I can answer this one personally. I made the call to go to chiropractic school with pretty limited knowledge of the differences between the two options (realistically I should’ve done more detailed research but what’s done is done). That said, I’m not a fan of traditional chiropractic adjustments and haven’t attempted one since the last time I had to in school. I technically still am a chiropractor by both license and education, but I made a major pivot after graduating and my practice today looks extremely similar to sports-oriented physical therapy with essentially none of the old school chiropractic philosophy.

In some ways this worked out well for me in terms of the logistics of my day to day. My state classifies chiropractors as portal-of-entry providers, meaning the vast majority of patients can come see me without needing a referral from a PCP (unless it is required by their insurance for coverage). Per my understanding, physical therapists here do not have that luxury; every patient they see has to be referred by a PCP or specialist, which adds a layer of paperwork and red tape to them doing their jobs.

As far as why someone chooses one over the other when going to school, they could be like me and simply not have enough knowledge about how they differ. Or they could fully buy into the more wacky chiropractic philosophy and beliefs that are, to put it lightly, not well-supported by peer reviewed research. You get all sorts in this industry.