Benefits and risks of Chiropractic care in pediatrics: Does your kid need to see a chiropractor?

What happens when a chiropractor decides to go to medical school? In this conversation, I sit down with Dr. Richard Schoonmaker, a former chiropractor turned osteopathic medical student, to talk about why he made the switch, what he learned about evidence-based care, and how chiropractic and medicine can actually work together when done responsibly.

What We Discuss:

• Why Dr. Schoonmaker left chiropractic to pursue medicine

• The difference between chiropractic and osteopathic training

• How to spot red flags in online chiropractic content

• The truth about chiropractic care for babies and kids

• What evidence-based, collaborative care could look like

• How modern medicine can build trust by listening better

To connect with Richard Schoonmaker follow him on Instagram at @richs_oms2 and TikTok at @rich_oms2. 

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00:00 – Intro

02:00 – Meet Dr. Richard Schoonmaker

03:00 – From Chiropractic to Medicine

07:15 – What He Took From Chiropractic Into Medicine

08:15 – Evidence-Based Chiropractic vs. Online Myths

10:00 – Why Some Chiropractors Go Viral (and Off the Rails)

16:00 – How Chiropractors Are Trained (and Where Gaps Exist)

21:20 – The Lack of Oversight in Pediatric Chiropractic Care

24:00 – The Supportive (Not Substitutive) Role of Chiropractic

28:30 – Common Reasons Parents Seek Chiropractic Care for Kids

33:10 – What the Research Actually Supports

36:30 – Understanding OMM in Osteopathic Medicine

40:00 – Why Context Matters: Symptom Relief vs. Causation

43:00 – The True Meaning of Holistic Care

45:00 – Calling Out Misinformation Responsibly

48:00 – The Real Reason Patients Seek Alternative Care

49:40 – Building a Better Relationship Between Chiropractors and Physicians

51:45 – How Parents Can Find a Safe, Evidence-Based Chiropractor

54:50 – Final Thoughts and Where to Find Richard

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