Although it's still early in the year, the NCCAOM is already changing things up ... again, with a "CEO transition." A message from Afua Bromley, a member of the board of commissioners, said "It is with both sadness and gratitude that I announce the upcoming departure of Dr. Kory Ward-Cook as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), effective December 31, 2019. Since November of 2004, Dr. Ward-Cook has played a critical role in the development, growth and success of the NCCAOM. We have been fortunate to have benefited from her leadership and while we will miss her extensive contributions to the organization, the NCCAOM Board of Commissioners wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors, both professionally and personally."
Dr. Ward-Cook served as CEO for the NCCAOM for nearly 15 years and was instrumental in several of last year's accomplishments—including California's "Route to Certification," an initiative for Diplomates that have a terminated certification status.
In her time at NCCAOM she implemented computer adaptive testing in 2006; created the first NCCAOM Governance Policy Manual, linked to all management policies and procedures; successfully orchestrated the re-accreditation of the NCCAOM certification programs and the first accreditation of the Oriental Medicine certification program in 2008 and 2012.
There is no indication about the reason behind Dr. Ward-Cook's exit, just a general farewell wish. The message closes with assurance that more information will follow with their search for a new CEO.
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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