Moving towards a contemporary chiropractic professional identity.

Area of Science:

• Chiropractic professional identity
• Healthcare practice models
• Professional discourse analysis

Background:

• Ongoing debate exists regarding chiropractic practice objectives and philosophical approaches.
• Little is known about the professional identity perspectives of everyday practicing chiropractors.
• Existing discourse is often dominated by political and academic leaders within the profession.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate professional identity within the chiropractic profession.
• To systematically review literature on chiropractic professional identity from 2000-2019.
• To identify and categorize prevailing professional identity subgroups.

Main Methods:

• Systematized literature search from 2000 to May 2019.
• Inclusion criteria applied to 562 initially sourced articles, resulting in 24 reviewed.
• Analysis of literature to identify and confirm professional identity subgroups.

Main Results:

• Three professional identity subgroups were confirmed: two polarized (musculoskeletal biomedical vs. vertebral subluxation vitalistic) and a centrist/mixed view.
• Terminology for these subgroups varies across the literature.
• While at least 20% focus exclusively on vertebral subluxation, up to 70% consider it an important practice element.
• Musculoskeletal spine care is dominant in clinical practice.
• Practicing chiropractors identify as primary/primary contact practitioners with a broad scope beyond musculoskeletal management.

Conclusions:

• Chiropractic professional identity is diverse, encompassing distinct philosophical and practice approaches.
• Despite the dominance of musculoskeletal care, vitalistic concepts like vertebral subluxation remain relevant for a significant portion of chiropractors.
• Future research should explore the relatedness of practice objectives and the evolution of professional identity over time and across contexts.