Chiropractic qualifying examinations: Honoring the profession's commitment to society

Abstract

Qualifying examinations are important in defining healthcare occupations as professions. Although the chiropractic profession has a long history of developing and improving its qualifying examinations, this information has not been well documented in the peer-reviewed literature and publicly available documents. The public expects to see evidence that a professional group uses best practices when examining candidates for licensure to ensure safe and effective care. However, the void in our literature makes it difficult to find evidence of an ongoing commitment to improve the quality and best practices of our board examinations. Therefore, this issue is dedicated to papers that explain the preparation and administration of qualifying exams and how these data inform program evaluation. This theme issue reveals that chiropractic educators are engaged in ongoing quality enhancement of the tests that signify to society that licensure candidates have been appropriately examined on the specialized knowledge and skills necessary to serve as doctors of chiropractic. These articles show that chiropractic strives to uphold its commitment as a professional body and is worthy of receiving the trust that the public has bestowed upon us.