AIAM offers diploma programs in acupuncture, tui na and massage therapy. The master's level acupuncture program is a three-year, 2,058-hour program, including studies in acupuncture, biomedical related sciences, clinical training, counseling, communications, ethics and practice management. The tui na program offers a 1,080-hour entry-level curriculum designed to teach interested students traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theories and tui na techniques along with Swedish massage philosophies. The massage therapy program includes a 720-hour curriculum designed to thoroughly prepare students for an entry level career in therapeutic massage as a licensed massage therapist Acupuncture & Acupressure
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.
Bruce W. Park, DACM
