Doctors of Chiropractic, who are certified as animal chiropractors, are spine, muscle and nervous system experts, providing the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and preventative care of biomechanical disorders originating from the muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems. They adopt evidence-informed practice principles to guide decision making by integrating clinical expertise, patient’s preferences, and the best available scientific evidence.

Before they can become certified as animal chiropractors, Doctors of Chiropractic receive a minimum of seven years of university-level education prior to receiving their Doctor of Chiropractic designation. They are governed by the College of Chiropractors in their respective provinces for the treatment of human patients.

Doctors of Chiropractic are required to maintain registration in good standing with the human College of Chiropractors in their province in order to be accepted into a post-graduate animal chiropractic program and in order to take certification exams and maintain ongoing certification as animal chiropractors. Doctors of Chiropractic attend the same post-graduate accredited schools for animal chiropractic training as veterinarians and learn alongside them. They sit the same certification examinations, receive the same certifications, and are required to attend the same number of continuing education credit hours to maintain certification status.

Acceptable animal chiropractic certification may be granted by one of three accredited internationally recognized certifying bodies including: the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association (AVCA, est. 1989), the International Veterinary Chiropractic Association (IVCA), or the College of Animal Chiropractors (CoAC).

These certifying bodies require that applicants have successfully completed an approved post-graduate training program (minimum 210 hours), and are licensed Doctors of Chiropractic in good standing with the human College of Chiropractors of in their province before sitting the AVCA, IVCA or the CoAC certification exam. Certification by these organizations requires a passing grade of both written and practical examination on both small and large animals.

The certification examination process includes the following steps:

• Successfully pass the approved animal chiropractic program exit examination
• Sit the written certification examination
• Sit the clinical (practical) certification examination
• Pass both the written and clinical (practical) examinations
• Applicants must hold a current/active (good standing) chiropractic license
• Applicants receive a 3-year certification based on fulfilment of all requirements.

All certified animal chiropractors are required to complete 30 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) every 3 years. The CPD must be relevant to the animal chiropractor and needs approval by the certifying body. Ten of the 30 hours of CPD, needs to be approved as specific animal chiropractic CPD.

There are a number of training programs available that have been approved by the AVCA, IVCA, or the CoAC, in the US, Europe, and one in Canada.

The approved post-graduate training programs consist of a minimum of 210 hours of education to licensed Doctors of Chiropractic and licensed veterinarians only.