process includes shortlisting of your application which if successful you will be invited for an interview.

If you are unable to attend an interview (either face to face or online) we will be unable to progress your application.

Shortlisting criteria

Your application will be measured against the following criteria:
• your ability to complete all sections of the application form fully and correctly
• the level of all qualifications and grades that are specified
• appropriate academic entry requirements achieved or predicted
• personal statement that is supportive of your chosen programme and demonstrates an understanding of the uniqueness of the profession and the role of the professional
• a satisfactory reference

If you are invited to interview and the date is not suitable it is important that you contact the Admissions Office immediately and we will endeavour to support you.

Interview criteria

At interview you will be measured against the following criteria;
• knowledge of chosen profession/career
• an appreciation of the demands of the programme and chosen profession
• enthusiasm for the programme/profession
• ability to communicate effectively verbally and non verbally
• attitude towards equity of care

Personal statement that is supportive of your chosen programme and demonstrates an understanding of the uniqueness of the profession and the role of the professional.

If you are successful in both shortlisting and interview you will receive a conditional offer which is subject to the following:
1. evidence of achievement of the required academic qualifications.
2. an enhanced criminal history (DBS) check may be required for certain modules or placements which involve working with children and/or adults at risk. The DBS check is funded by the School of Health & Life Sciences so you do not need to pay for this process.
3. satisfactory references.
Please note until 1 to 3 have been successfully completed the offer of a place on the course remains conditional.

For general information please see our overview of entry requirements

International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting Your Country


You can gain considerable knowledge from work, volunteering and life. Under recognition of prior learning (RPL) you may be awarded credit for this which can be credited towards the course you want to study.
Find out more about RPL

 

Employability

Career opportunities

This course is designed to prepare you to become a registered chiropractor with the General Chiropractic Council.

Career opportunities within the profession are varied and could include you working in a clinic as an associate chiropractor or even starting your own practice. Careers in research and academia also could be of interest.

Work placement

As well as university based teaching and learning, placements will be used to further expand your knowledge base allowing you to see how the theory is applied directly in practice. This will also serve to strengthen your skills base over the duration of the course.

Placements are an integral part of the course. You will take part in a variety of placements from Year 1. This requires travel to and from different locations within the North East.

 

Information for international applicants

Qualifications

International applicants - find out what qualifications you need by selecting your country below.

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International applicants

Please refer to Entry Requirements page for more detailed information

 

Useful information

Visit our international pages for useful information for non-UK students and applicants.

Talk to us

Talk to an international student enrolment adviser

 
 

Professional accreditation

General Chiropractic Council

On successful completion of the course, you will be eligible to apply for registration as a chiropractor with the General Chiropractic Council. Our pre-registration chiropractic provision has been accredited by the General Chiropractic Council.

Full-time

Entry to 2024/25 academic year

Fee for UK applicants
£9,250 a year

More details about our fees

Fee for international applicants
£17,000 a year

More details about our fees for international applicants


What is included in your tuition fee?

  • Length: 4 years
  • UCAS code: B320 MSci/C
  • Start date: September
  • Semester dates
  • Typical offer: 128 points

Apply online (full-time) through UCAS

 

Part-time

  • Not available part-time
 

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Service users and carers support all aspects of our students' lifecycle from recruitment to graduation.

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UK students

Email: shlsadmissions@tees.ac.uk

Telephone: 01642 738801


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International students

Email: internationalenquiries@tees.ac.uk

Telephone: +44 (0) 1642 738900


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