Chiropractic Education Standards to be revised following review

The GCC Council has approved the recommendation for a full revision of its Education Standards.

This decision follows an extensive scoping exercise, in which the views of chiropractic patients, educators and employers were sought, through a series of interviews and focus groups. Comparisons were also made with relevant standards and frameworks developed by other health and social care regulatory, professional and educational bodies.

Central to the new Education Standards will be ensuring the needs and views of patients and their care are better addressed, in addition to meeting the current and anticipated future skills requirements of chiropractic graduates entering the profession. These revisions are designed to align and deliver aims one and two of the new GCC Strategy 2022-2024.

Although the scoping review did conclude that the existing Education Standards, published in 2017, were broadly fit for purpose, the interests of patients were considered under-represented. Recent advances in best healthcare practice, education and regulation in recent years indicate that the Education Standards are starting to fall somewhat ‘out of step’ with wider developments within the sector.  

Areas identified by stakeholders for improvement

• Patient-centered care, patient partnership and therapeutic relationships. Understanding patients experiences, needs and goals. Fully discussing risks and benefits of care and shared decision making.
• Involving patients more in the design and delivery of curricula.
• The importance of including rehabilitation and active care approaches, alongside strong hands-on skills.
• Enhanced communication skills, including those in challenging situations.
• Enhanced professionalism, as a contemporary healthcare provider.
• Earlier introduction to patient-facing skills and experiential learning that builds progressively.
• Better interdisciplinary understanding, interdisciplinary working and the ability to refer patients promptly and effectively.
• Enhanced knowledge and skills around research, evidence and critical appraisal, with better integration of evidence into practice.

The new Standards will be developed with a full stakeholder consultation planned in late summer. It is anticipated that the new Standards will be implemented by late 2023, following approval from Council. All providers delivering GCC approved training programmes will be required to meet and maintain the new Standards.