Stephen M. Perle, D.C., M.S.

Note from Dr. Stephen Barrett: This article was originally published in the online journal Chiropractic & Osteopathy (Volume 13, Article 10, July 7, 2005). The authors own the copyright but provide open access that permits unrestricted use and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The article identifies several shortcomings of chiropractic education: The number of patient encounters in chiropractic externship (a year of undergraduate work) is vastly inferior in volume and variety to that of medical doctors and osteopaths who typically have 3 to 5 years of postgraduate training in addition to what they have in medical school. In many cases, the patients and families of outpatients seen by students are friends and family members, some of whom are even …