FAQs

Yes, the University of Pittsburgh is offering a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) Program housed within the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Read more.

The University of Pittsburgh is the first research-intensive public university in the United States and only university in Pennsylvania to offer an educational program leading to a DC degree. The program will focus on evidence-based spine care and prepare students to work in real world, interprofessional health care settings and become valued members of team-based care, as well as private practitioners. 

Students in Pitt’s program will gain hands-on, patient-centered clinical experiences starting in the first term of the program. 

Interprofessional didactic and clinical opportunities will span across the six Schools of the Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh (Dental, Medicine, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health). Upon graduation, students will be uniquely qualified to work in an integrated clinical environment among a team of other health care professionals, all dedicated to improving patient outcomes. 

The first cohort will begin courses in the fall term of 2025 (August). 

The program is eight terms (32 months) in length and includes two summer terms. Classes begin each fall term (August). 

To make Pitt's chiropractic education program more accessible and affordable to all students, our faculty have structured and organized an innovative, high-quality curriculum to meet the profession’s accreditation standards that will enable students to graduate as confident clinicians within a shorter timeframe than other DC programs.  

The program is full time only and offered on-campus (in-person). 

We will accept 40 students in the program’s initial cohort in fall (August) 2025, followed by a second cohort of 50 students in fall 2026, and 60 students in all subsequent cohorts. We are keeping our class sizes smaller than many other chiropractic programs to ensure program quality.  

Please see our admissions page for detailed requirements.

The application to apply for the fall (August) 2025 cohort will open in fall 2024. Check our admissions page regularly for more information or sign up to receive email notifications about Pitt’s new Doctor of Chiropractic program.

More information about the application and review process will be announced in summer 2024. 

Applicants will use GradCAS to apply to this program. The application process will open in fall 2024. 

All submitted and completed applications will be reviewed by members of the Doctor of Chiropractic program admissions committee. Personal interviews will be required of the top applicants. Interviews may be conducted by videoconference for applicants who are unable to visit Pittsburgh in person.   

Students will learn how to diagnose, treat and manage patients with spine and musculoskeletal conditions. The curriculum will include strong training in manual therapy skills, therapeutic exercises and inter-personal communication skills. A hallmark of the curriculum will be the inclusion of real-world clinical training in each semester of the program. 

This Doctor of Chiropractic program will offer students several unique clinical training opportunities that are available only in an integrated education and clinical system such as the one that currently exists between the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) health care system and the Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Additional clinical partnerships are being developed with other health care systems in the state of Pennsylvania such as St. Luke’s University Health Network and with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). These organizations are also known as community health centers and provide a model of health care focused on specific, targeted populations in under-served communities. FQHCs emphasize a comprehensive approach to health care with integrated clinical services, often including chiropractic services. 

The curriculum is designed to expose students to patient-centered, evidence-based clinical training every term of the program. There will be a stepped approach to this clinical training, starting with observational rounds in the first year, followed by assisting with clinical tasks in the second year and finally with a full-time clerkship in the final semester of the program.  

Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) are first contact providers (i.e. there is no need for a referral) licensed to practice chiropractic in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. DCs perform the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of spine and musculoskeletal problems with a focus on back and neck pain. As part of their practice, DCs conduct physical exams, order and interpret radiological imaging and laboratory tests, diagnose and treat musculoskeletal dysfunction, counsel patients on health and wellness, and co-manage or refer to other health care providers when appropriate. DCs exercise autonomy in clinical decision-making and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services focused mainly on spine-related and other musculoskeletal disorders. The use of manipulation, manual therapy, therapeutic exercises and lifestyle modifications are the cornerstones of chiropractic practice.  

The degree to be awarded will be the Doctor of Chiropractic (DC). Our program will also be accepting applications from international students and work with them to prepare them for practice in their country of origin. 

The curriculum for the University of Pittsburgh Doctor of Chiropractic program is designed to allow students to meet the licensure/certification requirements in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Each state and territory have different professional licensure and certification requirements. It has not been determined if the program meets the educational requirements for licensure/certification in any other state or U.S. territories. Students who intend to practice outside of Pennsylvania are advised to consult with their state licensing board to review that state’s requirements (which are always subject to change without notice) to determine if the program meets that state’s requirements. Pitt's Doctor of Chiropractic program faculty will assist enrolled students in understanding licensure requirements for their preferred location of practice.

Contact information for chiropractic licensing boards by state is available on the websites of the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards and the American Chiropractic Association.