Faculty
Manuel Urteaga, DC, MS, RCEP-ACSM, CME, CSCS
Fall 1980 - Fall 2120
Assistant Professor I
Los Angeles College of Chiropractic - Clinical Education
ManuelUrteaga@scuhs.edu
Current Position
Biography
Dr. Urteaga was born and raised in Montebello, California. Dr. Urteaga attended California State University, Fullerton and earned his B.S. in exercise science in 2004. Soon after he attended Southern California University of Health Sciences (SCUHS) to pursue his Doctor of Chiropractic degree. He graduated in 2007 and immediately began practicing in Whittier focusing on treating sports related injuries and rehabilitation. Dr. Urteaga decided to pursue his master’s degree at California State University, Long Beach, and in 2014 Earning his M.S. in Sports Medicine with an emphasis in sport injuries.
He also earned the American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) highest distinction as a Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist (RCEP). This accreditation ensures he has the knowledge and skill to accurately prescribe exercise and rehabilitation for patients with multiple diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, HIV, and kidney disease.
Dr. Urteaga began teaching at SCU in 2011 and is an assistant professor. He currently teaches Clinical Orthopedic & Neurologic Assessment I (CONA I), Practice Management I: Risk Management and supervises a clinical rotation at Cerritos College. Dr. Urteaga also manages 3 full-time private practices in Whittier, Artesia, and Irwindale. He enjoys being able to teach future generations of chiropractors, and other health care professionals and sharing his personal patient and business experiences.
Dr. Urteaga is heavily engaged in and committed to community service and organizations. He is currently President of the Whittier Community Foundation and. board member of the Rio Hondo College Foundation. In addition, he served as an assistant coach/strength and conditioning coach for the Montebello High Boys’ and Girls’ volleyball teams for almost 20 years. He is currently the team physician for the Montebello High school football team and has held that position since 2014.
Dr. Urteaga lives in Whittier with his wife Kristina and daughter Hazel. In his spare time he enjoys playing volleyball, basketball, fishing, camping, spending time with his family, and of course listening to T-Pain.
Degrees
M.S., Sports Medicine, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, California, United States
D.C., Chiropractic, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, California, United States
B.Sc., Exercise Science, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, California, United States
Professional Licensures (Healthcare)
DC, California, United States, DC-31009, Active, 2008, October 2024, 1053733501
Certifications (Healthcare)
American College of Sports Medicine, Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist, Exercise Physiology, 713381, 2014-03-07, 2024-12-31
National Strength and Conditioning Association, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, Strength & Conditioning, 7247828137, 2012-07-13, 2026-12-31
National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners, Certified Medical Examiner, 9809630378, 2021-02-08, 2024-08-01
Professional Licensures and Certifications (All other/non-healthcare)
Doctor of Chiropractic, December 2007, California
Work Experience
2008 - Ongoing
Supervisng Doctor, Urteaga Chiropractic, Sports Medicine Specialist, Whittier, California, United States
Honors and Awards
Fall 2011 - Spring 2014
Academic Honors 4.0 Club, 2014, California State University, Long Beach
Hear from the Students Who’ve Been in Your Shoes
I chose SCU when looking for a PA program because of their Integrative Medicine approach. I am from Michigan, and not many programs focus on this Integrative, Holistic approach when it comes to patient care in the Midwest, and I felt that was very important for me to learn as a future provider. My transition to semi-virtual learning has been very smooth and quite enjoyable. [su_accordion][su_spoiler title="Read More..." open="No"]My favorite part about attending SCU is how tight-knit and diverse the community is. Coming from a large undergrad university and moving so far, it was very important for me to have a PA program that made me feel valued and invested in my success. At SCU, they do a great job of making you feel that.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]
Brianna Hadley
MSPA Class of 2022
One of the great things about SCU is we do have a campus layout, so all your classes aren't in a single room. We have our cadaver lab. We have different specialty rooms for physical assessment classes vs. acupuncture classes. All our acupuncture-specific classes have all the herbs in the room. You can pull out the herbs and look at them, whether in class or in between classes to get that extra studying in.[su_accordion][su_spoiler title="Read More..." open="No"]My favorite part of SCU is the collaboration from our beginning terms. We were working alongside chiropractor students, PA students, and ayurvedic students. It's a unique community where we get to learn about these different fields and sit in classrooms with them and work with them in the clinic. It allows you to get an understanding of all the different fields and how they can work together, and what is unique about your field. I think that is a wonderful aspect that I didn't think was going to be as prominent as it is here; even now, in my upper term classes and I am not in class with chiropractic students, I can still reach out to them about a certain aspect I may not understand or if I am working on a case. I want another perspective I know I have them to reach out to, so that has been a great networking community to have resources for.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]
Dr. Jamie Kuljis
Graduate, Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
"There are a lot of things that I love about the program at SCU. The first one is that the faculty come from a long line of Ayurvedic knowledge deeply rooted in ancient classical text. They studied Ayurveda, but they also lived it. When you learn from people who embody this wisdom, it's much easier to grasp this knowledge. The second thing I love is the camaraderie within the cohort. The combination of the training, supportive faculty, and the support of my peers and classmates has given me the confidence I need to start my own practice."
Portia Harris
Student, Ayurveda Program
Some of my favorite courses at SCU have to be the chiropractic procedure classes; those are the classes you get to hone in on your chiro skills, your palpation skills and ultimately work on the adjustments that make you a chiropractor. Those are the classes I feel enhance my knowledge the most and are some of the reasons I chose to become a chiropractor here are SCU.[su_accordion][su_spoiler title="Read More..." open="No"]On top of chiropractic procedures classes, my favorite is the cadaver lab experience. The cadaver classes opened up my perception of what the human body is made up of. It allowed me to get an in-person perspective of how the body works and looks on the inside. I am genuinely thankful for those experiences because they opened and broadened my horizons to the human body and anatomy in general.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]
Jordan Vega
Student, Doctor of Chiropractic
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