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The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) is a non-profit organization in the United States that aims to "establish, assess, and promote recognized standards of competence and safety in acupuncture and Oriental medicine for the protection and benefit of the public." [1]
The NCCAOM is a member of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA). Its certification programs are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).
Several examinations are offered by the NCCAOM on many of the major branches, skills, and techniques of Oriental Medicine. Most states in the US require passing of one or more of these tests in order become a licensed practitioner of the associated techniques.
California has its own unique process for licensing handled through the State of California Acupuncture Board (SCAB). [2]
The NCCAOM was established in 1982 as a non-profit organization. It is governed by a Board of Commissioners with seven practitioner members and three public members.
Prior to 1997, the organization was called "the National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncturists (NCCA)".
The following is quoted from the official NCCAOM website:
"The first NCCAOM Comprehensive Written Examination (CWE) in Acupuncture (ACP) was given in March 1985. It was developed during a three-year period with the help of leading acupuncturists throughout the nation. During the development period the NCCAOM followed national guidelines for certification and testing in order to ensure a fair, valid, and reliable examination. The administration of the first examination was a milestone event in the growth of the profession in the United States.
The Practical Examination of Point Location Skills (PEPLS) was added as a component of NCCAOM’s Acupuncture Examination in September 1989. The Clean Needle Technique (CNT) portion was added to the acupuncture written examination two years later. The separately scored CNT examination was merged into the Comprehensive Written Examination in Acupuncture in 1998.
In 1989, the profession asked the NCCAOM to develop a certification program measuring entry-level competency in the practice of Chinese herbology. After three years of research, the organization opened the Credentials Documentation Review (CDR) period for Certification in Chinese Herbology. The first national Comprehensive Written Examination in Chinese Herbology was given in April 1995.
The NCCAOM developed a third certification program in response to requests from the profession. NCCAOM Certification in Asian Bodywork Therapy (ABT) was offered in 1996 through Credentials Documentation Review. CDR for certification in Asian Bodywork Therapy closed in December 1997. The first Comprehensive Written Examination in ABT was given in October 2000.
In December 2003, the NCCAOM began to offer a certification program in Oriental medicine, an umbrella program offering an applicant the opportunity to demonstrate competence in the full range of the Oriental medicine branches. Certificants of this distinct program earned the designation of Diplomate in Oriental Medicine (Dipl.OM)." [3] [ excessive quote ]
Medical psychology, or Medico-psychology, is the application of psychological principles to the practice of medicine, primarily drug-oriented, for both physical and mental disorders.
Massage is the manipulation of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet, or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In European countries, a person professionally trained to give massages is traditionally known as a masseur (male) or masseuse (female). In the United States, these individuals are often referred to as massage therapists, because they must be certified and licensed as "licensed massage therapists".
Manual therapy, or manipulative therapy, is a physical treatment primarily used by physical therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists to treat musculoskeletal pain and disability; it mostly includes kneading and manipulation of muscles, joint mobilization and joint manipulation. It is also used by Rolfers, massage therapists, athletic trainers, osteopaths, and physicians.
A credential is a piece of any document that details a qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant or de facto authority or assumed competence to do so.
Southern California University of Health Sciences (SCUHS) is a private university located in Whittier, California and specializing in the health sciences. Academics are organized into four colleges and schools: the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic, the College of Eastern Medicine, the College of Science & Integrative Health, and the School of Professional Studies. SCUHS programs include acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which are regarded by the mainstream medicine and science communities as pseudoscience. The university is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission.
Jin Shin Do is a therapeutic acupressure technique developed by psychotherapist Iona Marsaa Teeguarden, beginning in the 1970s.
The National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) is a non-profit national and international testing organization for the chiropractic profession that develops, administers, analyzes, scores, and reports results from various examinations. Examinations are offered to students at chiropractic colleges accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE). The NBCE maintains its headquarters in Greeley, Colorado. The organization was established in 1963 to standardize chiropractic testing requirements as opposed to each state having its own board exam. Since 1963, all but one of states have adopted the passage of Parts I-IV; however, each state has its own licensing requirements in addition to the NBCE exams.
Dry needling, also known as trigger point dry needling and intramuscular stimulation, is a pseudoscientific technique used by various healthcare practitioners, including physical therapists, physicians, and chiropractors, among others. Acupuncturists usually maintain that dry needling is adapted from acupuncture, but others consider dry needling as a variation of trigger point injections. It involves the use of either solid filiform needles or hollow-core hypodermic needles for therapy of muscle pain, including pain related to myofascial pain syndrome. Dry needling is mainly used to treat myofascial trigger points, but it is also used to target connective tissue, neural ailments, and muscular ailments. The American Physical Therapy Association defines dry needling as a technique used to treat dysfunction of skeletal muscle and connective tissue, minimize pain, and improve or regulate structural or functional damage.
Northwestern Health Sciences University (NWHSU) is a private university focused on alternative health care and located in Bloomington, Minnesota. The university has educational programs in chiropractic, Traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, Allied health professions and human biology. The university was founded in 1941 by John B. Wolfe, DC.
The American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) was established in 1997 in response to the encouragement of staff and faculty at the Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Jinan, China. Classes began in 1999 in a small collection of rooms in the University Technology Center building in Dinkytown, near the University of Minnesota, United States. At that time there were about 40 full and part-time students and the school consisted of two class rooms, four treatment rooms and a small series of adjoining offices which served as reception, administration office and pharmacy. The one clinic consultation room was little more than a closet with a window and enough space for a desk and two chairs.
Board certification is the process by which a physician or other professional demonstrates a mastery of advanced knowledge and skills through written, practical, or simulator-based testing.
Regulation of acupuncture is done by governmental bodies to ensure safe practice.
The chief diversity officer (CDO) is an organization’s executive level diversity and inclusion strategist, whose job may include, but is not limited to, addressing discrimination in the workplace, launching initiative to change organizational culture, and increasing the range of backgrounds and the representation of various groups in staff, volunteers, and/or management. Roughly 52% of Fortune 500 companies employ diversity officers.<https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/insights/articles/positioning-chief-diversity-officer-top-performance>
Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine is a graduate school of traditional Oriental medicine in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1983, it offers master's and doctoral programs with full accreditation in acupuncture and Oriental medicine.
Thomas Emmett Duckworth, is an American acupuncturist, founder and director of the Natural Life Therapy Clinic (1980), founder and executive director of the Institute of American Acupuncture and Life Medicine, and an international teacher of Japanese-style acupuncture and the Kototama Principle. He has provided public and professional instruction in Mexico, California, New Mexico, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and throughout Missouri for the past 35 years.
Texas Health and Science University (THSU) is a private for-profit university with its main campus Austin, Texas and a second campus in San Antonio. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in business, acupuncture, and traditional Chinese medicine.
The American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM), founded in 1981 and incorporated in 1983 as a 501(c)(6) organization, is the largest association of acupuncturists and acupuncture students in the United States.
The Clean Needle Technique (CNT) is a course administered by the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM). A certificate is provided for the successful completion of the CNT course. Completion of the course is one of the requirements for the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) certification, as well as an acupuncture licensing requirement in most states.
Acupuncture and Massage College is a nationally-accredited, private for-profit university in Miami, Florida that specializes in Oriental medicine. The college was founded in 1983 and is the oldest acupuncture school in Florida.