While I am not adamant about the requirement of a four year academic degree prior to entering chiropractic college I do see a significant need to raise the prerequisite from 90 hours, as it currently stands, to a level of 100 or 120 hours.  This would of course raise the requirement to a four year program or a degree for most students. However, in my opinion, the key issue is not the additional didactic training that the pre-chiropractic student obtains but rather a level of maturity that additional year and education could add.

This additional level of maturity would serve the student, and newly graduated DC, in hopefully making them less susceptible to the purveyors of unprofessional, unethical and fraudulent practices. 

 

Additionally a four-year prerequisite could support communication and professional parity with other healthcare providers. Again, this goes to a level of maturity... that of professional maturity.

All accredited chiropractic colleges do teach critical thinking, ethics, boundaries and professionalism.  How the practicing DC is able to apply this in practice and everyday life depends upon one's individual sophistication and experience. An additional year of preparation certainly wouldn't hurt the new DC, the profession, or the patients he/she will be serving.