Titles, Initials, Translations

Why is it so important that your acupuncturist is licensed? Does it make your acupuncturist a better healer? Not really, but it may mean that your acupuncturist was able to sit through a few years of classes and jump through a few testing hoops to obtain that license. It also means at least in the USA that they can purchase malpractice insurance and that in a way protects the patient too.

Bottom line is that a license generally means that the acupuncturist knows enough not to stick a needle into your lung, or how not to hurt you during a treatment. In the end, all the alphabet soup in the world is not going to make you feel better, but a competent practitioner can.

Licensure requirements are different in just about every state in the United States and different countries expect different things too, so the best thing to do is start out by determining what the legal requirements are to practice acupuncture in your area. If we have found information regarding local legislation in your area, you'll find it on one of the referral pages. If there is no link to legislation on the page you're interested in, and you find the info somewhere, send us the URL and we'll add it to the referral page in question.

One item that should be understood is the difference between licensure and a degree. A license enables one to practice in a given state. This requires jumping through some hoops such as state board examinations or the NCCAOM exam. Many states require a certain degree or its equivalent before sitting for their licensing examination. A degree title travels with you wherever you may live. A licensure title does not. So, while it may be legal for someone to take the D.O.M. test in New Mexico to gain the title of "doctor", this isn't really very ethical in my opinion. I hope that consumers can recognize the value of humility in any health care practitioner and the cost of professional insecurity that has given rise to this practice. In short, the more initials one sports after their name, the more they must feel the need to pad their resume. That's all I'm saying here. :)

Finally this. Once you've chosen a practitioner who is legal to practice in your area, make sure that you feel comfortable with this person. If you're edgy or otherwise not too happy with the situation, try and find someone else. I think that if we all listened to our own internal perceptions more often, we'd discover that we really do know who is a good doctor and who isn't.

-al

Professional Initials

Explanation

Ac.D.

Acupuncture Doctor: (Dr. Ac.) This is a title used in Canada. A "Doctor of Acupuncture" has a minimum of seven years of university-level education with a specialization in acupuncture and basic training in the other modalities, based on TCM diagnostic procedures.

Adj. Ac.

Adjunct Acupuncturists: (Dr. Ac.) This is a title used in Canada. Adj. Ac.s are physicians, veterinarians, chiropractors, dentists, or other licensed medical practitioners who use anatomical acupuncture to supplement with their scope practices. This type of treatment is based on the insertion of needles in precise, anatomically-located points according to standard assessments of simple ailments

A.P.

Acupuncture Physician: a licensure term unique to Florida. After receiving the necessary academic requirements, and passing the licensing test (see Florida page for more on that) one is known as an acupuncture physician in Florida. It has a nice ring to it, if you ask me.

B.Ac.

Bachelor's Degree in Acupuncture: an academic distinction that doesn't necessarily provide one with a license to practice. It means that the acupuncturist went to some acupuncture school that gives out a bachelor's degree, though most nowadays do the masters degree in Oriental medicine.

C.A.

Certified Acupuncturist: This is identical to L.Ac. in the state of California. This is an older title for the exact same thing. In the state of New Jersey, this is the current title of what other states call a Licensed acupuncturist.

In New York State this is the title that Physicians with 200 hours of training are allowed to use. It is allows one to distinguish the L.Ac. (professional acupuncturist w/ NCCAOM certification) from the physician acupuncturist.

C.A.F.C.I.

Certification of the Acupuncture Foundation of Canada Institute: This is a certification that comes from the institute which appears to provide introductory training to practitioners of biomedicine. Their website can be found here: afcinstitute.com

C.M.T.

Certified Massage Technician: See L.M.T.

D.A. or D.Ac.

Doctor of Acupuncture: A title unique to the state of Rhode Island. A doctorate is not required for this title, only passing the NCCAOM exam, as is required in Rhode Island. Now that there is an official "DAOM" or Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine sanctioned by the US Dept. or Education, there may be some debate as to the appropriateness of this title.

(Dr. Ac.) This is also a title used in Canada. A "Doctor of Acupuncture" has a minimum of seven years of university-level education with a specialization in acupuncture and basic training in the other modalities, based on TCM diagnostic procedures.

Also in Canada, the "D.Ac." means "Diploma of Acupuncture" A practitioner with a "Diploma of Acupuncture" has six years of university-level education with a specialization in acupuncture based on TCM diagnostic procedures.

D.Ac. is also a title given to some acupuncturists who went to school outside of the USA in the '50s through '70s. An academic degree.

Dipl. C.H. (NCCAOM)

Diplomat of Chinese Herbalism: bestowed by the National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncturists. They are now known as the NCCAOM which is the acronym for National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. In a world of GNC's where everybody can hawk their herbal wares without any knowledge of their product lines beyond what is necessary to sell the product, its nice to see that some people have gone the extra mile to actually study Chinese herbalism and even pay a few hundred dollars to take this test and prove it. California acupuncturists must also have a knowledge of Chinese herbalism to pass their licensure examination even though there is no license required to dispense herbs in California.

Dipl. Ac. (NCCAOM)

Diplomat of Acupuncture: bestowed by the National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncturists. These are the folks who give tests that many states in the USA accept as for licensure in their state.

D.N.B.A.O.

Diplomat of the National Board of Acupuncture Orthopedics: Many Acupuncturists choose to take specialized training beyond their states requirements, the National Board of Acupuncture Orthopedics offers certification by examination after the completion of a 300 hour program. They are trained in the evaluation and management of orthopedics with an emphasis on the particular requirements of workers' compensation and managed care.

D.O.M.

Doctor of Oriental Medicine: Same as O.M.D. but the words are in a different order. Licensed practitioners in New Mexico and Florida with a masters degree also get the title of D.O.M. or O.M.D. Some practitioners from outside New Mexico like to go to there for a weekend to get licensed so that they can call themselves Doctors. I like to go just to enjoy the nature and architecture. I hear the food is good too.

D.A.O.M.

Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine: There is a new movement in the USA's TCM education whereby those with a Masters degree can return to school for a few more years to receive a doctorate. At the time of this writing, there are just a hand-full of schools in the country that have been given permission to provide this degree. Those who have earned this degree will use the "DAOM" designation.

Dr.TCM or DTCM

Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Unique to the TCM practitioners in Canada. A "Doctor of TCM", "Doctor of Chinese Medicine", "Doctor Oriental Medicine" has a minimum of seven years of university level education in multiple modalities that may include acupuncture, Chinese herbology, tunia, dietary therapy, etc., all of which are based on TCM diagnostic procedures.

Herbalist

Herbalist: Unique to practitioners in Canada. An "Herbalist" has six years of university-level education with a specialization in the prescription of Chinese herbal remedies based on TCM diagnostic procedures.

L.Ac.

Licensed Acupuncturist: A license to practice acupuncture.These initials are the only legal requirement at this time in the state of California. "L.Ac." is probably the most common license term for acupuncturists in the USA right now. Half of them are in California, and the other half are everywhere else.

L.L.C.

Limited Liability Company: It is a type of organization that allows an individual to form a "corporation" instead of being a sole proprietor. This protects the practitioner from a lawsuit that can take away personal belongings. It limits the liability to that which the business owns rather than the practitioner.

L.M.T.

Licensed Massage Technician: Not a required license for acupuncturist to perform acupuncture, but indicative of the fact that the practitioner takes massage seriously enough to jump through some educational and legal hoops to differentiate themselves from the adult entertainment of massage as it sometimes manifests.

M.Ac.

Masters (Degree) in Acupuncture: Another academic distinction, much like the Masters of Traditional Oriental Medicine (MTOM) but limited to just the acupuncture element, probably does not include herbal training. This may or may not be required for licensure in the state in which you seek a practitioner.

M.D.

Medical Doctor: This is the license that allows one to practice Western medicine. It has no bearing on the quality of acupuncture that you receive. Many M.D.'s perform a hybrid form of acupuncture that they call "medical acupuncture" which is to say that they use acupuncture from within the Western neurological/molecular paradigm rather than the Oriental medicine paradigm. All in all, its a good thing that MD's use acupuncture, but if your MD can't help you, please don't give up on traditional Chinese or Oriental medicine, its a whole different animal from what your MD may be doing with those acupuncture needles.

M.A.O.M.

Masters of Arts in Oriental Medicine: This is an academic degree, not a license to practice. Oriental medicine and Chinese medicine are two terms for the same thing. Some people prefer Oriental, especially when they include the unique specialties that come from Korea or Japan, even though the foundational paradigm is still Chinese in origin from a strictly historic perspective. The state of California recently made some changes to their acupuncture act to replace the word "Oriental" with "Asian".

M.S.O.M.

Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine: This is an academic degree, not a license to practice. Oriental medicine and Chinese medicine are two terms for the same thing. Some people prefer Oriental, especially when they include the unique specialties that come from Korea or Japan, even though the foundational paradigm is still Chinese in origin from a strictly historic perspective. The state of California recently made some changes to their acupuncture act to replace the word "Oriental" with "Asian".

M.T.C.M.

Masters of Traditional Chinese Medicine: This is an academic degree, not a license to practice. Oriental medicine and Chinese medicine are two terms for the same thing. Some people prefer Oriental, especially when they include the unique specialties that come from Korea or Japan, even though the foundational paradigm is still Chinese in origin from a strictly historic perspective. The state of California recently made some changes to their acupuncture act to replace the word "Oriental" with "Asian".

M.T.O.M.

Masters of Traditional Oriental Medicine: This is an academic degree, not a license to practice. Oriental medicine and Chinese medicine are two terms for the same thing. Some people prefer Oriental, especially when they include the unique specialties that come from Korea or Japan, even though the foundational paradigm is still Chinese in origin from a strictly historic perspective. The state of California recently made some changes to their acupuncture act to replace the word "Oriental" with "Asian".

O.M.D.

Oriental Medicine Doctor: An academic distinction. When Acupuncture was first legalized in California, all graduates from two year programs earned the title of OMD. Later, when the courses expanded to four years the degree became a masters degree in traditional Oriental medicine. The graduates from those early days are allowed to hold on to this title. Some doctors coming in from China call themselves O.M.D.'s, though I'm not sure why. Acupuncturists in New York are prevented (even prosecuted) for using either the OMD designation or saying that they were an MD in China, using the "MD (China)" designation. If they were trained in California during the OMD years, they can use this designation, otherwise not.

It should be noted actually that there are three academic designations in China. They are the Bachelor's Degree, Masters Degree and Doctorate. Although everybody comes to the West calling themselves "doctor" or even "O.M.D." the vast number of these practitioners are actually those with the M.B/B.S. (Medical Baccalaureate/Bachelor of Science) or bachelor's degree in TCM in China. If I may make some bold generalities the Chinese version compared to the American degree designations looks something like this: A Chinese Bachelor's is equivalent to the American Masters degree. The American doctorate is more equivalent to the Chinese Masters degree.

R.Ac.

Registered Acupuncturist: Title is recognized in British Columbia, Canada.

R.TCM.H

Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbalist: Title is recognized in British Columbia, Canada.

R.TCM.P

Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner: Title is recognized in British Columbia, Canada.

Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy: An academic designation, not license to practice. Probably the doctorate is not in Oriental Medicine but perhaps something related such as Oriental Philosophy.

Q.M.E.

Qualified Medical Examiner: This is a designation that requires one take a test to prove to the powers that be that one knows how to determine the extent of injuries to the muscles and bones. This diagnostic ability is utilized specifically for certain insurance programs and Workman's Compensation programs.

R.A. or R.Ac.

Registered Acupuncturist: The title of choice in Pennsylvania. Also a term given to an acupuncturist who has told everybody where to purchase wedding gifts. :)

TCMD

Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor: This is the Canadian Designation. I'm unsure as to just how official this term really is. Feel free to contact us if you know for sure. Also, see: OMD, DOM.

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