Abstract
T
Much of my time is spent hunting down articles. Although you have heard this before, I must say again that I need your help, as we never have enough articles. You, the readership, are doing great things with acupuncture. How about an article? Do not be afraid if this is your first attempt. We will bend over backwards to assist you, because we still have to maintain quality. For example, at the Symposium, an author lamented to the membership that he was told that his references were too old and his graphs had to be modified. References that are dated, unless they are considered classical information, are too old. Such dated references, also, do not contain the state-of-the art information. Sometimes graphs have to be modified according to our expert reviewers, whose recommendations are highly valued.
Other activities worthy of mention with medical acupuncture that are helping our Military Service Members, are taking place in a unique fashion at Nellis Air Force Base, spearheaded by Joseph Helms, MD, and Col. Paul Crawford, MD. “Think Acupuncture First” is the principle behind the training partnership between Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Acus Foundation. 1 For the last year, this foundation has been training Air Force physicians and physician extenders in medical acupuncture. At this time, 54 students have completed at least some of the 250-hour course. This training program is unique in that students are encouraged to use acupuncture early on in disease or pain treatment, rather than waiting until every Western modality has been tried. This approach has resulted in a tenfold increase in the number of patients receiving acupuncture and, more importantly, reducing the dollar value of referrals to pain management by >50%. Concurrently, provider satisfaction has increased. This new program director and is funded with philanthropic contributions to the Acus Foundation. Ultimately, the goal is to transition the cost of this training to funding by the Department of Defense.
Colonel (Dr.) Crawford initiated and leads the Air Force portion of this collaboration. Dr. Crawford is a family physician and residency program director and has performed acupuncture since 2012. He can be reached at
While we always emphasize acupuncture treatment for pain, very often, we do not address other medical conditions that are responsive to acupuncture and that are very important for patient awareness. To this end, I will be traveling to Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. There, at the American Eye Center and at the Ho Chi Minh City Medical School, I and my colleagues will be testing my acupuncture technique for low-vision diseases resulting from macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and diabetic retinopathies. The Ho Chi Minh City Medical School is assisting with the evaluation of healthy volunteers undergoing the acupuncture technique to determine its safety, and to obtain approval of the school's institutional review board. Afterward, the American Eye Institute will treat patients to evaluate the benefit of my technique. This is very exciting and, if the outcome is favorable, I will share the news with you.
Speaking about news, the Journal will have a section devoted to the latest practical acupuncture news that will be informative to the readership. Thomas Burgoon, President of the AAMA, recommended this idea.
Wishing you a very happy Summer!