Okay, so I am giving this a shot, not because I want to, but because it is easier to update hours and news myself rather then get my web guy to do it for me.
Okay, so I am giving this a shot, not because I want to, but because it is easier to update hours and news myself rather then get my web guy to do it for me.
Acupuncture for Marriage
This topic hits on a personal level as it deals with vets and increasing divorce rates. A lot of returning soldiers come back with PTSD, and despite an excellent effort on the part of our military to beef of psychiatric services, many soldiers are going undiagnosed and untreated. The idea that men are supposed to "be men and get over it" runs deep in our culture and we are not raised how to behave and react to trauma that won't go away. Fort Hood recently opened a stress reduction center that includes acupuncture to help both soldier and family beep body and mind together. Can you say "government contract?"
Career day demonstrator sticks students without school, parent permission
A couple of years ago I was doing an acupuncture demonstration at a high school and some of the kids asked me to "stick them." Being litigiously paranoid, I told them I couldn't do it without parental permission, even though some of the student were 18. I figured it was better to be a stick-in-the mud than sued.
Good thing too.
For career day in Yorktown Elementary School, an acupuncturist demonstrated on student volunteers in view of a teacher and now there is an uproar. In my opinion, she was not providing medical treatment (a shallow insertion in a random point is hardly medical treatment - more like "this is how you put on a bandage), so it seems to be a gray area in the school rules. I think the amount of hoopla is excessive. It does go to show you have to be vigilant about informed consent even with volunteers during a demonstration.
UPDATE
Now the parents are outraged about their children getting "treatments." I think some of these parents are getting outraged for the sake of getting outraged. In the video, they are showing a full blown treatment with e-stim, not a single demonstration point as was done at career day. If an MD gave advice to the class on exercise and diet, would that constitute treatment without informed consent? If a PT had the kids do range of motion exercises, would that have sparked the same reaction about lack of permission? I agree with the other acupuncturist in the story that this kind of pulicity makes other acupuncturists look bad, but I think it is more because of how it is being covered rather than what was done. I hope this does not go before the state board of acupuncture, but if it does, I hope the acupuncturist stresses that she did not perform a treatment and therefor did not need MD referral.
Pediatrics; Alternative Therapies Can Be Safe, Effective for Children
Ahh, there is nothing like having access to research before it is published. Or in this case, lets call it a position statement. I have been working with more children and adolescents lately, especially with pain and ADHD, so it is refreshing to have a bigwig support acupuncture as a safe and viable therapy.
2009 APR 24 - (
"There is a huge place for complementary and alternative medicine in pediatrics," says Dolores Mendelow, M.D., clinical assistant professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Complementary and alternative therapies are becoming a more prevalent treatment for children. If individuals follow the directions of their physicians, these treatments are a safe and effective way to get and stay healthy, Mendelow says.
While certain types of complementary and alternative therapies are safe for children, there are many therapies that could potentially be dangerous. Mendelow notes that parents should always consult their children's pediatrician before beginning any new treatment.
Alternative therapies can be successful against many illnesses - including the common cold or skin rashes - when over-the-counter medications do not have immediate success. For instance, honey can be used for coughs related to the common cold - just not for children less than one year of age.
"In terms of complementary medicine, we're using acupuncture, dietary supplementation and herbal or botanical therapies," Mendelow says
Doctoral Degree
I am already in a quandary about the recent edict that came down from the AACN stating that they were adopting the clinical doctorate as an entry to advanced practice nursing. I swallowed it am and planning on getting it since the idea of being grandfathered in makes me only slightly more nauseous than the idea of yet another several thousand dollars I will spend on superfluous higher education. And I keep telling myself that professional parity in a hospital setting is important and it will likely lead to more practice autonomy on a national level.
I have maintained for quite a while that the DAOM is even more ridiculous when you consider we have yet to adopt the same licensing standards as other allied health professions, most practitioners are in private practice so there is no employment or parity advantage, and the federal government won't grant loans for this experience of paying a lot of money to an institution so you can write papers and have supervised clinical hours outside of your own practice. It is more important to have the master's level education in acupuncture and Oriental Medicine standardized with a single, nationally recognized designation. I have been on about this in several previous posts, so I will leave it at that. But I would add that as of yet, there is no advantage to a DAOM other than bragging rights to call yourself a "doctor" and still have people say, "now what do all those initials after your name mean?"
More power to the practitioners who have achieved the DAOM, it is just not for me as it stands right now. I investigated several programs for myself and saw very little difference between the offered educational experience and intense self-study along with finding a mentor in the specialty area of interest.
But this is for news, not my own opinion. Funny that this comes from the community acupuncture network, a practice style I have said my peace about before.
Community Acupuncture Network Votes "No" on New Doctorate Degree for Acupuncture
The board of directors for the Community Acupuncture Network (CAN) has voted unanimously to oppose a new doctorate degree for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine on the grounds that such a move would be detrimental to practitioners, patients and the profession. Due to its large membership, the vote represents a significant hurdle for professional consensus for the ACAOM to renew its review and finalization of standards for a first-professional doctorate in acupuncture and in Oriental medicine.
Unconventional Medicine
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About four in 10 U.S. adults and one in nine children are turning to unconventional medical approaches for chronic pain and other health problems, health officials said on Wednesday.
Back pain was the leading reason that Americans reported using complementary and alternative medicine techniques, followed by neck and joint pain as well as arthritis, according to the survey by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 38 percent of adults used some form of complementary and alternative medicine in 2007, compared to 36 percent in 2002, the last time the government tracked at the matter.
For the first time, the survey looked at use of such medicine by children under age 18, finding that about 12 percent used it, officials said. The reasons included back pain, colds, anxiety, stress and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to the survey.
