Abstract
Background:
In Australia, The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) regulates medical acupuncture. Endorsement by the Medical Board of Australia requires the medical practitioner to complete an approved Course and pass the Part 1 Examination of the Australian Medical Acupuncture College (AMAC). The Australian Medical Council (AMC) has approved the Australian Medical Acupuncture College Part 1 Course against its standards.
Methods:
Fully qualified Medical Practitioners and Dentists, who are not currently engaged in other post graduate courses are taught using a blended learning format, including online modules, webinars, face-to-face workshops, and clinical mentorship. Teachers in the Course are experienced medical acupuncturists, mostly Fellows of the College, or Members of the College with experience in teaching and mentoring. Non-physician acupuncturists are trained at Chinese Medicine Board approved courses in various Institutes of Technology, Colleges of Natural Health, Torrens University, and the University of Western Sydney.
Discussion:
“New analysis from the Australian Medical Association has confirmed, after years of Government neglect, Australia is facing a shortage of more than 10,600 GPs by 2031, with the supply of GPs not keeping pace with growing community demand.” In Australia the demand for acupuncture is 1 in 10 adults, and an unmeasured number of children. The actual supply is 1 in 3,000 population, with qualified medical acupuncturists being 1 in 30,000. Solutions to these problems would require a change in Australian Government Policy which currently is to replace doctors with pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician associates, and presumably medical acupuncturists would be replaced by Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncturists.
Conclusions:
Medical and dental acupuncture in Australia is taught in a tightly regulated environment in an evidence-based fashion by committed medical practitioners with experience in the practice and teaching of the art and science of this multi-millennial long modality.
INTRODUCTION
In Australia, Medical acupuncture teaching is Western medical acupuncture-based, blended with traditional Chinese medicine concepts. Doctors and dentists enrolled in the Australian Medical Acupuncture College (AMAC) Part 1 course are taught the basics of meridian anatomy and points, neurophysiology, safety, and the application to different medical and dental problems via online webinars, assignments, face-to-face workshops, and mentoring. During the latter half of the course, the doctors deal with specialized medical areas such as gynecology and urogenital problems, while the dentists deal with their more specialized areas, such as temporo-mandibular joint dysfunction and sleep apnea. The curriculum is accessible via the website. 1
METHODS
Fully qualified medical practitioners and dentists, who are not currently engaged in other postgraduate courses, are taught using a blended learning format, including online modules, webinars, face-to-face workshops, and clinical mentorship. From February to October, formal lectures, webinars, self-directed learning, assignments, case studies, and mentorship sessions combine to cover the course curriculum. The course requires approximately 8–10 h time commitment per week on average, earning more than 300 h of continuing professional development (CPD).
All students must submit all assignments for marking, attend the three compulsory face-to-face workshops, attend 25 h of clinical mentoring with three separate mentors, and be observed to safely locate and needle a list of commonly used acupuncture points, and complete and pass a mid-year examination on point location, meridian anatomy, and safety. A standardized clinical examination is conducted at the end of September/early October, and a 3 h written examination is conducted at the end of October. Successful completion of all components allows the doctors to apply to AHPRA. 2 for endorsement for medical acupuncture. For several reasons beyond the scope of this article, the dentists are not endorsed. The Australian Dental Association. 3 has created dental acupuncture and laser therapy item numbers for dentists to allow them to treat patients within their scope of practice. The current cost of the Part 1 Course is A$10,600.00 (USD 7,208) in 2024.
Teachers in the course are experienced medical acupuncturists, mostly fellows of the college, or members of the college with experience in teaching and mentoring.
DISCUSSION
Medical students and dental students are not taught in the course. Previously, medical students were exposed to a 1-h lecture on medical acupuncture in their 2nd year of their postgraduate medical degree; however, this has fallen out of the already full medical school curriculum.
Some doctors will progress beyond the AMAC Part 1 course (prerequisite) to attempt the AMAC Part 2 course and examinations, which leads to fellowship of the Australian Medical Acupuncture College. Again, this is taught from a Western medical acupuncture, evidence-based standpoint, with traditional concepts incorporated. The emphasis is on diagnosing and managing complex patient presentations, especially chronic pain. The curriculum is again accessible via the website. 4
The course consists of full-day practice visits, weekly online lectures, interactive case discussions, and clinical mentoring sessions and includes a hospital visit. The examination process contains written, clinical, and oral sections. Successful candidates are granted a title of FAMAC (Fellowship of the Australian Medical Acupuncture College). The course costs A$7,500.00 (USD5,100.00) in 2024.
Feedback from students is systematically sought to continue to improve teaching and assessment. The students value the hands-on, face to face teaching of acupuncture needling very highly, as well as the opportunity to demonstrate their developing skills as they progress through their mentoring hours with their mentors’ patients and their own patients. Some written examination questions provoke negative feedback and are discussed and revised.
Australia is multicultural, and English is not the first language of many students and teachers. Cultural safety. 5 is now a mandatory part of the curriculum. We are also a large country with the south of the country closer to Antarctica than they are to the north of the country and, in daylight saving time, 5 time zones from East to West, which makes scheduling live webinars interesting!
Nonphysician acupuncturists are trained at Chinese Medicine Board-approved courses in various Institutes of Technology, Colleges of Natural Health, Torrens University, and the University of Western Sydney. 6 Ongoing CPD is 20 h per year.
A typical curriculum would involve some anatomy and physiology as well as Chinese medicine concepts, acupuncture point and meridian location, and practical sessions in associated clinics, over 3 years. 7 This contrasts with the medical and dental acupuncturists training, where they have already completed bachelor degrees in biomedical science, postgraduate degrees in medicine/dentistry, and specialty training before attempting to train in medical/dental acupuncture.
CHALLENGES
The major challenge is the predicted shortfall of medical practitioners in Australia and, therefore, a smaller pool to encourage to learn medical acupuncture.
“New analysis from the Australian Medical Association has confirmed, after years of government neglect, Australia is facing a shortage of more than 10,600 GPs by 2031, with the supply of GPs not keeping pace with growing community demand.” 8
If community demand for acupuncture in a Western medical system is similar to California, Texas, or even Arizona a derived figure of 1 acupuncturist per 1100 population results. 9
In Australia the demand for acupuncture is 1 in 10 adults and an unmeasured number of children. The actual supply is 1 in 3,000 population, with qualified medical acupuncturists being 1 in 30,000. 10
A related challenge is the inadequate patient rebates from the Australian Medicare system, which penalizes patients who seek medical acupuncture treatment. 11
Solutions to these problems would require a change in Australian government policy which currently is to replace doctors with pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician associates, and presumably medical acupuncturists would be replaced by traditional Chinese medicine acupuncturists. 12
CONCLUSION
Medical and dental acupuncture in Australia is taught in a tightly regulated environment in an evidence-based fashion by committed medical practitioners with experience in the practice and teaching of the art and science of this multi-millennial long modality.
The continued teaching of medical and dental acupuncture faces considerable challenges. May we live in interesting times, indeed!
Footnotes
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author acknowledge the Kabi Kabi and Jinibara peoples, traditional owners of the land on which we live, work, and learn.
AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTIONS
B.M. original submission, re-revision and re-submissions.
AUTHOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No competing financial interests exist.
FUNDING INFORMATION
No funding was received for this article.
References
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