The History of Acupuncture Institutions in America 
Lau Tsipher

(note: we received this article anonymously by mail and it does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication, the editor or staff members)

Once upon a time, actually in the 1960's, a wicked American president with secrets and skeletons yet to be revealed, elected to divert attention from his main agenda by traveling to China and offering friendship. It is not the scope of this narrative to pass judgment on the wicked President Nixon or the gesture of friendship he tendered, let alone the possible motives for his actions. What is of interest is that one of his aides fell ill during the trip to China and was, perforce, medically treated there. Acupuncture played a role in that treatment.

The precise role of acupuncture, and indeed the illness of the aide, are matters of some uncertainty. According to the American popular understanding, the aide received surgery for an appendectomy with no anesthetic other than acupuncture. Many authorities dispute these details, and they are not important for this account. What is important is that, in the space of days or weeks, Chinese medicine in general and acupuncture in particular entered the general American consciousness and were more or less immediately adopted by the burgeoning counter-culture.

Chinese medicine and acupuncture had long been present within American society, largely in communities of Asian immigrants. The new cachet attracted hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new pupils to this new, hip method of treating illness. The new devotees differed from those who had long been practicing in that they were, for the most part, young, liberal, and not oriental. Acupuncture and Oriental medicine became popular with the counter-culture, a captive of the liberal youth movement of the late sixties and early seventies.

As with nearly every strand of the counter-culture in those years, two distinct types emerged. On the one hand, there were the ideological enthusiasts. They were excited and content to learn and practice their new art as individuals, moving quietly among like-minded folk, providing their services with little concern about their reward or economic future. On the other hand, there were the organizers. They were the acupuncture equivalent of the political organizers of the radical underground. They sought to find ways to organize the "acupuncture movement" into structures that would ensure its political and economic success. The group was small, discreet, and close-knit. It included acupuncturists, non-acupuncturists, and young attorneys. Some of the most influential figures were both lawyers and acupuncturists.

These early organizers cast their eyes in two different directions. Some of them, closer in spirit perhaps to the individualist practitioners, sought to create institutions to protect their own perspectives and attitudes about acupuncture and Oriental medicine. They founded schools to teach the art as they had learned it. Many of these schools persist today, and represent some of the most identifiable institutions in the profession. Those who were successful became very influential and quite wealthy. Owning a successful school is a sound economic platform. Others, of course, failed and lost everything. The second group sought to organize the institutions of the profession. Because the group was small, they were able to craft a single strategy for institutionalizing the profession which guaranteed a source of revenue to each component part, and could lead to the professionalization and regularization of the profession, with an eye to its economic and political success.

One of their early efforts was the attempt to organize their disorderly colleagues who were founding colleges right and left. To control this chaotic process they instituted two new organizations. One, the Council of Colleges, was designed to bring the disorderly lot into a room and cause them to interact. The principal goal of the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM) at first, was simply to bind them to common courses of action.

The second part of this strategy included the creation of the Accreditation Council for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) an organization intended to provide accreditation standards for the colleges. The effect of the creation of this body was the creation of standards by which colleges could be evaluated and deemed worthy. With the guidance of strong legal minds, already a part of the movement, and through a very effective capturing of the momentum of the hour, ACAOM won its place as the accrediting body for these institutions as acknowledged by the U.S. Department of Education. To be accredited, and therefore able to access federal student aid dollars, colleges must now meet the requirements of ACAOM.

Organization of the colleges was accompanied by organization of the practitioners. At one level, it was profoundly important to the professionalizing of the trade that some method of identifying qualified and capable practitioners be identified. Standards needed to be established and upheld. The leadership group invented the National Council for Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) as the remedy to this problem. This body was designed to guarantee the competence of practitioners by imposing a certifying examination and insisting upon re-certification requirements which included continuing education.

The other method of organizing practioners included the creation of a national trade association, the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM). This body would represent practitioners and provide a platform for political organization to institute practice laws across the country. The object was always to use the political clout of members to create laws that ratified the other national organizations and their regulatory functions.

Almost as an afterthought, they created one additional institution, the National Acupuncture Foundation (NAF), which was intended to be the publishing arm of the profession, and to generate revenue to assist students or to support legislative initiatives. The initial properties of the foundation were primarily the product of a single hand, one of the organizing cadre.

This assortment of organizations was not randomly conceived, but mimicked the structure of other health and medical professions in the United States. It would be easy to dismiss the general structure as random, or the result of practical forces, but for the careful distribution of potential revenues across the institutions. This was designed with care. The Council of Colleges (CCAOM) was/is supported by dues from the colleges. They treat this as an ordinary operating expense drawn from the economic resources (tuitions) of the colleges. Its second source of revenue comes from the administration of the Clean Needle Technique Examination, a component of the certification program that is required of every student as part of their acceptance into practice.

The accrediting council (ACAOM) derives its revenue from fees charged to the colleges for the initial accreditation process and the re-accreditation required of them periodically. Again, colleges address this cost as a part of the ordinary expense of doing business. Ultimately the students pay this cost through their tuitions. The National Certification Council (NCCAOM) derives its revenue from the cost of the certification examination required of every student who wishes to be licensed to practice acupuncture. The examinations are expensive, but required except in a few states. The professional organization (AAAOM, originally and once again) derives its revenue from dues paid by members and from its offerings of continuing education, designed to meet the requirements of NCCAOM recertification and of many states induced to impose such requirements.

The National Acupuncture Foundation (NAF) originally made its money from its publications, which included the Clean Needle Technique Manual which every student must produce physically when they take the Clean Needle Technique course sponsored by the Council of Colleges as part of the National Council of Certification examination process. In recent years, NAF has produced little except for minor revisions of this manual, requiring students to purchase the latest edition. It should be apparent that most of these organizations derive their revenue primarily from students who wish entry into the profession.

(read the conclusion to this article next week!)

 
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News of Interest!    

Despite an article and current research about the ineffectiveness of garlic to help with blood pressure, this article in NutraIngredients.com says otherwise. "Combinations of garlic and vitamin C are an effective alternative in the control of marginally high blood pressure," wrote authors Adam Mousa and Shaker Mousa in the journal Nutrition Research (Elsevier).

In other Alternative Medicine news, this letter from a concerned wife states that her husband's habit of eating several gingersnaps with his morning coffee helps with his chronic constipation. Dr. Gott, the author of the article, promotes all kinds of alternative healing.

Reuters takes on alternative healing in this article about infertility and the other options out there for women who want to conceive. The article is reporting on a recent journal article in the Australia & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology which of course says there isn't enough research and we should always be afraid of what we don't completely know and understand. Seems there's a lot readers of the Community Newsletter could share with these scientists.

And lastly and most fun, I think. Carolina 14 News came up with this story on a new (to the US) device called a powered spinal mobilization. It's supposed to help people with severe back pain by rocking the vertebrae. But still be gentle enough for any therapist to use without causing arthritis or crippled hands themselves. Any thoughts from the audience on this one?

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 The Coaching Corner...
Where Spiritual Wisdom Meets Business Common Sense.

From the desk of The Rev. Dr. Eric G. Schneider, D. Min. CIO The Acupreneur eric@theacupreneur.com

Greetings Dear Ones,

I know I said that I would be talking more about The Secret this week...but something came up:
A nasty email accusing me of shameless marketing ;-)

(Speaking of which, have you gotten your copy of Fill Your Practice In 100 Days, But Don't Start Counting Just Yet????)  Click here for more information...

Success does not just come with adulation...so I wanted to alert you to some of the signs and symptoms of success:

1. You are no longer waiting for the phone to ring.
2. You are no longer checking your emails all day long.
3. When your work related email out weighs the spam you get.
4. Family and friends are annoyed with you and your work.
5. When your receptionist is cross with you because there are too many clients and not enough appointment time slots available.
6. When you have fans.
7. When you have critics.
8. When you are concerned that the quality of what you offer could be compromised because of demand.
9. When your clients only want to see you and don't want to see an associate.
   

While it is essential to define success on your own terms, there are milestones that let us know that we are moving in the right direction.

Success does not come without bumps, bruises and concerns along the way. It is not a "straight" path and it is not something that you can simply set and forget. Many of those that have followed my guidance and advice find themselves in the wonderful position of having full practices with more clients than appointment slots.

It is at this point that many practitioners hit another wall: A crisis point in which what has worked is working too well and balance is beginning to fall apart. This crisis is an essential milestone. As you may know in Chinese the word crisis is a combined pictograph ( q_ ) that communicates danger and opportunity. 

Growth never comes without danger!

Dr Eric Schneider, D.Min
The Acupreneur 

If you would like access to more resources and information:

Get my free e book, "52 Integrity Based ways to fill your Acupuncture Practice", by sending a blank email to fiftytwoways@getresponse.com   also....

• Access more tips by going to the free area of the Acupreneur!
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	February 2012
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