Abstract:
Aims and Objectives: To assess the demographics, career paths and factors
affecting chiropractic graduates of Durban University of Technology (DUT) from June
1994 to June 2007.
Method: A retrospective qualitative survey was conducted on 62 chiropractic
graduates of DUT. The sample represented 25.5% of the total chiropractic population.
Raw data regarding the demographics, respondents’ perception of their education,
current career paths, the factors responsible for affecting these career paths, as well as
a profile of chiropractic practices in South Africa (SA) was obtained. All data acquired
was assessed using SAS (Statistical Analysis System) version 9.1.3. The data was
purely descriptive, describing respondents’ career paths and their experiences, and no
specific hypothesis was investigated.
Results: The average respondent was found to be a married, white male who started
his chiropractic career at age 25-26 years. A total of 98.4% (n = 61) of the respondents
were currently in practice, with 80.6% (n = 50) indicating career satisfaction. The
majority (62.9%; n = 39) of respondents perceived there to be a growing acceptance of
chiropractic within the medical community, whilst 98.4% (n = 61) stated that they are
currently part of an active referral system between various other medical practitioners.
46% (n = 23) listed DUT as their preferred choice of chiropractic institution.
Conclusion and Recommendations: The majority of respondents’ indicated DUT as
the preferred choice of chiropractic institution due to its location and the system of
chiropractic taught (diversified). However, shortcomings in the education were
highlighted to be a lack of practically applicable knowledge taught at undergraduate
level, most especially business skills and speciality areas and that respondents’
perceived the qualification not to be as versatile and widely accepted as other
international chiropractic qualifications. Factors responsible for positively affecting the
career paths of chiropractic graduates were indicated to be the personality type of the
graduate, the means to finance a practice, support from parents and spouse or partner
and the level of acceptance graduates received from the public and other professions
within the medical sector. A recommendation for future studies is that a longer time
period be given for questionnaires to be returned and a larger sample group be
established in order to ensure that the sample group and total population is
homogenous.
