Department of Clinical Sciences

The lecture portion of this course presents the etiology, clinical presentation, orthopedic evaluation, and management of less common musculoskeletal conditions of the spine, pelvis, and extremities with additional emphasis being placed on differential diagnosis. The lab portion of this course emphasizes mastery of the procedures taught in Orthopedics I as well as learning new, less commonly utilized procedures, and placing an increased emphasis on record keeping skills. In addition, the lab emphasizes practical application of the student’s diagnosis skills to the lecture topics through clinical cases. This course is a hybrid format with 1 hour of live lecture in a traditional format and remaining hours as recorded, asynchronous lectures.

This course provides the student with the opportunity to understand the process of differential diagnosing to determine the primary diagnosis for the most common pathologies treated in a general chiropractic healthcare setting. The student will utilize appropriate physical exam findings, pain referral patterns, diagnostic imaging, laboratory test and ancillary studies for diagnosis confirmation and care plan development. Additionally, the student will identify co-morbidities that may interfere with the chiropractic management of the patient and determine if a referral and/or collaborative care is warranted. Team-based learning activities are offered to enhance the student’s ability to function in collaborative multidisciplinary care settings. The course is presented in a recorded, asynchronous lecture format.

This in-person provides instruction of assessment and utilization of the Activator tool and principles of instrument-assisted manipulative technique. The course is held in a scheduled weekend during the trimester and enrollers provided a certificate upon successful completion of the course requirements.

This course uses basic principles of epidemiology to assist chiropractic students in evidence-based health promotion and needs-based advising of patients in the clinical setting. The course also provides an overview of public health principles and terminology and guides chiropractic students on identification and assessment of risk factors.

This course is a survey of the etiology, pathology, diagnosis, and management of common dermatologic disorders likely to present to the chiropractic office. This course is an online format with 1 hour of recorded, asynchronous lectures.

This course covers the fundamental principles and procedures of the physical examination, incorporating the basic and clinical sciences. This requires the development of clinical interview, critical thinking skills, psychomotor skills, as well as evidence and sound clinical judgement necessary for a thorough and accurate assessment. Major systems covered include the cardiac, pulmonary, neurology, HEENT, and visceral organs of the abdomen

The use of the clinical laboratory in the diagnostic process. This Hybrid course is focused on the ordering, interpretation, and clinical application of various studies of the urine, blood, and feces. Weekly on-line references and readings accompanied by in-class quizzes and written assignments develop course content. This course is a hybrid format with 2 hours of recorded, asynchronous lectures and 1 hour of in-person instruction per week.

This course introduces and reviews the biology of aging and associated physiological and pathological changes that may occur in older adults. It focuses on applying principles and practices related to concepts of successful aging, balance and mobility, older adult fitness, common medical and psychological conditions seen in the elderly, nutritional advice, health screenings, and goal setting in chiropractic practice. It also provides guidance on the delivery of safe manual therapy interventions.

The course provides the student with the opportunity to understand the process of diagnosis and best practices management of the most common pathologies found in the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary and hepatobiliary systems. Appropriate diagnostic imaging, laboratory test and ancillary studies will be presented to enhance clinical understanding. Additionally, the course uses case study assignments to aid the development of pattern recognition skills necessary for effective clinical reasoning. Team-based learning activities are offered to enhance the student’s ability to function in collaborative multidisciplinary care settings. The course is presented in a recorded, asynchronous lecture format.

This course is designed to give the chiropractic student a clinical working knowledge of the physics, radiobiology, technical principles, and issues of radiation safety/protections pertaining to the use of ionizing radiation in diagnostic imaging. Advanced diagnostic imaging modalities are also included for these topics but are not covered in depth. This course is asynchronous, with 2 hours of recorded lectures provided each week. Exams will take place on campus.

Following a brief discussion of basic physical principles of x-ray production and film exposure, the student learns to recognize/identify x-ray appearance of normal axial and appendicular musculoskeletal anatomy and common normal variants of the musculoskeletal system. Lectures center around presentation of projected images.

This course focuses on the diagnostic imaging findings associated with selected conditions in the categories of musculoskeletal trauma, arthritides, infectious diseases of the musculoskeletal system, and vascular diseases affecting bone. Pertinent clinical features are also discussed to stress the importance of correlating patient demographics, history, lab, and exam findings in developing differential diagnoses for conventional x-ray examinations. The complimentary application and findings of advanced imaging studies (primarily bone scan, MR and CT) are also included for these topics but are not covered in depth. This course is a hybrid format with 5 hours of recorded, asynchronous lectures blended with 1 hour of in-person instruction focusing on case presentation and imaging interpretation.

This course is composed of both a didactic and laboratory component. Didactic sessions will employ a Socratic method of instruction, presenting baseline skills associated with proper patient positioning for the acquisition of conventional radiographic films commonly performed in a Chiropractor’s office. Laboratory sessions provide a hands-on approach to learning. In the lab, each student will practice and demonstrate efficient patient positioning and employ proper radiation safety protocols through effective communication. By the end of the course, the learner should be able to demonstrate proficiency in the setup of conventional radiographs of the spine, upper extremity, and lower extremity.

This course is designed to give the student a practical, working knowledge of radiographic differential diagnosis, detailing the analysis of plain film x-ray for purposes of differential diagnosis and also highlighting the proper application of various advanced imaging modalities. Primary emphasis of advanced imaging topics will focus on computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This course involves 4 hours/week of in-person, hands on instruction focusing on case presentation and imaging interpretation.