Navigating Chiropractic Licensure: Expert Insights from the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners

Unlock the secrets of becoming a licensed chiropractor in Texas with expert insights from Sarah Matthews, Licensing Director for the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Join us, Cimone Murphree and MJ Hooper, as we navigate the complex journey from the initial application to the final licensing stages. Sarah Matthews reveals the meticulous process and criteria for obtaining a chiropractic license, including critical educational requirements and the necessary national board exams. With her guidance, discover the essential documents you'll need and learn about the convenience of the online portal that streamlines your application process.

Sarah shares the mission of the TBCE, emphasizing their dedication to protecting public health by ensuring only the most qualified practitioners are licensed. This episode is a must-listen for aspiring chiropractors and seasoned professionals alike, offering a wealth of information to help you understand the nuances of chiropractic regulation in Texas. Whether you're curious about the state jurisprudence exam or the timeline from application to approval, this conversation provides all the answers you need to embark on or advance your chiropractic career in the Lone Star State. Tune in for a comprehensive dive into the regulatory world that safeguards both practitioners and the community.

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Sarah Matthews currently serves as the Director of Licensing for the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners. She began her career with the Board in January of 2012 as an Administrative Assistant. Sarah has a professional, long standing relationship with stakeholders, licensees and the public. Her main goal is to provide amazing customer service while licensing and renewing qualified, skilled individuals for the citizens of the great state of Texas. Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband, and two children. She is a lifelong Texas Longhorns fan.  

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Visit the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners website: https://www.tbce.state.tx.us/

Get more information, details and resources on Know Your Regulator - https://www.belolaw.com/know-your-regulator

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This podcast is for educational purposes only, does
not constitute legal advice anddoes not create an
attorney-client relationship.
If you need legal assistanceabout a legal problem, contact
an attorney.
Welcome back to Know yourRegulator, the podcast that
inspires you to engage.
I am your host, simone Murphy,and co-hosting with me today is

(00:23):
MJ Hooper.
Hey, mj.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hey Ms Simone.
Today we have another greatepisode lined up for our viewers
.
Today we are discussinglicensing and enforcement for
Texas chiropractors.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
That is right, we have got staff from the Texas
Board of Chiropractic Examiners,or TBCE, joining us today
Licensing Director SarahMatthews and General Counsel
Joseph McLaughlin.
Welcome and thanks for yourtime today, guys.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Thank you for having us.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Well, we are very excited to share your insights
and knowledge with thechiropractic community.
Share your insights andknowledge with the chiropractic
community.
It's super crucial that licenseholders understand how their
agency works and how toeffectively interact and engage
with them Before we get too intoy'all's processes and
regulation.
Sarah, can you share with us abrief overview of TPCE and its

(01:23):
mission?
Sure?

Speaker 3 (01:26):
The Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners, also
known as TPCE, licenses andregulates chiropractors in the
state of Texas.
The board's mission is toexecute the statutory authority
of the Texas Occupation Code,chapter 201, and to promote,
preserve and protect the health,safety and welfare of the

(01:47):
people of Texas by licensingskilled professionals and
enforcing standards of practice.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Wonderful and I think it is very critical.
You mentioned, you know, in themission statement that you know
the agency's mission is reallyfirst and foremost to protect
the public and you guys upholdthat mission through these
processes that we will betalking about.
So, with that being said, sarah, who needs a license to

(02:16):
practice chiropractic care inTexas?

Speaker 3 (02:21):
To practice chiropractic in Texas, a doctor
of chiropractic must have beenissued a license by the board.
We currently do not havelicenses for chiropractic
assistance and we do notcurrently have chiropractic
facility registrations thatthere are some differences among
medical licenses.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
The TMB has a different process and a
different way of governing andregulating their licenses versus
the processes that you guyshave and the way that you issue
your licenses and the types oflicenses that are available too.
Can you tell us what steps aretaken to obtain a chiropractic
license?

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, it's pretty lengthy.
So the first step is for theapplicant to complete a new
license application and submitthat to the board along with our
$200 processing fee.
To qualify for a license inTexas, the applicant must have
graduated from a CCE AccreditedChiropractic College, which is

(03:33):
also known as Councils onChiropractic Education.
They must have earned at least90 hours of undergrad coursework
that would be transferable toUT Austin per statute and must
have passed NBCE board exams,one through four and
physiotherapy or the specialpurposes exam called the spec

(03:56):
exam.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Wow interesting.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
Can you walk us through a typical application
process, and how long might theapplicants expect this process
to take?

Speaker 3 (04:10):
Sure, a typical license is issued within one to
two months.
Once the applicant hassubmitted the application and
processing fee, theirapplication is reviewed within
seven business days.
Once reviewed, I will providethe applicant with an applicant
status.
Typical items that arerequested from the applicant
would include undergradtranscripts, chiropractic

(04:31):
transcript, copy of chiropracticdiploma, background check and
national board scores.
Once all of those items arereceived, the applicant then is
made eligible to take our statejurisprudence exam.
This is an online exam, so oncethe applicant, then, is made
eligible to take our statejurisprudence exam this is an
online exam, so once theapplicant is eligible, they can

(04:52):
take it at their own convenience, even if it's 12 am.
Once the exam has been passed,I will provide them with a
letter that basically is lettingthem know that they have to pay
a permitted licensing fee, andthen there's also a form that
they have to submit.
So once I've received both ofthose items, a license is then
issued within 10 business days.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
I had a quick question about the documents
that you had mentioned.
When they're submitting thesedocuments to you?
Is this via an online portal,or how is that being processed?

Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, so we actually just released an application
portal, but we do not have a wayfor them to upload those
documents other than the photothat's to be included in the
application, to be included inthe application.
So typically for thetranscripts, they request those

(05:49):
to be sent directly to us fromeach university or they
sometimes use parchment services.
Same thing with national boardscores.
They have a portal that they goin and they request it and we
receive it separately.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Thank you.
Super important for applicantsto know you know what to look
out for and just how to navigatethis.
What are some of the mostcommon issues that applicants
may face in your department?

Speaker 3 (06:17):
I would say that the biggest holdup for new
applicants would be the amountof time it takes to receive all
the required documents.
Some schools are quicker thanothers on submitting those
transcripts.
Another holdup would be if theapplicant is required to appear
before the board.
Typically that would only be ifthe applicant has one or more

(06:39):
alcohol-related arrests or aprevious felony.
Those would require boardapproval and our board meets
quarterly.
So that would be a holdup ifsomeone had to appear before the
board.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Gotcha, would you say that it's sort of the same for
applicants or not applicants?
License holders who arerenewing their license, do they
experience some of those sameissues?
Who are renewing their licensedo they experience some of those
?

Speaker 3 (07:07):
same issues or might they experience different issues
?
Yeah, there's some differentissues.
So I would say the most commonholdup for license renewals is
due to the licensees notcompleting the legislative
requirement for humantrafficking, that's per Texas
Occupations Code Chapter 116.
If the licensee completes thetraining right before his or her

(07:28):
deadline, they can run into theproblem of not being able to
renew their license on time.
A hold is initially placed onevery licensee that is due for
renewal until proof of thattraining has been received has
been received.
When we lift the renewal hold,it does take two full business

(07:48):
days for our database tointegrate with Texasgov, which
is where they pay their payments.
So a lot of times licenseeshave to renew late because
they're waiting to the lastminute.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Gotcha.
Yeah, that's probably a reallybig one for our viewers to know
is don't wait until the lastminute and do it right up
against that deadline.
Thanks, sarah.
That's really big informationto share.
Are the fingerprint andbackground checks?
Do you guys see that being aholdup in these renewals, or

(08:22):
applications being processed?

Speaker 3 (08:27):
Generally speaking, I would say no, no application is
outright denied.
The applicant will always havethe opportunity to speak their
case.
If the applicant is required toappear before the full board,
then the application may bedelayed a little.
Once individuals have beenfingerprinted, we do receive
wrap backs through DPS.
So if they have any new arrestsor convictions we will get

(08:49):
notified and that if it's acurrent licensee and we do
receive a hit on that, ourenforcement team will review
that and handle accordingly.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
Gotcha Good to know and I think it's really good for
viewers to know too that youknow licensing and enforcement
are two separate departments andthat licensing just handles the
license you know and inobtaining're the one who will
handle if there's like acriminal history or, like you

(09:28):
said, something comes back on abackground check and that, like
you said, that transfers over toa different department and gets
handled in a different process.
So that's definitely good forviewers to know what can happen
if a license holder allows theirlicense to expire or they
submit a late renewal.

Speaker 3 (09:50):
Every license expires on the licensee's first day of
their birth month every twoyears.
This date will never change.
A lot of people forget theirexpiration date, but that date
does not change.
There's no grace period for alate renewal.
Once the license is expired forone year, a license is then
closed for non-renewal.
During that year the licenseecan submit a late renewal along

(10:14):
with any incurred late fees.
That license is not renewedretroactively.
There would be a lapse betweenthe expiration date and the date
that renewal was actuallyreceived.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
Really good to know and again, like we said just a
moment ago, it's good to submityour documents in a timely
manner.
Make sure that you've goteverything you know ready to go,
with plenty of time for it tobe processed, because you don't
want to wait.
Well, Sarah, do you have anyrecommendations for applicants

(10:47):
or license holders who are aboutto renew their license to
ensure that they have a smoothprocess?

Speaker 3 (10:56):
I would say it's always best for the applicant
and licensee to stay up to datewith our current board rules.
It will also be important forthem to know that any
correspondence from the board isimportant and should not be
overlooked.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
Most of the time, questions can be answered by
reading over the informationthat has previously been given
to them I'm so glad you saidthat, sarah, because in every
podcast I am part of, I ambeating everyone to death about
check your mail.
Make sure your agency has yourcurrent mailing address on file,
because most agencies sendeverything via usps and you need

(11:34):
to pay attention or mail.
There's deadlines associatedwith things, even as a license
renewal.
There's going to be informationcoming, so I appreciate you
sharing that yes'am.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
Any final advice that you may have for our viewers?

Speaker 3 (11:51):
The board is here to help.
We're very nice people.
Don't be afraid to contact usshould you have any questions.
It's also important to knowthat we are a very small agency,
with most employees wearingmultiple hats.
Patience is key and Iappreciate your time today.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much forjoining us and sharing your
knowledge.
For more information about thistopic, you can visit the TBCE
website, linked in ourdescription below.
Until next time, stay informedand keep engaging with your
regulatory agency.
Know your.
Regulator the podcast thatinspires you to engage.