Maryland Acupuncture Society Update
The Maryland Acupuncture Society (MAS) elected three new board members at its most recent annual meeting, held Apr. 2 at the Holiday Inn BWI in Linthicum, Md. The society also announced the results of its annual membership campaign.
John Howard, LAc, was elected by his fellow MAS members to the position of secretary/newsletter editor, replacing Ruby Bienert, who had previously announced her retirement. In addition, Tricia Kramer, LAc, Dipl. Ac., was elected to the position of member at large/membership chair, replacing Carolyn Shenmen, and Ta-Ya Lee, MSN, MAc, LAc, CRNP, was elected vice president of external affairs.
The society was also successful in adding 19 members to its ranks, based on a membership campaign conducted between Dec. 14, 2004 and Jan. 31, 2005. Seven of the members were either new acupuncturists or acupuncturists who had already been in practice, but had never joined the society. More than 1,300 licenses to practice acupuncture have been issued since the Maryland Board of Acupuncture was formed in 1984.
MCAOM Dean Bestowed With Alumnus Award
Mark McKenzie, LAc, MAOM, was honored with the "Alumnus of the Year" award by the Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MCAOM). McKenzie received the award at the 2005 Great River Symposium, held at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minn. this past April.
"It was quite an honor," McKenzie said upon receiving the award. "It is always an amazing thing to be recognized by colleagues and friends."
McKenzie graduated from the Minnesota Institute of Acupuncture and Herbal Studies (the forerunner to MCAOM) in 1999. The following year, he received his master's degree in Oriental medicine from MCAOM, and became board-certified in acupuncture and Chinese herbology. In 2003, he was named the college's dean. In addition to his duties at the college, he also currently serves as president of the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Association of Minnesota.
OCOM Co-Founder Among First Class to Receive DAOM Degree
On July 10, 2005, the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine will graduate the first class of students in the United States to receive clinical doctoral degrees in acupuncture and Oriental medicine. Among the graduates is Eric Stephens, LAc, who helped found the college in 1983.
"I started OCOM out of my frustration with the lack of options for professional acupuncture and Oriental medicine training in the United States," explained Stephens, who co-founded the college with Satya Ambrose, ND, LAc. In addition to being enrolled in the doctoral program, Mr. Stephens has taught at OCOM for more than 15 years, and also maintains a private practice in Portland.
OCOM gained approval to operate a clinical doctoral program from the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in May 2002. Currently, seven schools in the U.S. have been approved to offer clinical doctoral degrees in acupuncture and Oriental medicine, including OCOM, Bastyr University, Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, Five Branches Institute, Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and South Baylo University.
Acupuncturists Added to Integrative Medicine Program at OHSU
In response to an increasing demand for complementary and alternative health care services, the integrative medicine program at the Oregon Health & Science University Center for Women's Health has added five new practitioners to its staff. Among the new providers are two licensed acupuncturists, the addition of which will allow patients to receive acupuncture directly at the center, rather than having to travel to community settings for treatment.
"We believe in treating the whole person. Bringing these exceptionally qualified practitioners into our integrative medicine program adds so much to our circle of care," said Anne Nedrow, MD, the program's medical director. "Almost any patient can have their health enhanced through partnering with such a team. We need to be able to offer what patients want for their optimal health journey."
Steve Dardis, LAc, and Stephen Saeks, PhD, LAc, are the two acupuncturists joining the program. Mr. Dardis graduated from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in 1997, and is a member of the Oregon Acupuncture Association. Dr. Saeks also graduated from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, and earned a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Hawaii. Other practitioners joining the program include Lisa Patenode, DC, Lynn Shinto, ND, and Ilse Wefers, MTS, DMin.
The integrative medicine program was created in 2002, and is the newest clinic in the Center for Women's Health. It is believed to be the first clinic in the United States committed primarily to enhancing the quality of life of women with breast and pelvic cancers through holistic care.
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
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One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
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