Comparison of Licensed vs. Certified Acupuncturists
November 7, 2008 by admin
Filed under Acupuncturist
Comparison of Licensed vs. Certified Acupuncturists
T h e F a c t s
| Certified/Physician Acupuncturist | Licensed Acupuncturist |
|
Certified physician or dentist acupuncturists
(CAc) with 300 hours of training |
Licensed acupuncturists (LAc) with an average
of 2,700 hours of master’s-level training |
|
Training which is often comprised of home study and video-taped lectures
|
Master’s level, on-site training at a nationally
accredited school or college of acupuncture |
|
Minimal clinical experience in acupuncture or no actual patient treatments before certification
|
Hundreds of hours of clinical experience and at
least 250 actual patient treatments before licensure |
| Not required to complete the national certification examination to prove competency in acupuncture | Required to pass the national certification exam in acupuncture in order to become licensed |
| Not required to regularly complete continuing education courses | Required to do regular continuing education to maintain national certification |
| Only about 1,000 practitioners in New York (as of 5/24/00). Few actually practice acupuncture. | More than 2,300 LAcs, who can provide more patient access to quality acupuncture ca |
|
New York State allows physicians and dentists to practice acupuncture with only 300 hours of training. This is a relic of 1974, when little was known about acupuncture practice and education. Thirty years later, minimum, entry-level standards of competence for acupuncture have evolved, producing fully-trained, effective acupuncturists. Why haven’t educational standards for physicians and dentists been updated to reflect current requirements? And why would anyone want to extend the same inadequate, outdated 300-hour requirement to other health professionals? If someone, anyone, wishes to practice acupuncture or any other form of healthcare, they should be properly trained and prove their competency before treating the public. Acupuncturists could not hope to practice podiatry or chiropractic with 300 hours of training and no standards of competency. Why would the reverse be different? |
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