Tonic roots, healing needles

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An education in acupuncture

Generally, schools that teach both acupuncture and herbal medicine will train students in the basics of Chinese medical theory. This same foundation is used as the basis for diagnosis and treatment for both acupuncture and herbal medicine. For example, when I attended acupuncture school in California in the late 1980s, there were five semesters of traditional medical theory, five semesters of acupuncture, and five semesters of herbal medicine, in addition to numerous other medical classes. Because California law has always required proficiency in herbal medicine as part of an acupuncture license, it receives as much attention as acupuncture in the curriculum. Schools in other states may have herbal medicine as an elective, or they may incorporate it as part of the main academic program.

Finding the best practitioner

Now that acupuncture and TCM are rapidly entering the medical mainstream, an increasing number of people are interested in finding a qualified practitioner. As in all professional services, the best route to take is through a referral. Many people feel safe consulting a practitioner that a trusted friend or relative has had favorable experiences with. Getting a referral is relatively easy to accomplish in places such as California, where there are thousands of practitioners and most people know somebody who has received acupuncture or herbal therapy. However, in many areas this isn’t the case, and it becomes necessary to find a practitioner without the advice of someone you know. If you don’t know someone who can recommend a good practitioner, there are certifying agencies that establish standards that practitioners must meet in order to be considered qualified.

The most established of these agencies is the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), in Washington, D.C. After three to four years of training, a student is qualified to sit for the commission’s licensing examination. The NCCAOM’s extremely high standards of scholastics and clinical training become evident to anyone who has been through this rigorous examination process. Since 1984, the NCCAOM has certified more than 8,000 practitioners of acupuncture and more than 3,000 practitioners of Chinese herbology. NCCAOM certification is used as the basis for licensure in 90 percent of the states that have set standards for the practice of acupuncture. The organization will provide a list of its certificate holders to anybody seeking a qualified practitioner (visit www.nccaom.org).

California is currently the only state that requires practitioners to be proficient in herbal medicine to pass its state licensing exam. For this reason, schools in California have four-year programs, whereas many schools outside California have three-year programs. This is rapidly changing, and some schools outside of California are now offering thorough programs in herbal medicine.

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