The NCCAOM launched its new website and logo, along with a new designation for those nationally certified—NCCAOM National Board-Certified Acupuncturist. As the profession progresses in 2019 it's likely that national board certification will be a requirement for more employers.
Last year the Veteran's Administration (VA) added jobs for acupuncturists; however, a stipulation for employment rested on board certification.1 Another big player in the acupuncture field, Modern Acupuncture, also requires national board certification for employment. If 2018 is an indicator for what's to come it's likely acupuncturists will need this designation if they want to move ahead in certain areas of health care.
As the NCCAOM has been working diligently on helping acupuncturists move forward, they have also been gathering feedback from volunteers and various stakeholder groups to make some branding changes. The logo, now multi-colored, has a sleeker look, and the website has been updated with new navigation tools for a better user experience.
For more information please visit NCCAOM.org.
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Structured water (H3O2) can be considered a fourth state of water between liquid and solid. It has the hexagonal structure of ice; however, missing a critical bond, it behaves more like a gel than a solid, but retains some of its crystalline structure.
In the past five years of my clinical practice, I have seen an astonishing upsurge in the chronic use of proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medications for the gastrointestinal issue diagnosed by allopathic medicine as GERD. It is not uncommon to encounter patients taking these prescriptions for five-plus years.
Working with chronically ill patients entails acknowledging the reality that not all patients will survive their diagnosis. Chinese medicine and acupuncture play a crucial role in palliative and end-of-life care, addressing medication and disease side effects, alleviating pain associated with death, reducing anxiety and stress, and helping patients find peace during the dying process.
