It amazes me how patients don’t think twice about choosing a doctor who is not licensed in their state of residence but wouldn’t let a plumber or electrician in their home unless they held a license. Most towns won’t even issue a permit for work to be done by a non-licensed individual and most states require licensure for everything from working as a barber to …… chiropractic physician!
What’s the importance of choosing a licensed doctor? I have held a license as a chiropractic physician in Illinois since 1987. My wife and I relocated from Highland Park, Illinois to Tucson, Arizona recently as part of our own personal functional health program. To do so, I had to obtain an Arizona chiropractic physician license.
To become licensed in Arizona required that I submit proof of my graduation from an accredited chiropractic college, proof that I had passed the national board exams and proof that my Illinois license was in good standing and had not been disciplined, I submitted my fingerprints to be used by the Arizona Department of Public Safety to check for a criminal history and to determine if I was a person of “good character and reputation”. I sat for and passed a jurisprudence exam on the laws and rules of practicing in Arizona. I am also required to attend 3 hours of a general meeting of the Arizona Board of Chiropractic Examiners during my first year of licensure.
Both Arizona and Illinois chiropractic boards require that I complete continuing education to renew and keep my licenses in good standing. Most of the continuing education I choose for re-licensure has to be sponsored by a chiropractic college.
My liability insurance will also only provide coverage for states that I hold license. If I was looking for a functional medicine doctor, at a minimum I would want to know that the doctor is licensed in my state of residence and that they carry liability insurance. Nowadays, it is easy to search for a doctor’s license status on the internet. I recommend it.
So now you know. Illinois and Arizona. Licensure is important. We’re different than most. Ethical, thorough, science-based care that we can be proud of.
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