Experiential Learning—The TCC Difference

No other chiropractic institution in the country can match Texas Chiropractic College when it comes to “hands-on” learning. Part of what has distinguished TCC throughout our 100-year history is our belief in the importance of meaningful opportunities for students to develop and hone their skills alongside other members of the medical profession in real settings, with real patients.

The benefits of these learning opportunities at TCC are immeasurable. Students gain a sense of what it is like to work with fellow professionals and real patients, learn to navigate the business side of health care, and build a network of colleagues across the spectrum of health care that can last a lifetime.

Here are just a few things to consider with regards to TCC’s heightened emphasis on hands-on training:

• We launched the first Preceptorship Program in the world.
• Our Hospital Rotation Program is the largest and best-integrated among chiropractic colleges nationwide.
• Our core science curriculum includes 300 contact hours of gross anatomy exploration.
• Our students learn in state-of-the-art clinical training facilities, including the Campus Health Center and Moody Health Center.
• Our newly built Iwama Education Center, which features a 4,000-square-foot Assessment Center, has been acclaimed as the most innovative facility of its kind in the nation.

At the core of experiential learning at TCC are three major programs:

Clinical Internships
Clinical internships—which are required for all students—begin in the seventh trimester and take place at the Campus Health Center and Moody Health Center. Internships are exciting and challenging opportunities for students to apply their skills and be collaboratively guided, monitored, and evaluated in examination, diagnosis, and treatment procedures by TCC’s expert faculty.

Preceptorships
Preceptorships are supplemental training programs that last up to15 weeks. This voluntary program is an excellent opportunity for students to intern in the field—typically at the practice of a TCC adjunct faculty member—and further strengthen professional skills ranging from evaluation and diagnosis to billing and insurance procedures. 

Hospital Rotation Program
The Hospital Rotation Program offers students at TCC invaluable and unique experience they would not find anywhere else in the country. Interns in this program participate in rotations, alongside other medical students from around the world, in the fields of neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, family medicine, and rheumatology, among others, at nearly 30 hospitals and clinics throughout Houston, including the world-renowned Texas Medical Center.

Rice Athletics Rotation Program
The newest opportunity for hands-on experience at TCC began in the fall of 2008. TCC students began attending to the NCAA Division I athletes at Rice University twice a week.  Participants in this program spend a month working with the athletic trainers at Rice in injury prevention and rehabilitation.

In addition to these distinctive experiential learning programs, TCC students also have access to a wealth of clinic visitation programs and community service opportunities. Together, these alliances offer TCC students incredible exposure to the breadth of the medical profession.