Chiropractic residencies and fellowships as continuing education: a review of chiropractic state boards policies.

Objective: To review United States chiropractic state boards acceptance of chiropractic residencies and fellowships as continuing education (CE).

Methods: Between February 2024 and April 2024, board websites and accompanying policy documents for all 50 states and the District of Columbia were manually searched for content related to residencies and fellowships and whether they were considered CE. Information regarding CE credit requirements for new licensees was also collected. Results were tabulated in a spreadsheet and descriptive analysis was performed. Consensus among a minimum of 5 of 6 investigators was sought.

Results: Four states (Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, and Minnesota) accept residencies or fellowships for CE credit, 6 states possess unclear regulatory language regarding these programs, and 41 states make no mention of these training programs among approved CE. Twenty-one states required CE credits during a licensee's initial renewal period, 1 state was unclear based on website content alone, and 29 states did not mandate CE for initial license renewal. More than 90% (19/21) of states that require CE for a licensee's first renewal do not or are unclear if they accept residencies or fellowships for credit.

Conclusion: Few chiropractic state boards currently accept residencies and fellowships as approved CE. As the number of these postdoctoral training programs for chiropractors grow, more state boards may be asked to determine their CE policies on them.