A student stands over a patient, needle poised. They have a “perfect” prescription: a textbook combination of points harvested from a lecture slide on chronic lower back pain. But as the needle meets the skin, the student hesitates - the symptom of a quiet habit that has taken hold of our profession. We routinely say we “prescribe” points. It sounds efficient. It echoes the authority of biomedical culture and fits neatly into the insurance field. But vocabulary is never neutral; repeated long enough, it dictates behavior.
ACAOM Accreditation Update
The University of East-West Medicine in Sunnyvale, California is the latest school to gain full accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. The university was notified of the decision following a meeting of ACAOM officials in May 2005.
"It's a significant achievement for the school," said Jenty Hasan, a university spokesperson. "The students are very excited. It opens the door for students to all kinds of things."
The University of East-West Medicine was founded in 1997. Its acupuncture program first gained candidate status from ACAOM in 2003. Approximately 175 students are enrolled at the school, which confers a Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine degree to graduates.
In related news, the acupuncture program at the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was granted candidate status for a three-year period. In addition, the Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin's program was reaccredited for the maximum five-year period, and the World Medicine Institute (formerly the Tai Hsuan Foundation) was reaccredited for four years.