Guest guest Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Esteemed Colleagues and Hard-working Folks, here in the states, in Oregon, we have pending legislation that would allow folks with DAOM's from schools with " federally recognized accreditation " to use dr as title. however, it allows more than that. i am reticent about the looseness of some of the wording. i have a request for review and feedback from a local legislator, that's a representative from the Oregon House of Representatives, for those of you across ponds and oceans. i'd very much appreciate input from some of you before i send a statement " Notwithstanding ORS 677.085 (5), a person who has completed a program that leads to a doctoral degree in Oriental medicine and acupuncture from a school that has federally recognized accreditation may use the words “Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine” or any abbreviation or combination thereof, or any letters or words of similar import in connection with the name of the person, or any trade name in which the person is interested, in the conduct of any occupation or profession pertaining to the practice of acupuncture. " " ...or any abbreviation or combination thereof.... " ? i'm not sure. other folks can't and don't rearrange how they represent their degrees. this just isn't done, and certainly can't be considered scholarly or intellectual. - input? " ...or any letters or words of similar import in connection with the name of the person.... " this is where the extreme laxness, let's legislate that we can call ourselves whatever we want look creeps in for me. - input? this part concerns me even more. this Really opens any Brand of worms practitioners want to open. " ... or any trade name in which the person is interested, in the conduct of any occupation or profession pertaining to the practice of acupuncture. " -- input? please remember, when we vote for legislation, we Are Not voting for concepts! we are voting for the details in the given piece of legislation. SO, how great an idea this bill is has NOTHING to do with whether or not i recommend this bill. whether or not THIS bill is workable, i.e., whether or not it will hold up in court, will guide my decision, not my emotions. thank you SO much, in advance, for your input and support. thanks to any of you who have worked for this HB, or any corrollary pieces of legislation! Kudos!!! also, would someone remind me why we don't already have Dept of Education accreditation, i.e. regional accreditation, for any of the DAOM programs? I don't recall hearing what the ETA is on this? i know this would help in our legislative efforts. it certainly won't hurt! Lynn ______________________________\ ____ Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Travel to find your fit. http://farechase./promo-generic-14795097 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 Lynn, Great questions. I am glad to see that some state is looking at this issue of usage of Dr title. An attorney might be better able to discuss these issues as well as the author of the bill. As your state has two schools of OM, it makes sense then that they might be backing this or are they? I think that this might be the first legislation attempting to match up degree with licensure (not sure though). There is some fuzziness over whether or not another healthcare practitioner with a doctor title could take an abbreviated program and then apply for this title. Otherwise, it seems that most of this makes sense and is attempting to create a two-tiered opportunity for acupuncture professionals. Mike W. Bowser, L Ac Chinese Medicine ; : lynndetamore: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 11:56:29 -0800Dr Title Input Please - Oregon HB 3089 Esteemed Colleagues and Hard-working Folks,here in the states, in Oregon, we have pending legislation that would allow folks with DAOM's from schools with " federally recognized accreditation " to use dr as title. however, it allows more than that. i am reticent about the looseness of some of the wording. i have a request for review and feedback from a local legislator, that's a representative from the Oregon House of Representatives, for those of you across ponds and oceans. i'd very much appreciate input from some of you before i send a statement " Notwithstanding ORS 677.085 (5), a person who has completed a program that leads to a doctoral degree in Oriental medicine and acupuncture from a school that has federally recognized accreditation may use the words “Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine” or any abbreviation or combination thereof, or any letters or words of similar import in connection with the name of the person, or any trade name in which the person is interested, in the conduct of any occupation or profession pertaining to the practice of acupuncture. " " ...or any abbreviation or combination thereof.... " ? i'm not sure. other folks can't and don't rearrange how they represent their degrees. this just isn't done, and certainly can't be considered scholarly or intellectual. - input? " ...or any letters or words of similar import in connection with the name of the person.... " this is where the extreme laxness, let's legislate that we can call ourselves whatever we want look creeps in for me. - input? this part concerns me even more. this Really opens any Brand of worms practitioners want to open. " ... or any trade name in which the person is interested, in the conduct of any occupation or profession pertaining to the practice of acupuncture. " -- input?please remember, when we vote for legislation, we Are Not voting for concepts! we are voting for the details in the given piece of legislation. SO, how great an idea this bill is has NOTHING to do with whether or not i recommend this bill. whether or not THIS bill is workable, i.e., whether or not it will hold up in court, will guide my decision, not my emotions.thank you SO much, in advance, for your input and support. thanks to any of you who have worked for this HB, or any corrollary pieces of legislation! Kudos!!!also, would someone remind me why we don't already have Dept of Education accreditation, i.e. regional accreditation, for any of the DAOM programs? I don't recall hearing what the ETA is on this? i know this would help in our legislative efforts. it certainly won't hurt!Lynn________Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotelsin 45,000 destinations on Travel to find your fit.http://farechase./promo-generic-14795097 _______________ Connect to the next generation of MSN Messenger http://imagine-msn.com/messenger/launch80/default.aspx?locale=en-us & source=wlmai\ ltagline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Dear Lynn, In order for folks not familiar with Oregon law, you might want to tell us what ORS 677.085 (5) is about ( I presume it refers to ones' title). In general, however, I agree that legislation that is vaguely worded can be problematic. I am a practitioner in Florida. We have the privelege to be licensed as AP (Acupuncture Physician) but we may also use the title Dr. as in DOM even without a DAOM degree. We are also considered to be primary care providers. In other states, even practitioners who hold degrees such as M.D. (China) are relegated to the title L.Ac. I am attempting to develop a forum at www.acupuncturemed.blogspot.com to address issues such as this. I perceive that one of the main problems facing our profession is the lack of consistency across the country regarding titles of practitioners and scope of practice. This is a political issue mostly having to do with the AMA and Big Pharma lobbying. I would recommend that you contact your state organization and develop a dialogue with your fellow practitioners and your legislature in order to insure the protection of your rights to practice TCM without undue influence from non-TCM parties. I will start a thread at my blogspot regarding your topic. You will then have a place to share opinions on this particular subject with your fellow " Dr.s " from Oregon and elsewhere. I believe that the more progress we make as a profession; the more resistance we will meet from the " powers that be. " The way to deal with this is, unfortunately, a political process and that requires time, $$$$$ for lobbyists, and diligence. Good luck, Dr. W. W. Waldrope DOM, AP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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