• de Luca K
• McDonald M
• Montgomery L
• Sharp S
• Young A
• Vella S
• Holmes MM
• Aspinall S
• Brousseau D
• Burrell C
• Byfield D
• Dane D
• Dewhurst P
• Downie A
• Engel R
• Gleberzon B
• Hollandsworth D
• Molgaard Nielsen A
• O'Connor L
• Starmer D
• Tunning M
• Wanlass P
• French SD

• Affiliation / AECC University College. School of Chiropractic
• Affiliation / Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC). Division of Undergraduate Education
• Affiliation / Central Queensland University
• Affiliation / Durban University of Technology. Faculty of Health Sciences. Department of Chiropractic
• Affiliation / Macquarie University. Faculty of Science and Engineering. Department of Chiropractic
• Affiliation / Murdoch University. College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education
• Affiliation / Palmer College of Chiropractic. Department of Clinical Sciences
• Affiliation / Parker University. Department of Chiropractic Sciences
• Affiliation / RMIT University. Discipline of Chiropractic
• Affiliation / Southern California University of Health Sciences. Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. Department of Principles and Practice
• Affiliation / Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). Département de chiropratique
• Affiliation / University of South Wales. Welsh Institute of Chiropractic
• Affiliation / University of Southern Denmark. Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics
• Affiliation(G) / Australia / New South Wales / Sydney
• Affiliation(G) / Australia / Queensland / Brisbane
• Affiliation(G) / Australia / Victoria / Melbourne
• Affiliation(G) / Australia / Western Australia / Perth
• Affiliation(G) / Canada / Ontario / Toronto
• Affiliation(G) / Canada / Quebec / Trois-Rivières
• Affiliation(G) / Denmark / Odense
• Affiliation(G) / England / Bournemouth
• Affiliation(G) / South Africa / KwaZulu-Natal / Durban
• Affiliation(G) / United States / California / Los Angeles
• Affiliation(G) / United States / Iowa / Davenport
• Affiliation(G) / United States / Texas / Dallas
• Affiliation(G) / Wales / Pontypridd
• COVID-19
• Curriculum
• Education, Chiropractic
• Education, Chiropractic / methods
• Education, Distance
• Musculoskeletal Manipulations / education
• Open Access Document
• Pandemics
• Qualitative Research
• Students, Chiropractic / psychology
• Surveys and Questionnaires

Background: Manual therapy is a cornerstone of chiropractic education, whereby students work towards a level of skill and expertise that is regarded as competent to work within the field of chiropractic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, chiropractic programs in every region around the world had to make rapid changes to the delivery of manual therapy technique education, however what those changes looked like was unknown.

Aims: The aims of this study were to describe the immediate actions made by chiropractic programs to deliver education for manual therapy techniques and to summarise the experience of academics who teach manual therapy techniques during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive approach was used to describe the immediate actions made by chiropractic programs to deliver manual therapy technique education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chiropractic programs were identified from the webpages of the Councils on Chiropractic Education International and the Council on Chiropractic Education – USA. Between May and June 2020, a convenience sample of academics who lead or teach in manual therapy technique in those programs were invited via email to participate in an online survey with open-ended questions. Responses were entered into the NVivo software program and analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis by a qualitative researcher independent to the data collection.

Results: Data from 16 academics in 13 separate chiropractic programs revealed five, interconnected themes: Immediate response; Move to online delivery; Impact on learning and teaching; Additional challenges faced by educators; and Ongoing challenges post lockdown.

Conclusion: This study used a qualitative descriptive approach to describe how some chiropractic programs immediately responded to the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in their teaching of manual therapy techniques. Chiropractic programs around the world provided their students with rapid, innovative learning strategies, in an attempt to maintain high standards of chiropractic education; however, challenges included maintaining student engagement in an online teaching environment, psychomotor skills acquisition and staff workload.

Author keywords: Chiropractic — Education — Manual therapy — Chiropractic technique —  COVID-19 — qQualitative

Author affiliations: KdL, LM, SS, AY, SV, CB, AD, RE, SDF: Department of Chiropractic, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia; MM: Discipline of Chiropractic, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia; MMH, PD: School of Chiropractic, AECC University College, Bournemouth, UK; SA: College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia; DB: Department of Chiropractic, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivieres, Trois-Rivières, Canada; DB: Welsh Institute of Chiropractic, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, UK; DD: Central Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia; BG, DS: Undergraduate Education, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Toronto, Canada; DH: Department of Chiropractic Sciences, Parker University, Dallas, USA; AMN: Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; LOC: Department of Chiropracti, Durban University of Technology, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; MT: Associate Dean of Clinical Sciences, Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, USA; PW: Interim Chair, Principles and Practice Department, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Los Angeles College of Chiropractic, Los Angeles, USA.

This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; click on the above link for free full text. PubMed Record | PDF