Written records from the ancient Greek and Chinese civilizations, dating back several thousand years, refer to spinal manipulation. The inception of modern chiropractic can be traced back to 1895 when Canadian Daniel David Palmer performed the first chiropractic adjustment and went on to found The Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa in 1897.
The 20th century saw the growth and development of the profession worldwide, gaining recognition and respect for the place it has taken in the primary care environment. Influential research has underpinned the development of the profession and has come both from within and outside of the chiropractic research communities.
Chiropractic is unique in that the profession is organised internationally and there are international standards for education.
The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) is the largest and longest-standing association for chiropractors in the UK. It was founded in 1925 and has a membership comprising well in excess of 50% of the UK’s registered chiropractors. The BCA only accepts members who have graduated from a nationally or internationally-recognised college of chiropractic education, after a minimum of four years full-time training and ensures its chiropractors maintain high standards of conduct, practice, education and training.
The BCA was a founder member of the European Chiropractors Union and the World Federation of Chiropractic.
All BCA members are covered by a high quality professional indemnity insurance and the Association operates a robust professional standards and complaints management process.
