Becoming a Doctor of Chiropractic begins with learning the hands-on skills that will shape your career and impact your future patients. At Palmer College of Chiropractic, the place where the profession began, you’ll develop a deep, practical understanding of chiropractic techniques through early, immersive training and extensive clinical experience.
Palmer’s approach is built on three pillars:
- Early hands-on technique training, supported by leading anatomy education.
- A deep, consistent foundation in the Palmer Package
- Extensive clinical training in the Palmer Clinics under licensed faculty clinicians
This foundation empowers you to graduate confident and ready to care for patients on day one.
Technique Education at Palmer College
Early Immersion in Technique Labs
From very early in the curriculum, you’ll begin learning palpation, biomechanics, spinal analysis and foundational adjusting skills in structured lab environments. This early hands-on focus ensures you build confidence and skill long before entering the clinical phase of your education.
During this time, you’ll also take classes in chiropractic philosophy and history, anatomy, movement science, neuromusculoskeletal diagnosis, clinical skills, diagnostic imaging, and others.
Clinical Mastery in the Palmer Clinics
Beginning in Trimester 7, you’ll enter the Palmer Clinics—caring for real patients under the supervision of licensed faculty clinicians. Here, you’ll refine your technique selection, improve patient communication, sharpen diagnostic reasoning and gain the professional experience that sets Palmer graduates apart. Palmer Chiropractic Clinics is the largest chiropractic clinic network in the world, and here you’ll gain experience caring for a diverse range of patients.
The Palmer Package: Your Comprehensive Adjusting Foundation
All Palmer students become proficient in the Palmer Package, a core combination of four essential and clinically effective chiropractic techniques. This ensures you graduate with a broad, adaptable skillset suitable for a wide range of patient needs.
Diversified Technique
The Diversified Technique is one of the most widely used chiropractic methods, known for its precise high velocity, low amplitude (HVLA) manual adjustments that help restore joint mobility, improve alignment and reduce nerve interference. These quick, controlled thrusts target specific joints to restore normal motion and function.
Before an adjustment, the chiropractor typically conducts a detailed history, exam and assessment including palpation, orthopedic and neurological testing and sometimes imaging, ensuring each adjustment is both accurate and individualized. The technique’s versatility allows it to be used on the full spine, making it applicable across many patient presentations.
Gonstead Technique
The Gonstead Technique uses a five-component analysis—visualization, instrumentation, static palpation, motion palpation and full-spine X-rays—to pinpoint the exact spinal segment requiring adjustment.
Developed to achieve the most specific and minimal force adjustment possible, the Gonstead approach focuses on restoring disc integrity, skeletal alignment and optimal nerve function. Adjustments are applied only where necessary, reducing unnecessary manipulation and supporting structurally sound correction.
Thompson Technique
The Thompson Technique is a gentle, low-force, full-spine approach that uses a specialized drop table to facilitate efficient adjustments with minimal pressure. The method begins with the Derifield leg check, which helps the chiropractor identify neurological imbalance and determine the order of corrections.
During the adjustment, the table’s segmented sections drop in coordination with a light thrust, enhancing the correction through momentum while keeping patient comfort at the forefront.
Toggle Recoil
The Toggle Recoil Technique is a specialized upper cervical approach focusing on the atlas (C1) and axis (C2)—the vertebrae that protect the brainstem and influence global neurological function. This is a foundational technique and is Palmer’s upper-cervical specific form of adjusting.
Patients typically lie on their side on a specialized upper cervical table. Detailed imaging and upper cervical analysis help the chiropractor determine the exact correction vector before performing the adjustment.
Technique Electives: Customize Your Expertise
Palmer offers one of the most extensive lists of technique elective courses in chiropractic education. Electives vary by campus and including but not limited to:
- Advanced Activator Methods
- Advanced Flexion/Distraction
- Advanced Thompson
- Advanced Soft Tissue Techniques
- Atlas Orthogonal
- Blair Technique
- NUCCA
- Pettibon
- Sacro Occipital Technique (SOT)
- Comprehensive Spinal Rehabilitation
- Sports-focused adjusting electives
- Instrument-assisted soft-tissue methods
- Extra-spinal adjusting
- Anatomy and movement science courses
These electives allow you to build specialty skills, explore additional technique systems and tailor your education to your practice goals.
How Palmer’s Technique Education Stands Apart
- Early and Extensive Hands-On Learning
Palmer integrates lab-based technique training early and consistently throughout the program. By the time you reach the Palmer Clinics, you already have a strong hands-on foundation.
- A Unified, Comprehensive Technique Core
The Palmer Package ensures all students graduate with a broad and consistent adjusting skillset rather than a fragmented or uneven approach.
- Large, Supported Clinic System
The Palmer Clinics provide a rich diversity of patient cases—allowing you to apply your techniques under the mentorship of highly experienced faculty clinicians. You’ll have the choice to learn under one of more than a dozen faculty clinicians, each who offer a distinct specialty and skillset. This allows you to learn under a mentor who aligns with your specific goals.
- One of the Largest Selections of Elective Techniques
Palmer’s depth and variety of elective technique courses give you the freedom to specialize and excel in the areas that interest you most.
- The College Where Chiropractic Began
Palmer’s legacy, leadership and continued innovation ensure that students learn in an environment shaped by the profession’s past, present and future.
