Chiropractic

The Master of Chiropractic MChiro (Hons) at Health Sciences University is a four year, full time course designed to prepare you for a rewarding career as a chiropractor. You will develop the scientific knowledge, hands on clinical skills, professional confidence and evidence informed judgement needed to support people to move, function and live well.

Based within the AECC School of Chiropractic, you will learn in a specialist health sciences environment with a long-established reputation for chiropractic education, practical training and clinical preparation. From the beginning of the course, you will take part in practical classes, simulation, clinical skills teaching and guided learning that help you build confidence step by step.

Successful completion of the full MChiro award meets the educational requirements to apply for registration with the General Chiropractic Council, subject to meeting the Council’s health, character and fitness to practise requirements.

What you will learn
The MChiro is designed as a progressive, integrated course that prepares you for safe, evidence informed and person-centred practice. You will bring together anatomy, diagnosis, therapeutic care, communication and clinical reasoning in ways that reflect real clinical practice.

Across the four years, you will move from foundational learning to extended supervised clinical practice, building confidence and professional capability. Learning is hands on and practice focused, with over 1,000 hours of placement-related experience.

You will also explore key areas of contemporary healthcare, including prevention, rehabilitation, complex pain and care for diverse populations, with final year options to develop your areas of interest.

Practice-based learning
Practice-based learning is central to the MChiro and designed to help you grow in confidence, capability and professional identity. You will build your skills gradually through simulation, observation, supported participation and extended supervised clinical placement.

In the early stages of the course, placement learning introduces you to professional healthcare environments, patient interaction, communication and safe practice. You will take part in simulated learning, practical classes and observational experiences that help you understand how chiropractors work with patients, colleagues and wider healthcare services.

As you progress, you will begin to connect classroom learning with real and simulated clinical situations, developing your confidence in communication, assessment, clinical reasoning, professional behaviour and reflective practice.

In Year 3, you will undertake supervised practice-based learning that helps you apply your knowledge to whole patient care, develop professional judgement and prepare for the extended clinical placement experience in the final year.

In Year 4, you will undertake an extended supervised clinical placement, which may include experience within HSU’s on-site clinical services and other approved practice settings. You will take increasing responsibility for patient care under supervision, developing your ability to manage clinical complexity, communicate with patients, justify decisions, reflect on feedback and work within professional and governance expectations.

This approach is designed to help you graduate with the confidence, experience and professional readiness needed for contemporary chiropractic practice.

Guidance for Applicants with a Disability or Health Condition

We are keen to support students who wish to share a disability or health condition and encourage you to discuss this with us if you have not done so already.

At this time, our building has certain areas that may pose challenges for students with mobility needs.

If you have specific accessibility requirements you would like to discuss, please contact studentservices@hsu.ac.uk.

Course Units

Year 1

• Applied Anatomy

• Foundations of Human Physiology

• Foundations of Chiropractic Practice 1

  Foundations of Evidence Informed Practice

• Musculoskeletal, Neuroanatomy and Biomechanics

• Integrated Human Body Systems

• Foundations of Chiropractic Practice 2

• Using Evidence in Chiropractic and Healthcare Contexts.

Year 2

• Clinical Diagnosis and Management 1

• Human Dysfunction and Disease

• Clinical Diagnosis and Management 2

• Public Health, Evidence Informed Practice and Clinical Reasoning;.

Year 3

• Complex Case Management 1

• Patient-centred care, Behaviour Change and Applied Research

• Complex Case Management 2

• Collaborative Chiropractic Practice.

Year 4

• Chiropractic Practice Placement 1

• Professional Practice and Transition to Independent Practice

• Chiropractic Placement 2

• Leading and Managing in Chiropractic Practice

• Applied Research and Evidence Synthesis in Paediatric and Pregnancy Chiropractic (optional)

• Applied Research and Evidence Synthesis in Sports Chiropractic (optional)

• Applied Research and Evidence Synthesis in Complex Pain Management (optional).

https://www.hsu.ac.uk/course/master-of-chiropractic/#units

How you will be assessed

Assessment on the MChiro is designed to support your development, not simply test what you know. Across the course, you will build the skills, confidence and professional judgement needed to become a safe, reflective and practice ready chiropractor. You will be assessed through a range of methods, including written assessments, practical tasks, portfolios, case-based work, presentations, viva voce assessments, OSCE style activities, structured clinical assessment and placement-based competency evidence.

These assessments reflect the knowledge, skills and professional behaviours used in real chiropractic practice, helping you show not only what you know, but how you apply your learning safely and effectively.

Competency based: showing you are safe and ready

A key feature of the course is competency-based assessment. This means you will demonstrate essential practical, professional, communication, placement and safety related skills as you progress. Some competency elements are assessed on a Pass/Fail basis and must be successfully completed, while other assessments are graded to recognise academic achievement, clinical reasoning and the quality of your work. This ensures that you develop both the academic understanding and the professional capability needed for safe practice.

Authentic assessment: learning for real practice

Many assessments are based on realistic clinical activities, such as interpreting case information, explaining your reasoning, planning care, reflecting on feedback, communicating with patients and justifying your decisions. This helps you connect academic knowledge with the judgement, communication and problem solving used by chiropractors in practice. Authentic assessment supports employability by linking learning to real world professional skills.

Overall, assessment on the MChiro is designed to be fair, varied and professionally relevant, supporting you to develop as an evidence informed, reflective and practice ready chiropractor.

Reasonable Adjustments:

Our staff are experienced in supporting students with a wide range of learning needs and in working proactively with students and University support services to put appropriate reasonable adjustments in place. Applicants are encouraged to contact the Course Lead in advance of application if they wish to discuss personal circumstances or support needs.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• European Council on Chiropractic Education
• General Chiropractic Council