Acupuncture schools

[Guest guest]

These are good questions, Brian.

 

The Hallendale school is relatively new and the 5E way of doing things

can be limiting in some academic circles. That of course is a personal

choice and not one that everybody agrees with.

 

One of the better ranking systems that you may consider using is the

passing rate on the NCCAOM test or the CA state board if you're

considering a CA school.

 

Each state has different educational requirements, CA's requirements are

a bit greater than most states. HI also is stringent. Many CA students

take the NCCAOM test as a warm up for the CA test which is generally

considered harder. (at least by CA folk who've taken both).

 

-al.

 

Brian Paige wrote:

>

> I have been researching schools using the lists available on Acupuncture.com,

and found a few interesting possibilities. However, I'm also of the opinion

that more information is better, so I have two questions for the list:

>

> 1) Has anyone attended/dealt with the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture out

of Hallendale, FL? It appears promising, though I have some reservations.

>

> 2) Does anyone know of a ranking system for schools of acupuncture? Ideally

it would indicate how long the school's existed, the percentage of graduates who

pass national certification first time through, and those with graduates still

in practice after 5 year increments (5, 10, 15, etc.). There are other criteria

I'd like to see, but these are some of the big ones.

>

> In researching, it appears most of the schools in the US came into existence

in the mid- to late-1980's, with a few rare exceptions in Hawaii and parts of

the Western US. I would like to say that just because a school is older doesn't

necessarily make it better, but an older school has had more of an opportunity

to work out difficulties and irregularities. Is this the general consensus, or

am I being paranoid?

>

> Thanks for any assistance,

> Brian

 

--

Al Stone L.Ac.

<AlStone

http://www.BeyondWellBeing.com

 

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

[Guest guest]

Brian,

 

there is lots more to it than the age of the school

I went to New England School of Acupuncture which is one of the oldest in

the country and they are still working the bugs out - I think the thing

about most acupuncture schools is that, unlike almost any other school, 99%

of income is from tuition (no government money and no endowments, etc.) -

this means that all Acupuncture schools tend to run on very tight budgets

which has a lot of very profound management implications.

 

You should also look at different styles of Acupuncture offered at the school.

Its a bit hard to know what style will appeal to you before you go to school

so its a c hicken and egg problem.

 

But there are schools that are strong in TCM style

There are some that are strong in Japanese styles

There are some that are strong in 5 element.

These styles are all very different.

 

Check out the faculty listing.

Try to find out how many faculty listed are heavily involved in teaching

(many schools list a lot of faculty that may only give one class every two

years).

You want a school with a large number of regular faculty, so you get a

diversity of teachers. Don't go to a school where most of the teaching is

dominated by a couple of people.

 

Talk to former and existing students about resources - things like the

library collection, the number of treatment tables in the practice rooms,

adequacy of time and space to practice, availability of teachers, adequacy

of the student clinic - are there enough patients, are there enough clinical

supervisors, etc.

These are very very important questions.

 

Daniel

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Al and Daniel. You gave some very good advice that also applies to

herbalism courses.

 

Victoria

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Hallo,

 

you can try to get some info from Eric Marié.

He runs a very good daytime school in Paris.

I don't know the adres but maybe you can find it like

this.

 

Greetings Robxxx

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Like Sharon said, I think TCM is important to learn and is probably the

only form of the medicine that could be standardized like it has been.

It is a good place to start and perhaps a good way for NCCAOM to make

tests that determine a minimal level of competency. But I want to learn

more about moving Qi, about finding the points the way the ancients did

not by just anatomical location. I want to be a conduit of a living and

vital medicine, not someone that just sticks needles in patients based

on a cookbook style protocol. Christopher Vedeler L.Ac., C.Ht.

Oasis Acupuncture http://www.oasisacupuncture.com

 

 

MM: hello, i am in wisconsin and i want to study acupuncture and oriental

medicine. recently, some people have written me privately and told me about the

different standards for training. i am interested in going to the best schools

possible. is it true that california standards are the highest? also, are

there any schools in the midwest where i could be educated with these higher

standards? i would like to learn more on this issue. i guess im looking at

going down to chicago now.

thanks.

mercurius trismegistus