• Johnson V
• Assal S
• Khauv K
• Moosad D
• Morales B

• Affiliation / Private Practice
• Affiliation / TN Valley VA Healthcare System. Whole Health
• Affiliation / VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitative Services / Chiropractic
• Affiliation / VA Long Beach Healthcare System
• Affiliation(G) / Philippines / Metro Manila
• Affiliation(G) / United States / California / Escondido
• Affiliation(G) / United States / California / Long Beach
• Affiliation(G) / United States / California / Los Angeles
• Affiliation(G) / United States / Tennessee
• Anniversaries and Special Events
• Chiropractic / history
• Cultural Diversity
• Health Occupations
• Holidays
• Qualitative Research

Objective: The purpose of this report was to explore the views of chiropractors about their career paths and recommendations for Chiropractic Day.

Methods: For this narrative inquiry, selected individuals from diverse backgrounds were invited to share their experiences about becoming chiropractors and their recommendations for Chiropractic Day. Each doctor of chiropractic was asked to provide a response to a set of structured questions. The responses were collated into a descriptive narrative, and themes were identified from these narratives.

Results: Five chiropractors from diverse backgrounds, who graduated from chiropractic programs in the United States, participated in this project. Each reported a different path to becoming a chiropractor. From these different career paths, common themes emerged, which included (1) a drive to serve others, (2) a personal experience or quest, (3) and a propensity to be problem solvers and inquisitive learners. Their recommendations for celebrating Chiropractic Day paralleled their individual qualities and values, which included providing educational seminars to patients and other health care providers, mentoring students, reading scientific papers about health issues related to diversity, providing chiropractic services to underserved populations, appreciating our predecessors and mentors, and performing community outreach.

Conclusion: This narrative provides insight into the thoughts of people from diverse backgrounds about why they may choose chiropractic as a profession and their paths to a career in chiropractic. This article demonstrates that chiropractors come to the profession for a variety of reasons but may have similar themes such as that the choice may generate from a personal experience, a quest for knowledge, an interest in helping others, and a joy for service. This narrative provides unique insights about the authors’ values for chiropractic, which were congruent with their recommendations for celebrating Chiropractic Day.

Author keywords: Chiropractic; Health Occupations; Qualitative Research

Author affiliations: VJ: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitative Services/Chiropractic, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California; SA: Whole Health, TN Valley VA Healthcare System; KK: Private Practice, Metro Manila, Philippines; DM: VA Long Beach Healthcare System, Long Beach, California; BM: Escalante Chiropractic and Sports Therapy, Escondido, California

This abstact is reproduced with the permission of the publisher. Free full text will be available June 22, 2022 at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8720653/.