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.
American Academy of Physical Oriental Medicine Update
The American Academy of Physical Oriental Medicine (AAPOM) will host a meeting and hold a two-day examination at the annual conference of the American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM) in Chicago, Oct. 22-23. The certification evaluation involved with the exam will assess the standards for competent practice in the specialty of physical Oriental medicine.
The exam consists of both written and practical components using standardized patients, and is designed to determine a candidate's knowledge and skills in physical Oriental medicine. To be eligible to take the AAPOM exam, applicants must be acupuncturists who have graduated from an ACAOM-accredited school (or who maintain current licensure in a state with equivalent training) and have completed specialist-level training from an approved AAPOM program or the National Board of Acupuncture Orthopedics (NBAO) program.
Qualified applicants who would like more information may contact the author at (818) 710-6868 or via e-mail at Kevin@TheSupplyCenter.com.