Physical Therapy vs Chiropractor WHICH IS A BETTER HEALTHCARE PROFESSION?

Let's compare both healthcare occupations, chiropractor vs physical therapist, and see which one would be a great fit for your future career
TIMELINE
1:07 Job Duties
5:03 School requirement
5:30 Cost of schooling
6:20 Work environment
7:30 Salary & job outlook
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HEALTHCARE CAREER VIDEOS
PT vs PT Assistant
• PT vs PTA | What are t...
PT vs Physician Assistant
• Physical Therapist vs ...
PT vs Chiropractic
• Physical Therapy vs Ch...
PT vs Occupational Therapist
• Occupational Therapy v...
PT vs Nursing
• Nursing vs Physical Th...
PT vs Exercise Physiologist
• Exercise Physiology vs...
Top 10 Medical Careers
• Which Healthcare Profe...
Top Jobs for a Kinesiology Majors
• Top Jobs for Kinesiolo...
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ONLINE COURSE
Everything You Need to Know to Get Accepted Into DPT School
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Schedule a 1 on 1 ZOOM INTERVIEW PREP call with me to help you stand out and avoid mistakes
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Interested in 1 on 1 COACHING from me to:
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NEED PERSONALIZED CARE?
Schedule an online evaluation to learn more about:
-The cause of your discomfort
-What activities and positions cause more irritation
-Self-treatments at home
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Pre-PT Videos: • Is Prereq or Overall G...
DPT Hawaii Life: • Transition to Hawaii |...
DPT School Vlogs (all 3 years): • VLOGS in PT School | A...
WHAT I LEARNED AFTER DPT SCHOOL • What I Learned AFTER F...
WISH I KNEW THIS BEFORE DPT SCHOOL • Wish I knew this BEFOR...
Is Physical Therapy worth 110K debt?
• Is being a Physical Th...
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Helpful videos for Pre PT Students:
What is Physical Therapy?
• What is Physical Therapy
Is Physical Therapy worth 110K debt?
• Is being a Physical Th...
How to Make Money as a DPT Student
• How to MAKE MONEY as a...
Best Majors for Physical Therapy School
• Best Majors for Physic...
Tips to Stand Out as a Physical Therapy School Applicant
• Tips to Stand Out as a...
How to be a Successful Incoming PT Student
• How to be the MOST SUC...
How to Ace your PT Aide Interview
• How to ACE your INTERV...
Differences between PT and PTA
• PT vs PTA | What are t...
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#chiropracticschool #ptschool #physicaltherapy

[@drjustinleedpt]

Get Accepted into PT School the FIRST TIME online course available now: liftforchange.mykajabi.com/offers/U2qRvfim/checkout 12 Unforgiving PT School Application MISTAKES kzbin.info/www/bejne/injQmX1maLNnh9k 7 Reasons to NOT get into Physical Therapy kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5XGZIednLmqb9U

[@miketierney7510]

Chiropractors are taught ergonomics and rehabilitation too!

[@williewynn9816]

GREAT video & explanation of these 2 career options. Keep up the quality work Justin!!

[@drjustinleedpt]

Thank you so much Willie! I’m trying follow your footsteps in producing quality work

[@NaijaPrince15]

Love that you left your screw up at the end in, respect bro!

[@drjustinleedpt]

I appreciate that!

[@thehistoryprof6750]

I'm retired from Healthcare, Human Resources, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Far West Division, NV. In "2015" our average PT pay (for one of our larger hospitals) was 100K. They also had a rich benefits package on top of that. We did not have chiropracter in our job classifications. Speech Pathologist and Occupational Therapist were the same pay grade with similar comp rates.

[@drjustinleedpt]

Thank you for adding value to this channel with this important information! THANKS!

[@Bennyson_T]

I would suggest that you do another video with a chiropractor just as you did the video with Nancy when you compared OT and PT!! I feel it will be more insightful 🙂

[@tanman1994]

Your video was so helpful! I've been trying to decide between the two professions for awhile now. After watching multiple videos, especially yours, and reading articles online on the two professions, I'm going to take the Physical Therapy route.

[@drjustinleedpt]

HECK YESSSSSS!!!!! I think you’ll find this path a lot better.. I mean I know I’m bias in my answer because I’m a PT, but just strictly looking at numbers alone.. it makes more sense to go PT

[@pureposture]

I have been a chiropractor in Canada for 32 years. To cut to the chase....I recommend Physical Therapy.

[@drjustinleedpt]

@@pureposture THANK YOU FOR ADVOCATING FOR THE PT PROFESSION!!

[@RunningTowardSunshine]

Your channel is growing!!!:)

[@drjustinleedpt]

It’s getting there!!! It’s a nice and steady growth that I’m enjoying every moment of 🤩

[@jenessalutz-cq3vl]

Thanks for being respectful. Im a chiro and enjoy it but encouraged my daughter who is currently in pt school to pursue it instead because of the disrespect I feel sometimes from people outside the medical profession . I have many PTs as patients. Nurses . Doctors etc never had a problem there.

[@logangaddy]

You feel disrespected by people outside the medical profession? The people who have no clue what they’re talking about? Sounds like you don’t have a spine, pun intended. I live for confrontations like that where i get to educate people, perhaps you lack the self confidence in yourself and or your practice? My wife is also a nurse, and she can tell you there is constant disrespect directed towards her from both patients AND DOCTORS! Chose a health profession based on how you want to impact other peoples lives, not based on what haters will think or say. Such a terrible take honestly.

[@Nijaanth]

Great video! I would also note that there are differences between American physios/chiros and others around the world. In Canada, physio is a master's program while chiro is still a doctorate. Also in Canada's only english speaking college (CMCC), I believe they're starting to take a little more of a wholistic body approach as opposed to just the spine. Thanks for your help!

[@scienceforall8778]

It is not a doctorate. A PhD is a doctorate. In Canada, it’s a doctor of chiropractic FYI.

[@Luke-bq7sd]

@@scienceforall8778 Yes it is a doctorate, more specfically it is an advanced clinical science doctorate. 'Doctorate' doesn't exclusively refer to a phd. A phd is a doctor of philosophy, but we just refer to it as simply a doctorate because 'doctorate of philosophy' can cause avoid confusion with actual philosophy degrees. hope this helped

[@borgeypillow9019]

My medical school tried to integrate chiropractors into our orthopedic rounds (patient assessments as well as team discussions). Chiropractors saw "abnormalities" on X-Rays that allopathic radiologists would consistently not see, and hence claim they were not there. Suffice it to say these combined orthopedic/chiropractic rounds did not last very long.

[@cedrickkevinnanini9219]

They injured people or

[@tylerbeck3806]

Chiro here. I would definitely agree that PTs are going to have better job growth/security and higher starting pay with better benefits packages. My first job out of school was right in line with PT salary and my second was much higher. There are good paying jobs in both, but as a chiro if you want to get paid well its definitely more competitive and you may even be better off running your own office in the long run. That said ai prefer the wider scope of practice as I use nutrition, bloodwork, therapeutic exercise, passive modalities, supplements, joint manipulation, and x-ray/MRI to manage and evaluate and I dont have to refer for any of these tests. Frankly, I wish they would merge PT/Chiro school to expand both of our educations and scope of practice. Thanks for the great video doc!

[@PedroSilva-yv3oo]

But on physiotherapy you learn about chiro, at least on my college i Will talk about it Next year. The descipline its call FNME 5

[@spinedoc893]

I practice in Canada so can only comment on the situation here but I have been a chiro for 27 years and don't personally know any chiropractors that have a 'job' as a practicing chiropractor.( ie they get paid a salary or hourly wage to treat patients). I know a few that have administrative or instructor type jobs in a teaching setting or for agencies like workers comp. or insurance co. etc. and a lot of those jobs are part time things they do in addition to practicing part time somewhere else. As such most wage statistics for chiropractic are very inaccurate and admittedly chiro incomes vary wildly. Most chiros own their own practice or have some type of associateship agreement in someone else's practice where they would have a % revenue split with the Dr that owns the clinic. Most of the physiotherapists I know have jobs either in hospitals or private rehab/physio clinics where they get paid an hourly wage. Of course some physio's own their own clinic as well but I would say its much less common than with chiros. To be honest the only way you are going to make significant money in either profession is to own your own clinic. If you are looking to have a job + benefits and pension and not have the hassle of running a business then for sure physio is the way to go but honestly I wouldn't put in the time, effort and money it takes to get trained for either of these professions for the $70-89K/yr quoted here. Running a financially lucrative chiro practice is in my opinion easier than a physio clinic because you can make a very good living with a simple low overhead clinic that doesn't take a lot of time or effort to handle the administration end of things. Lucrative physio clinics usually involve large high overhead spaces with multiple employees and big start up costs. I run a small low overhead chiro office in a rural/tourist town in Ontario. I work 26-30 contact hours in 3 1/2 days/week. I spend a few hrs/week doing administrative tasks and have a semi retired associate who works 15 hrs/week and we have 2 part time staff. We are far from what would be considered a high volume practice but we typically see 4-6 patients/hr each and 90+% of our patients are referrals from MD's and other health professionals or from existing patients. My associate is making roughly double the $ quoted in this video and I make double what he makes. These are not exceptional numbers for a successful chiro clinic and I know many chiro's who run the same volume in a day that I do in a week. . It takes a bit to get up and running but once you do its way better than having a 'job'. If you have good clinical skills and get good results and you are a good communicator you will have no trouble getting referrals and making a good living as a chiro.

[@jasminegutierrez4697]

Physical therapy for me too!

[@drjustinleedpt]

PT all the way!!! #choosePT

[@tatianajefferson32]

I would be interested to see what your job offers are once you graduate. I know a lot of PTs and none of them are making that much money. I am not saying that it is not possible, I am just saying that it would be on the higher emd of the salary scale or they are also doing other things.

[@drjustinleedpt]

It is true because the salary that I mentioned was the average salary across physical therapist that have been working for many years. Typically The average starting salary ranges from $60,000-$80,000. Of course it depends on where you live and all the other things

[@rio20d]

I am speaking for myself here and not for everyone, at least in my experience here in down under, after trying both physiotherapy and chiropractic treatments for my low back pain, I found that seeing physiotherapist is kind of useless, I feel like wasting my time and money. The physiotherapist simply gave me a list of exercises to do at home, no treatment done on my back pain. Whereas, the chiropractors did all the SMT or adjustments on me in a very safe way on the adjustment beds. After seeing the chiropractors for about 4 sessions, my pains were gone. The Chiropractor also gave me some stretching and exercise to stabilize my core while I am at home.

[@drjustinleedpt]

I am so glad you had a great experience with your chiro and found relief from them. However, I am so sad that you did not get relief and found value from PT.. Unfonruntely,. There are a good amount of clinics out there that are HORRIBLE with their service and how they perform as PTs… I really hate it

[@khoatruong91]

I would say massage therapy and PT are good match and I am doing it

[@marielacandie]

Word.currently in school for massage therapy and then will be going for physical therapy but not sure if to be an assistant or Doctorate

[@mr.nonamanadus4463]

Chiropractor: great at releasing muscle tension immediately. When a joint is out of position the muscles try to compensate and you can get a runaway effect. I don't believe it's is much for disease prevention. Phsotherspy: great for increasing strength and flexibility. Weak muscles or poor posture/body mechanics will increase muscle tension as well. Massage Therapy: (throwing this in) is a follow up to the above professions. Typically the body has a memory of past trauma, muscle tension because the mind is conditioned to expect that as being normal. Massage calms the muscles down and teaches them to relax. I have had decades on the receiving end to know that each profession has it's place. After an absolutely agonizing experience with a pinched nerve I would say a physiotherapist has the right methodology for treatment. Popping a vertebra out a millimeter that goes to the chiropractor hands down (instant relief). But the absolute winner would be you, keeping good muscle tone/body mechanics and diet will reduce your trips to a professional to a minimum.

[@VVMapleVids]

In terms of treatment When there’s an injury how do you determine who should you decide like do i go see a chiro or a physio?

[@drjustinleedpt]

I typically will say both professions are great for treating injuries and helping you decrease your pain. But chiros are pretty good with the spine, and PTs are good with the whole body. But... it’s not to say that chiros are not good with the whole body and PT with the spine. I think the biggest difference is that PTs will look at MOVEMENT more vs ALIGNMENT

[@bacccarani]

7:30 - sounds like chiropractic career isn't great considering the amount of studying you need to do, the lower salary and lower job outlook.

[@drjustinleedpt]

Yeeeep! Just looking at the numbers.. IMO this isn’t a great career to get into now

[@kaileyparts1289]

Waiting for future patients to ask me what’s the difference between the two lol

[@drjustinleedpt]

You’ll get asked it all the time! Be ready to answer them with the facts! Or you can send them my video 🤪

[@on.parade]

If someone wanted to become both a P.T. and a Chiropractor, which education path would you recommend first? Is it easier to transition the college credits from one degree to the other?

[@drjustinleedpt]

I would NOT recommend that you be BOTH a PT and a Chiro, but I would recommend doing PT first before Chiro. I highly doubt that you can transfer credits from PT to chiro (or vise versa)

[@on.parade]

@@drjustinleedpt From my research in order to become a D.P.T. you first need a bachelors degree in Exercise Science, Kinesiology, or Human Biology. Likewise, to become a D.C. most students first receive a Bachelor’s in Human Biology and then go to D.C. school. So, I suppose studying Human Biology would have the most overlap. If I may ask, why would you not recommend becoming both a D.P.T and a D.C.?

[@gregaiken2053]

@@on.parade it’s unnecessary in my opinion due to similar focuses. An evidence based chiro and evidence based PT should be hard to distinguish between.

[@GeeShmrda]

@@drjustinleedpt I want to become the best chiropractor possible and that seems like the best way to make my patients happy

[@JohnDoe-mt6gb]

@@GeeShmrda you will be in too much debt and too much school if you did both DPT and Chiro

[@anthonyrivas3523]

Hey liftforchange, I’m a 19 year old at a community college working on my associates degree in kinesiology. What advice would you give me?

[@drjustinleedpt]

Nice!!! What career are you aiming for?

[@anthonyrivas3523]

@@drjustinleedpt physical therapy, but I’m thinking of doing pta first then work towards dpt after so I’m getting paid a little more than what I get now.

[@anthonyrivas3523]

Sooner^

[@Arthur-hg7ny]

A chiro in private practice makes $150k-$250k a year. $70k is out of school.

[@jenessalutz-cq3vl]

15 years out private practice less then 80$ a year but I don't take insurance so that does drop my income some

[@yuxio3733]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@mdsayerali4230]

Your new video optometry Vs physiotherapy upload please 🙏......

[@drjustinleedpt]

I think that would be an awesome video. I’ll put it on the list! Thank you for your input 🙂

[@mdsayerali4230]

Quickly Optometry Vs physiotherapy video upload please 🙏 sir. Fee, salary, rating including this video please sir. Few months after my school complete than this course admition. Please sir help me.

[@hannahmontana44]

I looked at the info on the bls website and it looks to me like chiropractors make significantly more money than physical therapists.

[@jenessalutz-cq3vl]

For sure chiro less and no other benefits

[@davidboyd1772]

Mini chiropractors make $300-$500,000 a year net income. Many chiropractors gross over $1 million a year. But there are some chiropractors that can barely make it depends on how good of a business person you are and how good of a doctor you are.

[@starfish2pie493]

Is it ok to get second opinion to a chiro?

[@drjustinleedpt]

It is definitely OK to get a second opinion from a Chiro. In fact, I recommend that you get a second opinion every time you are seeking medical advice

[@kamahalanman2678]

I’d like to know your opinion about chiropractors and their philosophy. Do you believe that their treatment is beneficial for the patients in the long term? Or would physical therapy be more suited for that? Also, how do you feel about the whole “Physical Therapy vs Chiropractor” argument in which treatment is better?

[@drjustinleedpt]

I believe that chiros are great at what they do but I think several (not all) chiros will just perform their treatment without following up with exercise/movement. The literature shows that when you perform manipulations (chiros call it this) or grade V high velocity low amplitude joint mobilizations (PTs call it this), you need to follow it up with movement in order for long lasting changes. Other wise, the extra mobility you gained after the manipulation, you’ll lose it. Hope that helps! Not trying to bash on them, but respectfully discern the differences and just what I’ve experienced and witnessed

[@andrewusher1033]

@@drjustinleedpt Hey! I am wanting to become a chiropractor and going to get a strength and conditioning and mobility certificates so I believe as people that we need to be able have a level of mobility especially since you are getting that extra boost of mobility but this video was really helpful thanks man

[@drjustinleedpt]

@@andrewusher1033 I think that’s a great way to go man! That’s a power move bro!!!!

[@Luke-bq7sd]

@@drjustinleedpt perfectly explained man. that is the most accurate and well described take on it ive seen

[@davidboyd1772]

I’ve been in practice for 35 years I work with physical therapist and orthopedist and I can tell you right now without a doubt you’re better to go with a chiropractor. Post surgery you should go with a physical therapist until you are able to return back to the chiropractor after surgery so you don’t have to have surgery again.

[@qsweetie4082]

Were you a pt then you transfer over to dpt?

[@drjustinleedpt]

I was not. I went straight for DPT

[@qsweetie4082]

@@drjustinleedpt but how I dont understand I thought you had to be a pt before dpt because I thought that was the last step for physical therapy

[@drjustinleedpt]

@@qsweetie4082 in the USA, a DPT degree is an entry level program. Meaning you only need a bachelors degree before applying to DPT school. once you have your DPT degree, you can start working as a physical therapist

[@deborahlee6847]

@@qsweetie4082 If you have a bachelor degree in other major, you can apply to DPT program. However, you have to take pre-requisite courses (chemistry, biology, physics, anatomy..) before applying. You can check on the schools website that you want to apply for.

[@sideswipe248]

@@qsweetie4082 pt is just the name of the job, dpt is the name of the degree you need to get to be a pt (in the usa that is)

[@jttillman7109]

Real Chiropractors don’t treat symptoms. Chiropractors adjust vertebrae that have lost their proper juxtaposition with the one above, or below or both. Which impinges nerves that interfere with the transmission of mental impulses.

[@drjustinleedpt]

Nice! that’s good!

[@jttillman7109]

@@drjustinleedpt it’s the definition of a subluxation. I’m currently a student at Palmer College. Learning that chiropractic isn’t “quackery”, it’s about helping people. We don’t cure anything we can help give your body a fighting chance to heal itself by helping make sure the nerve signals going to and throughout the body are stronger without the limitations of being impinged. As a military veteran it’s been the only thing that’s really helped my low back, knees, and neck not feel like I’m 100 years old. Thanks for making the video. I appreciate your perspective.

[@davidboyd1772]

Incomplete information about chiropractic

[@colemanharris5950]

Isn’t chiropractic medicine pseudoscience and quackery? PT all day, make way more, use evidence based practice, be an actual medical professional, and don’t here popping joints all day.

[@drjustinleedpt]

There definitely is a science with chiropractic. They are licensed professional and use science based practice where many people actually find benefit from their techniques. I think where it fails, is several (not all) chiros will manipulate joints, but will not do any exercise to follow up with the manipulation, which science shows only temporary changes. So then the client/patient will keep coming back since it’s not long lasting

[@colemanharris5950]

@@drjustinleedpt That is interesting. I think its origins are kind of sketchy, the "founder" David Palmer adjusted a deaf janitor in 1895 and claimed it restored his hearing. That is good that it has evolved.

[@drjustinleedpt]

@@colemanharris5950 hahaha no way!!! Is that really how it started.... oh man. What a tale.

[@Alex-ns6hj]

What if I want to do both chiropractor and DPT to make up for where both practices lack? Because I know places where chiropractic can compliment PT and vice versa

[@mr.nonamanadus4463]

Depends on the chiropractor, if he just does the alignment that's ok. But if they advocate it prevents disease (other than maybe joint issues) then the baloney meter goes off the scale. Mine never mentioned what caused my pinched nerve or gave me a lecture on needing a routine adjustment. Typically I would go in and say what my issue was, then he'd get me on the table and dig a thumb in a muscles making me move a limb so he we work the knot out. Then he gets me to push hard a few times to tire out the muscle then a quick twist or yank.I get a pop or a crack and instant relief. There is not talk about diseases prevented by chiropractic treatments. It's very basic and to the point.

[@davidboyd1772]

I can run circles around the physical therapist when it comes to spine pain with one hand tied behind my back as a chiropractor. Anybody want to take the Pepsi challenge?

[@davidboyd1772]

Sorry you are wrong you don’t understand chiropractic. Chiropractics all about motion in fact chiropractic can do anything a physical therapist can do. Our education is more advanced similar to medicine in fact chiropractors have to learn medicine before they learn chiropractic to get federal loans for school. You’re much better off with a chiropractor because we can diagnose any condition known to mankind and we can order any test known to mankind to make that diagnosis. If it falls out of the scope of chiropractic we can refer you to the appropriate doctor just like any other doctor.

[@ptbro3334]

This comment is one of the reasons people refer to chiropractors as fake. Humble yourself a little

[@sideswipe248]

A majority of our profession is legit and we work side by side with MDs in settings where there are also MDs right next to us. This is why we are legit and chiros aren't. Almost our entire profession works directly under referrals from MDs, even though technically we are able to now see patients through direct access. We are the MDs best friend, whereas chiros aren't. We train for function, we focus on what research tells us is the best result. That just happens to be focusing on function and exercise, and education. Not manual therapy or fixing subluxations or even correcting postures as seen on X-rays. This also allows us to be the primary "function" trainers in important facilities that are also importantly medically such as SNFs, ICUS, ERS, Hospitals, and rehab facilities. The main important note for this... is that insurance reimburses us for this "so called" function the most. Thus we always have a job and a important aspect of society. We are better than them at this most important part. Even if patients don't see it, MDs and insurance companies do. Thats important. Oh and humble yourself man

[@rptphilippines8732]

The founder of PT was a nurse who worked in the rehabilitation of physically disabled individuals (exercises for disabled and wounded soldiers in WW2). While the founder of Chiro was a guy who aligned spinal vertebrae and believed in magnetic healing (a pseudoscience). After world war II, Chiro started to incorporate evidence-based practice , exercises and techniques in their education system which physical therapist are already doing since the start. My question is, why do we need to create another profession when there is already an existing profession doing that service?

[@jenessalutz-cq3vl]

Please be respectful he was very respectful. Chiro here

[@jenessalutz-cq3vl]

All of you respect each other both professions have good and bad both are very needed . I just want everyone to get along this is one of the reasons chiropractic frustrates me. It is very much a legit career just as PT is