Political Status and Legalities
In many countries, acupuncturists are also allowed to practice herbal medicine also known as tui na. Alternately, they may be allopathic doctors practicing medical acupuncture in a simplified form.
License for this is regulated by the state or province in different countries and this requires the passing of a board examination.
United States –
Licensed acupuncturists in the United States are also known as “L.Ac”. In florida they are called the Acupuncture Physicians and are given the status of a primary care physician.
The more conservative state of Illinois, acupuncturists need to be referred to by a medical practitioner until now. However the situation is changing now as the acupuncturists are being allowed to practice without reference from a medical doctor.
Acupuncturists holding a “Dipl.Ac.” or the “Diplomate of Acupuncture” certificate, are certified by the board of the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental medicine.
There are other professional masters degrees offered in acupuncture like the “M.Ac.” or Masters in Acupuncture, “M.S.Ac.” or the Masters of Science in Acupuncture, “M.S.O.M” or the Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine and “M.A.O.M” or the Masters of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
Other available degree courses include the “O.M.D.” or the Doctor of Oriental Medicine and “C.M.D” or the Doctor in Chinese Medicine though these two degrees are not recognized by the Accredition Commission for the “ Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine” also known as (ACAOM).
The practice of acupuncture is thereby regulated by each state within the limits of its field. The ACAOM has begun the accreditation of the new and terminal degree in this field called the “Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine” or the DAOM.
A few colleges and universities like the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine and the Bastyr University are among the first institutions in the United States offering this degree. This degree is estimated to replace all the master’s level programs in the United States within the next ten years.
Acupuncture in the USA is generally practiced by health care providers. Though a lot of them are licensed acupuncturists specializing in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, there are others who are physicians, dentists and chiropractors practicing this procedure with lesser training.
A licensed practitioner generally undergoes between 2500 and 4000 hours of training in Chinese medical theory, acupuncture and basic biosciences. They may also sometimes receive training in Chinese herbology and bodywork.
Practitioners are tested by The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine to make sure they are well read about Chinese Medicine and other sterile techniques.
Though a lot of states require this licensing, each state is governed by its own laws. There are states where an aspiring acupuncturist has to work with an M.D. for a stipulated period of time even if the M.D. may not have any training in this field.
In America, acupuncture is becoming widely popular. Around sixty percent of the doctors already regard this procedure as effective if used along with allopathic treatments.
The Food and Drug Administration in the year 1996 raised the status of acupuncture needles from Class III to Class II medical devices. This means that these needles are certified to be safe and effective when used properly by licensed practitioners.
Canada –
In Canada, the laws governing the practice of acupuncture are approved and passed by the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of British Columbia.
Ontario –
In Ontario, the regulations on the practice of acupuncture are set by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Act of 2006. The government of Ontario is in the process of establishing a College that will responsible for overseeing the policy regarding implementations and regulations related to this field.
TCM practitioners are allowed to call themselves “Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine”. They are also permitted to inform the patient about what is diagnosed after diagnosing a condition based on Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques.
Health care professionals like chiropaths, physiotherapists, massage therapists, dentists, physicians, naturopaths, etc are allowed to perform acupuncture procedures after having fulfilled the educational requirements set by the regulatory colleges.
United Kingdom –
In this country, there is the British Acupuncture Council or the BAcC. The members of this council observe the Code of Safe Practice regarding hygiene standards and sterilization of equipment.
Members of this council make sure all of them use disposable needles which are pre steriized. Similar safety standards are followed by most governing bodies in the United States and Australia.
The British Acupuncture Council is another council which has a number of registered acupuncture practitioners as its members. Most of them belong to the British Medical Acupuncture Society or the BMAS.
The BMAS publishes a quarterly journal called “Acupuncture in Medicine”. Acupuncturists in the UK differ in their opinions regarding the degree to which traditional acupuncture concepts like the meridians and qi are taken into account.
Others who do not believe in the traditional concepts concentrate on palpable “trigger points”.
Apart from these, there are other acupuncture groups in the UK like the British Academy of Western Medical Acupuncture or the BAWMA which trains nurses in the acupuncture procedures, the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists or the AACP and qualified ear acupuncturists who are trained in restricted practice like NADA and SMART or full ear acupuncture like EAR and SAA.
Though various councils in the UK claim to be the regulating body in that country, there is no statutory regulatory body at present in the United Kingdom for acupuncture. The UK government though has plans to set up a regulatory council by the year 2010.
Australia –
Acupuncture in Australia is also regulated and governed by different governing bodies in different states.
The year 2000 saw an independent government agency being established to oversee the practice of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture in the State of Victoria.
There is a Chinese Medicine Registration Board in Victoria which proposes to protect the interests of the public. They do this by making sure that all acupuncture and Chinese medicine practitioners are qualified and experienced.
According to the legislation put in place, the following titles can be used only by practitioners who are registered by the state – Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal medicine, Chinese Medicine, Registered Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner, Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Registered Acupuncturist, etc.
In the state of New South Wales, a investigating report on the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine was commissioned by the Parliamentary Committee on Health Care complaints commission.
Based on this a recommendation was made to introduce a registration board appointed by the government to restrict the use of titles like “acupuncturist”, “Chinese herbal medicine practitioner”, “Chinese medicine practitioner”, etc in order to regulate the profession.
The purpose of doing this is to make sure the public is protected from the risks involved with acupuncture by ensuring a high level of competency and education of registered acupuncturists. This is done by enforcing certain guidelines with regard to continuing professional education and also looking into complaints of the conduct of the practitioner.
This kind of a registration board at present is operative in the state of Victoria. This board actually holds more power than the local councils with respect to regulating and enforcing compliance with legal requirements and also with regards to investigating complaints and enforcing punishment for misconduct.
Apart from these two states, other states in Australia have their own acupuncture acts. Some of the conditions stipulated in this act include that the needles used should be a “single use” needle and should never be reused under any circumstances.
If using any other type of needle for treatment, it has to be sterilized in the appropriate method before using it on patients.
