TCC expands principles curriculum to first seven trimesters

December 17, 2014 — This past September, Texas Chiropractic College (TCC) embarked on a groundbreaking curriculum expansion in its mission to promote excellence in the education of practice-ready doctors of chiropractic. The revised Chiropractic Principles curriculum establishes a solid foundation for the chiropractic profession by helping TCC students grow into expert practitioners of chiropractic science.

President Brad McKechnie, DC, DACAN, challenged the faculty to develop a unique chiropractic principles course for each of the first seven trimesters of a student’s academic career at TCC. Each principles course is tailored to correspond with the basic and clinical science classes taken during a given trimester.

Beginning with the fall 2014 trimester, a TCC student will complete this program of study as a logical and balanced progression in their evidence-informed training. This approach replaces the isolated role of principles courses within the DC curriculum at TCC.

Prior to this development, the principles curriculum consisted of three courses taken during Trimesters 1, 6, and 7. This created a gap in principles instruction between Trimesters 2 through 5. Expanding the principles curriculum provides more opportunities for TCC students to explore the latest concepts discussed in the scientific literature regarding chiropractic. This encourages also students to develop a more advanced mastery of science, which McKechnie calls “the language of healthcare.”

TCC’s Dean of Academic Affairs John Mrozek, DC, MEd, FCCS, said he sees the expanded principles curriculum as a constant reminder of the mechanisms available for refining a student’s chiropractic expertise. Discussing chiropractic principles alongside training in basic and clinical sciences illuminates the relationship between medicine and chiropractic by revealing logical connections between the evidence and techniques used to inform a chiropractor’s approach.

Assistant Dean for the Division of Chiropractic Sciences Michael Ramcharan, DC, MPH, described the Chiropractic Principles curriculum as a “consistent thread” integrating anatomy, biomechanics, and neurology. TCC students will be better positioned to identify and examine neurological changes associated with joint dysfunction and will discern how manipulation affects the neuromechanics of the joint and its role in the autonomic nervous system.

“Our students will graduate as scientifically-based, practice-ready chiropractors,” McKechnie said.

The changes to the principles curriculum will not extend to philosophy-based chiropractic coursework. Rather, the new curriculum will increase the focus on science-based chiropractic principles taught at TCC, an advancement of the student’s knowledge base that will teach students “tomorrow’s chiropractic today.”

Learn more about Texas Chiropractic College’s Doctor of Chiropractic program by visiting txchiro.edu/academics/dc-program.