It was a chiropractor who arranged for my MRI and discovered problems in my low back. I have a copy of the film here at home. The doctor I had gone to before him had handed me a prescription for pain pills and muscle relaxants.

I've gone to a chiropractor and a physical therapist, and a massage therapist. Since none of them are doctors, they can't prescribe, and they can't order tests. So glad I'm in Canada where only qualified people can diagnose. Scary that a chiropractor ordered tests for you, since a chiropractor isn't a doctor and would have no way of determining what's wrong based on any tests prescribed, especially an MRI.

The US really allows non medical personnel to order tests and diagnose? That's really scary.

In the US a chiropractor is a doctor and can diagnose and prescribe.

Chiropractors in the U.S. are Doctors of Chiropractic (DC). Many have additional credentials in diagnostic imaging. One of the major chiropractic colleges is about two miles from me. The college's website states, "We prepare students to become first-contact, primary care physicians fully qualified to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of conditions. We believe a superior education starts with an evidence-based, broad-scope curriculum emphasizing integrative medicine." Its clinic provides "chiropractic medical care, acupuncture and oriental medicine, physical rehabilitation therapy, nutritional counseling, massage therapy and diagnostic imaging services."

I also would like to add that many physical therapists have advanced practice degrees in which they are licensed to read radiological studies as well as prescribe medications. In the event they do not have the advanced degree they work directly under the supervision of a doctor who reads the studies and foes the prescribing. Massage therapists cannot read or prescribe.

Not as scary as you thought now is it Alty?