Distribution of licensed acupuncturists and educational institutions in the United States at the start of 2023,during the late stage of the COVID-19 pandemic

This study was conducted to identify the number and density of active licensed acupuncturists(LAcs),as well as the number of accredited schools in acupuncture and Oriental medicine(AOM),as of January 1,2023,in the United States(U.S.).The number of active LAcs as of January 1,2023 was 34,524,potentially33,364 after removing license duplication in multiple states,among which the largest three states were California(with 7317 LAcs[21.19%of the total]),New York(5024[14.55%])and Florida(2644[7.66%]).The total number of LAcs decreased by 8.87%from 2018,and fell short of our projected number of LAcs in 2023 by 9037,or 20.75%.The overall LAc density in the U.S.Dmeasured as the number of LAcs per 100,000 populationDwas 10.36,less than in 2018.There were 56 active,accredited AOM schools which offered a total of 147 programs(121 at the level necessary for licensing[entry-level],12 for an advanced practicing degree[advanced-level],and 14 for certifications).Broken down further,offerings included 50 master's degrees in acupuncture,40 master's degrees in Oriental medicine,31 entry-level doctorate degrees(10 in acupuncture and 21 in acupuncture plus Chinese herbal medicine),and 12advanced-level doctorate degrees in AOM.The certification programs included one in East-Asian Medical Bodywork and 13 in CHM.Among these schools in 2023,institutions in the West and East Coast states comprised 67.86%(decreased from 77.42%in 2018)of the national total.California,Florida and Illinois represented 39.29%.There were 48 jurisdictions with acupuncture practice laws in place.The data suggests that the acupuncture profession in the U.S.has been significantly impacted during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

A survey on the real-world clinical utilization of a traditional acupuncture in Republic of Korea:Sa-am acupuncture

Objective This study investigated the clinical details and usage of Sa-am acupuncture in Korean medicine clinics and explored how practicing Korean medicine doctors(KMDs)think about Sa-am acupuncture.Methods We conducted a questionnaire-based survey of KMDs who utilize Sa-am acupuncture in their practice.The study comprehensively investigated issues related to clinical application of Sa-am acupuncture,needling techniques used during treatment,training methods,and directions for its future improvement.Results We analyzed 572 responses.An average of 50%of the patients visiting Korean medicine clinics were receiving Sa-am acupuncture.The most prevalent indication for Sa-am acupuncture use was digestive disorders.The patients’appetite level and digestive function were most frequently used indicators for selecting acupuncture points.Regarding prescription compositions,Jung-Gyuk formulas were more frequently used than Seung-Gyuk formulas.Inserting the needle along the flow of the channel or against the flow of the channel was most popular.The acupuncture style most frequently used in combination with Sa-am acupuncture was Ashi point acupuncture.Strengths of Sa-am acupuncture included its versatility,easy application,and good outcomes.Limitations included the lack of rigorous education and training programs,difficulty in applying the principles for beginners,and insufficient clinical research evidence.Conclusion In clinics where Sa-am acupuncture is available,KMDs were providing Sa-am acupuncture to about half of their patients.Practitioners were not using all of the tonification and sedation techniques which may be due to time constraints or simply a lack of necessity.Sa-am acupuncture demonstrated high utility in clinical practice and high satisfaction based on the efficacy and safety.More training programs and high-quality research are needed to help expand the use of Sa-am acupuncture.

Distribution of licensed acupuncturists and educational institutions in the United States in early 2015

In recent decades, acupuncture has been used more widely and extensively in the United States （U.S.）. However, there have been no national surveys or analyses reported in academic journals on the number of practicing or licensed acupuncturists, This study was conducted to identify the approximate number of licensed acupuncturists active in 2015. The Board of Acupuncture or Board of Medicine in each state or U.S. territory was contacted to collect data, Online license information searching was also performed in order to get accurate numbers of licensed acupuncturists for those states in which a board was unable to be contacted. The study found that the number of licensed acupuncturists in 2015 in the U,S, was 34,481. Of this, more than 50% were licensed in three states alone： California （32.39%）, New York （11,89%） and Florida （7.06%）. The number of licensed acupuncturists increased 23.30% and 52.09%, compared to the year 2009 （n = 27,965） and 2004 （n = 22,671）, respectively; increasing about 1,266 per year. There were 62 and 10 accredited acupuncture institutions providing master and doctoral degrees, respectively. The West Coast comprised 51.39% of degree granting programs, while the East Coast comprised 29.17%; together the coastal states housed more than 80% of all programs, with the remainder sprinkled across the southern （9.72%）, northern （8.33%）, and the middle/central states （1.39%）. Forty-four states and the District of Columbia regulated acupuncture practice by law at the time of data collection. Acupuncture continues to be a quickly growing profession in the U.S,

Experience in Application of PBL Teaching Method in the Clinical Teaching of Acupuncture

Different from the traditional teaching method, PBL （Problem-Based Learning） teaching mode is emphasized to foster the students＇ skills in spontaneous study and problem solving and the analyzing and comprehensive thinking ability. The authors believe that in the application of the PBL teaching method, the teachers＇ functions should be stressed on how to select the initial moment, provide the topics, excite the interesting points, search information, make comments and evaluate the students＇ ability, i.e. “to offer fish and teach how to catch fish as well”.

The earliest acupuncture school of the United States incubated in a Tai Chi Center in Los Angeles

Traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）arrived in the United States（U.S.）in 1854.Initially,most TCM providers were herbalists,w ith very few being acupuncturists.Based on my research,the earliest acupuncturist to practice inthe U.S. was Dr. Fu Xing Fang , who immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1930s and practiced acupuncture in the Los Angeles （LA） area. He was among the first of a few students of the well-known Dr.