This year you’ll be seeing chiropractic listed on the National Match website alongside medicine, optometry, and other healthcare professions (see graphic below). This advancement is the result of a partnership between the VA Chiropractic Program and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) and currently includes all residencies that are accredited or in the process of accreditation by The Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE). This includes the 10 VA Chiropractic Residency sites as well as Aurora Health Care, a private hospital system residency site. Applications for the 2024-2025 residency class will open from Jan. 2 – 24, 2024.
After many years of developing and planning, five VA Chiropractic Residency Program sites were launched in 2014 (Canandaigua, Buffalo, West Haven, St. Louis, and Los Angeles). The sites received CCE accreditation and the programs were approved as a standing VA residency program in 2017. Then in 2019, five additional facilities were launched (Puget Sound, Palo Alto, Des Moines, Cincinnati, and Miami).
As we celebrate almost 10 years of graduates from the VA Chiropractic Residency Program, you can find many as leaders in the profession across a multitude of stages. Many sit on committees or advisory boards with organizations such as the American Chiropractic Association, the American Public Health Association (APHA), or the North American Spine Society (NASS).
Most remain in the VA as full time providers, working closely with our physical medicine or pain management colleagues and training the next generation of chiropractic students and other hospital trainees (medical residents, physical therapy students, etc.). Others are building chiropractic departments in private hospitals or teaching at universities. After residency, some chose to pursue fellowship opportunities with Yale or break ground as the first chiropractor to do a VA Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) Fellowship. Some have even gone on to direct their own chiropractic residency program.
Utilization of the National Match system for chiropractic residency selection aims to offer a variety of benefits for both the applicants and the programs. First and foremost, it will continue to ensure an even playing field where all participants adhere to the same rules and deadlines. It will also assist in the timely completion of candidate applications as well as requested letters of recommendation. Following interviews, both the applicants and the programs will rank their desired candidates and locations that will then be revealed during Match Day.
More information can be found at https://natmatch.com/chiro.
Dr. Price is a staff chiropractor at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, Wash.
