NCCAOM Call for Nominations for Professional Member Commissioners
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE
Editor's Note: Article submitted by the NCCAOM.
The NCCAOM is seeking professional members to join the NCCAOM Board of Commissioners. Individuals who practice acupuncture and/or Chinese herbal medicine, and who are committed to the standards and growth of the acupuncture profession are encouraged to apply.
Expertise Needed: The NCCAOM is seeking individuals who are currently certified with the NCCAOM in good standing; have demonstrated excellence as a volunteer with the NCCAOM; have previous service on a nonprofit or corporate board; and possess desirable skills or expertise to help in the following areas:
Previous leadership experience on a board of directors (profit or non-profit) or government regulatory body
Facilitation of group discussion to reach consensus
Experience implementing or knowledge in the development of healthcare policies including creating position statements
Serve as a practitioner in an integrative health care practice setting
Experience with credentialing organizations
Responsibilities: Professional member commissioners serve for a term of three years and act as agents of the NCCAOM with the following responsibilities:
Serve on two or more standing committees. The committee work may include a monthly conference call and meeting preparation (and may involve occasional reimbursed travel).
Attend the winter, summer and fall Board of Commissioners meetings. Meetings will be either virtual or in-person and will be multi-day as needed.
Demonstrate knowledge of and support for NCCAOM certification standards and policies.
Participate in CEO, self, peer-to-peer, and board assessments.
All board members should be able and willing to step into board officer positions.
The estimated average time commitment is 10 hours per month. New commissioners are expected to complete a board orientation and become familiar with NCCAOM standards, policies and procedures.
A student stands over a patient, needle poised. They have a “perfect” prescription: a textbook combination of points harvested from a lecture slide on chronic lower back pain. But as the needle meets the skin, the student hesitates - the symptom of a quiet habit that has taken hold of our profession. We routinely say we “prescribe” points. It sounds efficient. It echoes the authority of biomedical culture and fits neatly into the insurance field. But vocabulary is never neutral; repeated long enough, it dictates behavior.
Acupuncture can be highly effective in cases of nasal congestion so common in allergy presentations; so much so that I often treat such issues using acupuncture protocols alone. In cases of seasonal allergies with highly predictable causes such as obvious elevations of environmental allergens, I use a skeleton acupuncture prescription that can easily be fleshed out to target potential underlying patterns and effectively customized to the patient.
The field of acupuncture in the U.S. continues to grow in visibility, patient demand and clinical effectiveness. Yet behind the curtain, many acupuncturists are quietly struggling to keep their doors open. While the profession is rooted in centuries of healing tradition, modern economic pressures – particularly those driven by insurance limitations, low reimbursement rates and job-market saturation – are making it increasingly difficult for licensed acupuncturists to thrive.
