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Know
Your Acupuncturist...
Practitioners whose educational
focus is in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine receive approximately 80% of their training exclusively in this field, and undergo
an extensive clinical internship averaging 3 years. Other healthcare practitioners may use acupuncture, which is one
of the many therapies of Oriental Medicine, as an adjunct to their primary practice. While all of thse practitioners also
have training in western medical sciences, this chart is designed to illustrate the varying levels of acupuncture training
generally undertaken by heathcare professionals.
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Amount
of Training In Acupuncture
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1361 hours to 2000 hours in Acupuncture (or 2000-3000 hours in Oriental Medicine)**
Licensed Acupuncturist
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Comprehensively-trained Acupuncturist
Oriental Medicine Practitioner Oriental
Medicine Acupuncture
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Typically
a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac.) or Registered Acupuncturist whose primary training is in Acupuncture and/or Oriental
Medicine, and has:
a)
obtained a 3-4 year master's level degree or diploma from a school approved by ACAOM (Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture
& Oriental Medicine), and...
b)
is awarded the Dipl.Ac. (Diplomate in Acupuncture) designation upon successful examination by the NCCAOM (National Commission
for the Certification of Acupuncture & Oriental medicine) which is the national standard used for licensing in most states.**
Used for a broad rance of health issues, including chronic disease, pain, internal medicine, rehabilitation,
and prevention based on Oriental medical theory.
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300 hours or less
Medical Acupuncture
Meridian Balancing Therapy
Chiropractic Acupuncture Naturopathic
Acupuncture
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Typically
a medical doctor, osteopath, naturopath, or chiropractor who uses acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy; the World Health Organization
(WHO) recommends that medical doctors have 200 hours of training to know when to refer to a more fully-trained Acupuncturist
or Oriental Medicine practitioner.***
- Most commonly used for pain and basic ailments.
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Around 100 hours or less
Detox. Tech.
Chiropractic Acupuncture Medical Acupuncture
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Typically a detoxification technician or chiropractor (detox techs should be under supervision of a
Licensed Acupuncturist, see above, and are limited to 5 points on the ear)
- Most commonly used for pain
management or addiction & detoxification through auricular acupuncture.
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For a list of approved schools and colleges, contact the U.S. Department of Education or:
www.ccaom.org www.cnnaom.org www.acaom.org
*Many
Acupuncture & Oriental Medical schools exceed 2000 hours.
**Acupuncture/Oriental
Medical practitioners are able to obtain D.A.O.M or D.Ac. or Acupuncture Physician.
Licensed
Acupunctures may have also obtained an O.M.D., Ph.D., or D.Ac. for non-extensive post-graduate training (from unaccredited
programs). Thus, it is important to ask where such a title was received.
***Some
medical doctors and chiropractors are trained and licensed in both western and Oriental medical acupuncture. Ask your
physician about his or her credentials. Acupuncture should only be administered by a practitioner who has specific training
in this field, due to risk of improper needling, inadequate understanding of Oriental medical diagnostic procedures, transmission
of disease, imbalancing of energy, or ethical violations.
This document
was produced by the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM). For reprint information, contact
301-313-0870. For information about the Council, please see their web site at: http://www.nccaom.org.
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