ACAOM Accreditation Update
At its October 2005 meeting, the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine granted candidate status to two of the first doctoral programs to be offered by acupuncture institutions in the U.S. ACAOM also granted candidate status to two schools, accredited two programs and reaccredited three others.
The Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) programs at Bastyr University and Oregon College of Oriental Medicine were both granted candidate status, becoming the first acupuncture schools in the U.S. to have their doctoral programs receive candidate status from ACAOM. However, these actions are considered a pilot process, as ACAOM's doctoral program reviews currently are not currently within its scope of recognition by the U.S. Secretary of Education.
In addition, the following candidacy and accreditation actions took place:
Candidacy Actions
- Five Branches Institute - San Jose Campus, San Jose, CA (granted candidacy)
- New York Chiropractic College, Seneca Falls, NY (granted candidacy)
Accreditation Actions
- Jung Tao School of Classical Chinese Medicine, Sugar Grove, NC (granted accreditation for three years)
- Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA (granted accreditation for three years)
- Academy for Five Element Acupuncture, Hallandale, FL (granted reaccreditation for five years)
- Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Denver, CO (granted reaccreditation for four years)
- Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Bloomington, MN (granted reaccreditation for four years)
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Tai Sophia Receives $1M Gift
The Tai Sophia Institute was honored with the largest gift in the school's history when it received $1,000,000 from the Helen M. and Annetta Himmelfarb Foundation. Administrators say the money will be used as a challenge grant to secure additional funding.
"The Tai Sophia Institute has advanced public knowledge about complementary therapies and wellness," said Sherman L. Cohn, president of the foundation. He added that the foundation was "pleased" that its gift would help secure the institute's financial future.
Helen Himmelfarb, founder of both the Himmelfarb Foundation and the Chevy Chase Foundation, credited acupuncture and herbal medicine with improving her health and the health of her older sister. The foundation has had a formal relationship with Tai Sophia dating back to 2003, when it began funding a scholarship at the institute.
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A Bird's-Eye View of Acupuncture
Acupuncture has been known to relieve pain and a variety of symptoms in people, but does it work the same for animals? Apparently so, if a Miami peacock could say anything about it.
The free-roaming male peacock was involved in an automobile accident in November. Found in a Miami neighborhood and unable to walk, he was taken to the Fort Lauderdale SPCA Wildlife Care Center, where health care providers decided to use acupuncture as part of the treatment process.
The peacock was treated over the course of a few weeks by Brigitte Lichy, a North Miami Beach acupuncturist who volunteered at the center. In one of the treatment sessions, she massaged the bird along his acupuncture meridians, then inserted needles into select points designed to stimulate repair of bones, ligaments and tendons.
"Animals respond so well to acupuncture, so quickly," Lichy said. "I think it's because they don't have any idea what you're doing to them. They're pure innocents. As humans, we don't have that."
By all accounts, the peacock has regained much of its previous strength and mobility; after a recent acupuncture session, it flew a short distance. As we go to press, it remains at the center, where it awaits adoption.
