NCCAOM Elects Two New Commissioners
Diplomates from the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) have elected two new members to the Board of Commissioners. David Canzone, Dipl. Ac., and Jan Ste. Germaine, Dipl. Ac., CH, ABT, will each serve three-year terms.
Canzone has practiced acupuncture and Oriental medicine since 1989 in Santa Fe, N.M. He graduated from Southwest Acupuncture College in 1988. In 1996, he was appointed by the governor of New Mexico to serve on the New Mexico Board of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He completed his term as chair of the board in 2002. He currently serves on the NCCAOM's Professional Ethics and Discipline Committee and is the chair of NCCAOM's Recertification Committee.
Ste. Germaine has been in Oriental medical private practice for 22 years. She has served as a director on a national board; created, administrated, and taught OM programs in Kansas City in massage schools and community colleges; participated in Missouri and Kansas legislative initiatives; and presented lectures and seminars in local businesses. She is also a member of AAAOM, AOBTA and the Acupuncture Association of Missouri. Ste. Germaine has been honored with the AOBTA President's Award, an Outstanding Service award in 1998 and Continued Service award in 2005.
NCCAOM Board Chair Bryn Clark, Dipl. O.M., told the press, "Both David and Jan bring a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the Board of Commissioners. David has already contributed immensely to the Board as an existing Commissioner and Jan will be a welcome addition to the Board."
AMA Gives Top Award to Founder of Acupuncture Clinic
The American Medical Association (AMA) recently presented one of its top awards to Kristin Bell, MD, an internist at the San Diego VA Medical Center. The Dr. William Beaumont Award in Medicine is given to distinguished younger physicians for their work in medical sciences.
Dr. Bell is a primary care physician who helps veterans manage varying medical conditions many of which involve chronic pain. One of her accomplishments includes the development of an innovative acupuncture clinic for veterans.
In a statement to the press, AMA President Ron Davis, MD, praised Dr. Bell's many achievements: "Dr. Bell is a proven leader in pain management for America's veterans. The AMA takes pride in the success of America's younger physicians, and Dr. Bell has set an extraordinary example."
New Web Site for Domestic Herbs Now Online
The launching of a new Web site created to develop the market relationship between AOM practitioners and ecological herb growers, www.localherbs.org/index.html, was announced during the recent Pacific Symposium in San Diego.
Jean Giblette, director of High Falls Gardens (www.highfallsgardens.net) in New York, and coordinator of a farmers group that has been growing Chinese medicinal botanicals in the United States, reported during her Symposium presentation, "Our long-term goal is a restoration of authentic plant medicine in North America. The profession of Oriental Medicine can and should lead a scientific process to evaluate the results of domestic cultivation of the Asian species."
Practitioners have begun ordering herbs from the growers, organized as the Medicinal Herb Consortium, who now face a backlog. "The farmers need a certain amount of capital to get domestic cultivation underway," said Giblette. "Essentially, no specialty crops are grown in the United States without contracts. We need to underwrite contracts to provide some form of assistance for growers to get started."
The consortium's plan is to secure the endorsement of the profession through orders, contributions and other expressions of support, then to seek funding from major donors.
AIMC Berkeley Launches New Acupuncture Training Program for Medical Professionals
This March, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College, Berkeley (AIMC Berkeley) is launching a 10-seminar continuing-education program for medical doctors, dentists and other CAM professionals. Professionals who complete the 150-hour program and pass a comprehensive examination will receive a certification in medical acupuncture.
The first weekend seminar will be Saturday and Sunday, March 29-30, 2008. Subsequent seminars are scheduled for April 26-28, May 31-June 1, June 28-29, July 26-27, Aug. 23-24, Sept. 27-28, Oct. 25-26, Nov. 22-23, and Jan. 24-25, 2009. Seminars will deal specifically with the treatment of low back pain, neck pain, pain in other body organs and the psychological aspects of pain and disability. Each seminar can be taken individually.
The first seminar will cover the basic theories of Oriental medicine, the body's energy channels, an introduction to Chinese herbs and recent research validating the physiological effects of acupuncture. The program is designed to educate Western medical practitioners about the complexity and extent of training Oriental medicine practitioners receive so they can engage in cross-referrals in order to benefit the patient. For more information, contact Nellie Wilson at (510) 666-8248, extension 106.
AAAOM Announces New Members of the Board of Directors
Incoming President Martin Herbkersman, MTOM, DAc, is certified in acupuncture, Chinese herbology and Oriental medicine, and holds licenses in California, Rhode Island and South Carolina, where he has a private practice. He is a founder and board member of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine (ABORM), as well as a member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Dr. Herbkersman also has been instrumental in changing the law for acupuncturists in South Carolina, helping to improve conditions in his home state.
Corinne Axelrod, MPH, LAc, Dipl.Ac, is the new vice president for AAAOM. She graduated from the Maryland Institute of Traditional Oriental Medicine in 2001 and is licensed in Maryland and the District of Columbia. She also is a senior officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and worked on the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy.
Treasurer P. Shane Burras, LAc, DNBAO spent 18 years in the commercial insurance industry before becoming an acupuncturist. He graduated from Yo San University and obtained national board certification in Acupuncture Orthopedics. He is the chair of the AIMS Insurance Committee in California, and co-chair of the AAAOM CPT Code Task Force. In addition, he gives lectures on the correct and ethical methods of insurance billing and reimbursement so that acupuncturists can learn how to successfully participate in the workers' compensation systems.
Bill Reddy, BS, MS, LAc, the new AAAOM secretary, studied TCM at Maryland Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine where he was elected as the first student member of the board of directors. He also is the former president of the Acupuncture Society of Virginia, serving on the board for four years. He currently has private practices in both Alexandria and Annandale, Va. Reddy also trains in the Chen style of tai qi.
The new vice president of corporate events, Deborah Lincoln, RN, MSN, RAc, NCCAOM, is chair of the Michigan State Acupuncture Board. In February 2006, she saw her 20-year endeavor culminate in the passage of Michigan's first-ever acupuncture law. She has been in private practice in acupuncture, Chinese herbs and Oriental medicine for over 24 years in Lansing, Mich.
The AAAOM directors-at-large are: Travis Buckmaster, LAc; Christine Chang; Doreen Guo-Fong Chen, LAc, OMD; Scott Cormier, MTOM, Dipl.OM, LAc; Jeannie Kang, LAc; Bonnie Povolny, MS, LAc; Jeanette Rockers, LAc; Rachel Toomim LAc, RT; and Phranque Wright, DAOM, LAc, Dipl.OM. The alternate directors are Farolyn McSweeney, OMD, LAc, and Lloyd G. Wright, DNBAO, LAc. The student organization directors are Amanda Troelsen MAc, LAc, Dipl. Ac, CR, and Patty Fullin, ADRN.
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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