Pitt to launch doctor of chiropractic program

Lower back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and evidence indicates chiropractic care effectively treats pain with less reliance on opioids, some experts say.

Those are among the reasons cited by the University of Pittsburgh for establishing a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) program, the first at a research-intensive public university in the nation and the only one in Pennsylvania.

Pitt’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences plans to accept applications for prospective students in the fall semester for an initial class of 40 students starting in fall 2025. It hopes that number will grow over the next two years to 60 students.

The program will focus on evidence-based training for spine and musculoskeletal conditions and prepare students to work within interprofessional teams, said Anthony Delitto, dean of SHRS.

The new doctoral-level offering will draw upon expertise from across Pitt’s sprawling health sciences. It comes as the university more broadly is working through its strategic planning process led by Chancellor Joan Gabel to identify emerging areas where Pitt can have the greatest impact.

Remarks from Pitt leaders describing their hopes for the initiative were included in a news release timed to a program announcement Monday.

“With the addition of a chiropractic program, students and faculty from various health disciplines can come together to explore new research avenues, share knowledge and develop integrated approaches to patient care,” Delitto said.

Chiropractic is “a licensed health care profession that emphasizes the body’s ability to heal itself,” as defined by the National Institutes of Health. It says treatment usually involves “manual therapy, often including spinal manipulation. Other forms of treatment, such as exercise and nutritional counseling, may be used as well.”

Pitt cited data about growing patient demand and the increasing acceptance of chiropractic care in mainstream health care as reasons to establish the program.

“Major drivers of this program include an accumulation of scientific evidence showing that chiropractic care is a safe and effective approach to the treatment of pain and the important role it can play in mitigating opioid use for back and neck pain through nonopioid interventions,” said Michael Schneider, a professor in SHRS and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Pitt, who will serve as the program’s acting director.

“According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 619 million people live with low back pain. It is the leading cause of disability worldwide,” Schneider said.

The WHO projects that number will grow by 36% to 843 million by 2050. The affliction can be experienced at any age but the highest number of cases occur at ages 50 to 55, according to the WHO website.

In the United States, four in 10 adults experienced back pain in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chiropractic care has been covered by most medical insurance plans for years and is widely used by consumers, officials at Pitt said. A bill is under consideration in the U.S. Senate proposing the expansion of Medicare coverage of chiropractic services.

“Our students will follow all public health initiatives and recommendations and will receive clinical training side-by-side in an integrated setting with physicians, physical therapists and other health care providers,” Schneider said.

Pitt’s program will consist of eight terms. It will emphasize research evidence in both the classroom and clinical training.

“Students will work with real patients beginning with observational rounds in the first year and culminating in the last semester with full-time chiropractic clinical training within an integrated health care system and private chiropractic clinics,” Pitt said in the announcement.

The program has established a clinical affiliation with VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.