National Level

We’ve been trying to work at the national level to support the type of response from our national organizations that would allow states to respond in ways that allow the survival of the acupuncture workforce in response to the educational changes coming out of OBBBA and the current administration.

NCBAHM Exam

One of the biggest changes we need is for the National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (NCBAHM), formerly the NCCAOM, to allow graduates of state-approved programs to sit for the board exam. The AWA team has met with the NCBAHM and submitted a proposal for review with Oregon Association of Acupuncturists sign on. We would love to see more states submitting these proposals to NCBAHM.

NCBAHM’s own Certification Handbook (January 2024) shows that its eligibility framework already accommodates government-approved pathways: Route Two accepts candidates from programs approved by a foreign government agency, without ACAHM accreditation, subject to third-party comparability review. If NCBAHM can accept candidates approved by foreign governments, they should be able to accept candidates approved by state governments.

Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (ACAHM)

The US Department of Education has given the ACAHM the following scope of recognition:

the accreditation and preaccreditation (“Candidacy”) of professional non-degree and graduate degree programs, including professional doctoral programs, in the field of acupuncture and/or Oriental medicine, as well as freestanding institutions and colleges of acupuncture and/or Oriental medicine that offer such programs, including programs offered via distance education.

Because the AHEAD framework is going to remove access to graduate Title IV federal loan money, the only programs that can survive at a graduate level will be those who do not accept loan money. We would like to see acupuncture education remain accessible so that students from low-income communities are still able to become acupuncturists for a reasonable cost. We have asked the ACAHM to (a) petition the Department of Education for approval for programmatic accreditation of undergraduate degree programs and (b) advise us on whether or not they have interest in programmatic accrediting of a 5th year Professional Certificate in acupuncture that would be a mostly clinical year certificate added onto an undergraduate degree training in acupuncture.