1. No person shall engage in the practice of chiropractic without having first secured a chiropractic license as provided in this chapter.

2. Any person desiring to procure a license authorizing the person to practice chiropractic in this state shall make application on the form prescribed by the board. The application shall contain a statement that it is made under oath or affirmation and that representations contained thereon are true and correct to the best knowledge and belief of the person signing the application, subject to the penalties of making a false affidavit or declaration, and shall give the applicant’s name, address, age, sex, name of chiropractic schools or colleges which the person attended or of which the person is a graduate, and such other reasonable information as the board may require. The applicant shall give evidence satisfactory to the board of the successful completion of the educational requirements of this chapter, and that the chiropractic school or college of which the applicant is a graduate is teaching chiropractic in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. The board may make a final determination as to whether or not the school from which the applicant graduated is so teaching.

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3. Before an applicant shall be eligible for licensure, the applicant shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the board that the applicant has received the minimum number of semester credit hours, as required by the Council on Chiropractic Education, or its successor, prior to beginning the doctoral course of study in chiropractic. The minimum number of semester credit hours applicable at the time of enrollment in a doctoral course of study must be in those subjects, hours and course content as may be provided for by the Council on Chiropractic Education or, in the absence of the Council on Chiropractic Education or its provision for such subjects, such hours and course content as adopted by rule of the board; however in no event shall fewer than ninety semester credit hours be accepted as the minimum number of hours required prior to beginning the doctoral course of study in chiropractic. The examination applicant shall also provide evidence satisfactory to the board of having graduated from a chiropractic college having status with the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Chiropractic Education or its successor. Any senior student in a chiropractic college having status with the Commission on Accreditation on the Council on Chiropractic Education or its successor may take a practical examination administered or approved by the board under such requirements and conditions as are adopted by the board by rule, but no license shall be issued until all of the requirements for licensure have been met.

4. Each applicant shall pay upon application an application or examination fee. All moneys collected pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be nonrefundable and shall be collected by the director of the division of professional registration who shall transmit it to the department of revenue for deposit in the state treasury to the credit of the chiropractic board fund. Any person failing to pass a practical examination administered or approved by the board may be reexamined upon fulfilling such requirements, including the payment of a reexamination fee, as the board may by rule prescribe.

5. Every applicant for licensure by examination shall have taken and successfully passed all required and optional parts of the written examination given by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, including the written clinical competency examination, under such conditions as established by rule of the board, and all applicants for licensure by examination shall successfully pass a practical examination administered or approved by the board and a written examination testing the applicant’s knowledge and understanding of the laws and regulations regarding the practice of chiropractic in this state. The board shall issue to each applicant who meets the standards and successful completion of the examinations, as established by rule of the board, a license to practice chiropractic. The board shall not recognize any correspondence work in any chiropractic school or college as credit for meeting the requirements of this chapter.

6. The board shall issue a license without examination to persons who have been regularly licensed to practice chiropractic in any foreign country, provided that the regulations for securing a license in the other country are equivalent to those required for licensure in the state of Missouri, when the applicant furnishes satisfactory evidence that the applicant has continuously practiced chiropractic for at least one year immediately preceding the applicant’s application to the board, and upon the payment of the reciprocity license fee as established by rule of the board. The board may require an applicant to successfully complete the Special Purposes Examination for Chiropractic (SPEC) administered by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners if the requirements for securing a license in the other country are not equivalent to those required for licensure in the state of Missouri at the time application is made for licensure under this subsection.

7. Any applicant who has failed any portion of the practical examination administered or approved by the board three times shall be required to return to an accredited chiropractic college for a semester of additional study in the subjects failed, as provided by rule of the board.

8. A chiropractic physician currently licensed in Missouri shall apply to the board for certification prior to engaging in the practice of meridian therapy/acupressure/acupuncture. Each such application shall be accompanied by the required fee. The board shall establish by rule the minimum requirements for the specialty certification under this subsection. “Meridian therapy/acupressure/acupuncture” shall mean methods of diagnosing and the treatment of a patient by stimulating specific points on or within the body by various methods including but not limited to manipulation, heat, cold, pressure, vibration, ultrasound, light, electrocurrent, and short-needle insertion for the purpose of obtaining a biopositive reflex response by nerve stimulation.

9. The board may through its rulemaking process authorize chiropractic physicians holding a current Missouri license to apply for certification in a specialty as the board may deem appropriate and charge a fee for application for certification, provided that:

(1) The board establishes minimum initial and continuing educational requirements sufficient to ensure the competence of applicants seeking certification in the particular specialty; and

(2) The board shall not establish any provision for certification of licensees in a particular specialty which is not encompassed within the practice of chiropractic as defined in section 331.010.