Life Chiropractic College West’s curriculum is designed to give students hands-on experience in the health clinic earlier that other chiropractic colleges, as well as change the flow of their academic experience to coincide with the clinical experience. Clinically Inspired Learning aims to balance the load of requirements from both the classroom and the clinic throughout the learning process, while also creating a bridge between clinical learning and academics.
As part of the curriculum, students gain relevant clinical experience on a topic they have just studied in the academic courses. In addition to pairing academic technique with clinical technique, Clinically Inspired Learning also changes the timing in which academic courses are delivered. As students begin to practice in the clinic, academic pressures should ease off. By the time students are in their final quarters, the academic load should be lower, and the clinic experience increases proportionately.
This clinically inspired approach to a chiropractic curriculum helps solidify student knowledge earlier, providing them with an understanding of what they’re learning and pushing them to make connections at a deeper level.
Early in the curriculum, students are exposed to adjustments through observation and conduct assignments that help them internalize their experiences through a learning lens. Gradually, more hands-on clinical experiences will be added into the learning, so that by the fifth quarter, each student will have dedicated time in the clinic. This real-time learning earlier in the student experience is expected to help build stronger connections between what happens in the classroom and what happens in the clinic.
