Master of Chiropractic
Master the manual techniques and professional skills you need to thrive in the professionally regulated and rapidly growing chiropractic healthcare industry.
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Key Course Details
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UCAS Code
B320
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Start Date
September
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Location
Pontypridd
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Campus Code
A
Fees
Home students
£9,000*
International students
£15,260*
- Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
Gain everything you need to succeed as a chiropractor through world-leading experts, state-of-the-art facilities, and extensive real-world experiences. Develop outstanding manual skills and anatomical knowledge, while learning to collaborate with healthcare professionals and solve complex problems.
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DESIGNED FOR
If you want to help people in a natural, hands-on way and work in a regulated, evidence-based healthcare profession, our Master of Chiropractic course is for you. Learn the skills and professional qualities to flourish in an area of healthcare that is rapidly growing in the UK and globally.
Accredited By
- General Chiropractic Council (GCC) and the European Council on Chiropractic Education (ECCE)
Career Paths
- Chiropractor
- Researcher
- Academic / Lecturer
- Multi-Disciplinary Health/Sports Team
Skills Taught
- Clinical Reasoning
- Spinal Manipulation
- Clinical Assessment
- Clinical Thinking
- Clinical Communication
Course Highlights
Module Overview
The course provides the very latest evidence-based teaching to build your anatomical knowledge, manual techniques and professional skills. It all builds towards your final year where you’ll spend a year in our clinic and become ready for life as a professional chiropractor.
Year one
Clinical Management 1
Clinical Anatomy
Behavioural Science
Biomechanics
Clinical Imaging
Clinical Physiology
Year two
Neuroanatomy and Clinical Neurology
Clinical Diagnosis
Public Health for Chiropractors
Clinical Management 2
Clinical Imaging and Diagnosis 1
Clinical Physiology 2
Year three
Research Methodology
Clinical Preparation
Clinical Diagnosis 2
Clinical Management 3
Clinical Neuro-Orthopaedics
Clinical Imaging and Diagnosis 2
Year four
Translating Evidence Into Clinical Practice (optional)
Research Project
Clinical Diagnosis and Management
Contemporary Clinical Practice
Chiropractic Clinic
Lay the foundations of your knowledge as we introduce you to human anatomy and physiology, biophysics and radiography. You’ll develop your understanding of clinical management and the biopsychosocial aspects of musculoskeletal conditions.
Clinical Management 1
Learn the initial framework of musculoskeletal clinical assessment and get to grips with orthopaedic, manual therapy and exercise rehabilitation techniques.
Clinical Anatomy
Understand anatomical structures and systems and their clinical importance, and develop skills in muscle testing, deep tendon reflexes, dermatomes, and myotome assessment.
Behavioural Science
Explore the psychological and social factors relating to clinical practice and how these impact the patient-practitioner relationship, and clinical outcomes.
Biomechanics
Develop knowledge of fundamental mechanical principles and material science theory, enabling you to solve biomechanical problems around kinetics and kinematics.
Clinical Imaging
Learn how to identify normal anatomical features and interpret findings on plain film radiographs. Get a grounding in current legislation and safety principles around radiography.
Clinical Physiology 1
Examine the eleven physiological human systems, understanding their role in homeostasis, with an introduction to disorders and disease.
Progress your knowledge of physiology, imaging, and clinical management as you look deeper into neuroanatomy and public health. Begin to apply your skills to chiropractic scenarios as we introduce you to clinical diagnosis.
Neuroanatomy and Clinical Neurology
Build the neuroanatomical knowledge required for neurological examination, including aetiology, disease mechanisms and diagnostic criteria.
Clinical Diagnosis 1
Explore repair mechanisms and disease processes, recognising conditions based on the associated presentation of symptoms within a clinical setting.
Public Health for Chiropractors
Apply public health principles to chiropractic practice and explore wider health issues and motivations for change concerning health behaviours.
Clinical Management 2
Develop your competence in the fundamental chiropractic skills of spinal manipulative therapy techniques, stretching and massage, and build your knowledge of exercise rehabilitation.
Clinical Imaging and Diagnosis 1
Extend your ability to read clinical images, including X-rays, MRI, CT and ultrasound scans, to recognise pathological states relevant to chiropractic.
Clinical Physiology 2
Broaden your knowledge base of all human physiological systems by identifying and understanding a variety of physiological adaptations, disorders and diseases.
Finely tune your knowledge, confidence and practical skills in preparation for your final-year placement. Explore a broad range of pathology as you develop your ability to diagnose and manage all manner of neuromusculoskeletal presentations you may encounter in our clinic.
Research Methodology
Develop the critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills required to implement evidence into practice, considering concepts such as cognitive bias and statistical analysis.
Clinical Preparation
Understand the role of Primary Healthcare Practitioner (Chiropractor) within the Welsh Institute of Chiropractic environment and the General Chiropractic Council's (GCC) Code.
Clinical Diagnosis 2
Develop your ability to identify and differentiate conditions commonly encountered in chiropractic practice through physical examinations of body systems and lab test findings.
Clinical Management 3
Develop and refine a complex range of basic and advanced manual and rehabilitation skills and learn how to create evidence-based chiropractic treatment plans.
Clinical Neuro-Orthopaedics
Learn how to perform a neurological and/or orthopaedic examination of the body and interpret the outcome to make decisions about diagnoses, management and referral.
Clinical Imaging and Diagnosis 2
Refine your image analysis and interpretation skills, integrating case history, image findings and lab investigations to inform diagnoses of a range of conditions.
Develop, consolidate and apply all the knowledge, skills and professional qualities you’ve built over the initial three years. As you diagnose, treat and manage patients in our in-house clinic, you’ll demonstrate your readiness to become a professional chiropractor.
Translating Evidence Into Clinical Practice (optional)
Deepen your understanding of evidence-based practice and learn how to communicate chiropractic research in a way patients can understand.
Research Project
Complete a full research project involving ethics procedures, participant recruitment and statistical analysis, with the potential for work to be published in academic journals.
Clinical Diagnosis and Management
Advance your knowledge of key chiropractic principles through detailed reviews of complex procedures, problems, case studies and research.
Contemporary Clinical Practice
Develop the professional requirements of the Code of Practice and learn what it takes to establish a private practice, including business, audit and entrepreneurial skills.
Chiropractic Clinic
Demonstrate your professional readiness to become a fully qualified chiropractic practitioner as you diagnose and treat patients within our supervised outpatient clinic.
Course Highlights
How you’ll learn
Get ready to immerse yourself into the exciting world of chiropractic with hands-on experience and expert training. You'll learn essential manual techniques for patient care and use cutting-edge tools like Anatomage tables, Force Sensing Table Technology, and the Hydra Suite. Team up on projects with physiotherapy students and gain real-world experience through a crucial placement that shapes your learning and final assessment. Plus, you'll enjoy interactive lectures and tutorials that bring key theories to life, with exams, coursework, and presentations to showcase your knowledge.
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Teaching staff
Our staff include clinical physiologists, counsellors, ultrasound sonographers, strength and conditioning specialists, imaging experts alongside PhD candidates and working chiropractors. This broad skillset helps support you in every aspect of becoming a contemporary chiropractor. Learn from renowned professionals like Prof. Byfield, author of Technique Skills in Chiropractic, and course leader Paul McCambridge, who has spoken at the prestigious San Diego Pain Summit. Our academics are frequently published in global journals and contribute to key research in neurovascular studies, back pain, and more.
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Placements and work experience
From day one, plunge yourself into real-world chiropractic practice, mastering techniques, procedures, and patient treatment equipment. Start with supervised practical experience that gradually evolves as you advance. Everything builds towards your final clinical placement in year four, where you’ll reveal all the skills and competencies required to be an independent practitioner. You’ll also have opportunities for placements alongside other medical professionals such as surgeons and physiotherapists. Chiropractic is growing within sport, and you could work with sports teams in USW's world-class facilities.
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Facilities
On our Treforest campus, you’ll find the Welsh Institute of Chiropractic (WIoC) Centre, where you’ll treat patients in your final year. Featuring 18 treatment rooms, MRI facilities, and a rehabilitation suite, it offers unmatched clinical resources. Our anatomy and radiology lab contains the Anatomage Table, and we’re one of the few institutions in Europe to use Force Sensing Table technology (FSTT) to help optimise your skill development with spinal manipulation. The Hydra simulation suite allows you to experience clinical scenarios in collaboration with other medical professionals.
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ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
UCAS Points: 112 (or above)
Typical qualification requirements:
- A Level: BBC to include Grade B in Biology and one other Science subject which must be either Chemistry, Psychology, Physical Education, Mathematics or Physics and to exclude General Studies.
- Welsh BACC: Pass the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma with Grade C in the Skills Challenge Certificate and BB at A Level to include Biology and one other Science subject which must be either Chemistry, Psychology, Physical Education, Mathematics or Physics, and to exclude General Studies.
- BTEC: BTEC Extended Diploma Distinction Merit Merit to include Biology and Chemistry modules.
- Access to HE: Science Diploma with 60 credits overall to include 45 level 3 credits with 18 Distinctions from Science units, a further 24 Merits and 3 Passes. Other combinations equating to 112 UCAS tariff points are acceptable.
Additional requirements include:
The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on the Child & Adult Workforce and Child & Adult Barring List and subscription to the DBS Update Service is required. (Overseas equivalent required for non-uk applicants).
Evidence of observation of a minimum of 3 hours of a chiropractor in clinical practice. An IELTS (or equivalent) minimum average score of 6.0 is required for non-UK applicants.
International applications welcomed:
We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence please view our dedicated country pages.
English language requirements
International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.
Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.
If you have previously studied through the medium of English IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.
If you do not meet the English entry criteria please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.
Contextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.
USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.
We're here to help
Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch and we'd to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.
Fees and Funding
£9,000
per year*£15,260
per year*Additional Costs
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.