Editors Note: Welcome to my new bimonthly column. I will be bringing you the latest acupuncture news and happenings from around the world to help you stay "on point" with the world of acupuncture.
Acupuncture FILM Making Headlines
The film "9000 Needles" has been creating buzz about acupuncture since it was introduced at many film festivals last year. It is now being shown all over the country and at many of the acupuncture schools such at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Southern California University of Health Sciences in Whittier, Calif. I have been working with the director Doug Dearth to figure out a way of how we can use the film to educate more people about acupuncture. Students at Emperor's College are doing the same by planning on getting the film in the hands of their local congressional representative. If you have a great idea of how we can use the film to raise more awareness about the benefits of acupuncture or you would like to sponsor a screening, email me at
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Students get new opportunities
Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica, Calif. has formed a new partnership with the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. Students who are earning their Master's degree at the college will now be able to complete clinical training at a state-of-the-art cancer center that combines the latest technology and most advanced treatments with a commitment to evidence-based, quality care for the whole patient - body, mind and spirit. Cancer patients at the Disney Family Cancer Center have access to a variety of complementary therapies such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, qi gong, meditation, and massage to support them through conventional treatments. Students will now be able to gain hands-on experience in one of the few centers across the country to offer this ground breaking integrative medicine program.
Upcoming Special Event
We are anticipating the AAAOM event "Whole Medicine: Teaming Up for Our Patients." This historic event, will be held in Baltimore, Md., May 13-15 and is co-sponsored by the AAAOM, The American Oriental Medicine Institute (AOMI) and the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Center for Integrative Medicine. This event brings together the diverse disciplines of AOM-CAM and allopathic medicine to formulate a foundation for integrative medicine and patient-centered care. We are expecting a delegation from Japan - Dr. Yasui, Dr. Ozaki, Dr. Kashima and Dr.Shiji Goto, the President of the Japanese Acupuncture Society. They will be speaking about introducing Kampo medicine to the U.S. Kampo medicine is widely practiced in Japan, and is fully integrated into the modern health care system. Kampo is based on traditional Chinese medicine but adapted to Japanese culture.
The Latest from AAAOM
- The call for papers went out in November, and AAAOM received 250 abstracts from all over the world to present either in workshops or via the postee presentation.
- AAAOM worked with the leading company for professionals in membership platforms allowing unprecedented networking and referral tools to be available to members.
- AAAOM is looking forward to a revamped conference in the future that will include both clinicians and researchers together. They are calling for members to support local state associations to strengthen the advocacy network.
Your Help is Needed
In February, I traveled to Manila for a WHO (World Health Organization) meeting. Some of the topics that were discussed were for the content model - acupuncture herbal therapy, manual therapies and exercise - to be included in ICTM and Chapter 23. At this time we are currently looking for reviewers to read the codes and language and make comments. If you are interested in being a content reviewer please submit personal identification that will be reviewed by WHO in a complete background check. The more reviewers we can identify, the better. Each person who would like to be a reviewer must submit the following to me at
or to Attn: Marilyn Allen at 1100 W. Town & Country Rd. Suite 1400, Orange, CA 92868 as soon as possible. Please include:
- A current CV
- A photo
- FULL contact details (address, phone, email, etc.)
- Indicated areas of specialty; i.e. Which area(s) are the reviewers comfortable commenting on.
The following are areas of content that need to be reviewed are: diseases, patterns, and diagnosis are:
- Internal Medicine (including Cardiovascular, Respiratory, digestive, genitourinary, and nervous systems)
- External Medicine (including infectious diseases)
- Ears, Nose, and Throat conditions
- Conditions of the Eye
- Mental / Behavioral Health
- Conditions of the Musculoskeletal System
- Pediatrics
- OBGyn
- Dermatology
- Injuries and other External Causes
- General Diseases
- Patterns and Deficiency and Excess
- Patterns related to the Zangfu Organ System
- Patterns related to Meridians
- Patterns related to Sanjiao
- Patterns related to Four Constitution Medicine
- Patterns related to Defense-Qi-Nutrient-Blood
- Other Patterns (including Fuku Sho, Six Stages of Disease Transformation, etc.)
Reviewers can be assigned to more than one area, if they have an acceptable level of expertise in each. The reviewers job will be to receive, read, review, and comment on content proposed by other authors. Reviewers can make suggestions for improvements, or say either that it is acceptable or unacceptable. We want as many reviewers as possible to review each proposal, to ensure that we have the best possible, and accurate input into the text. In terms of times necessary, it can be as little or as much as they would like. We have about 700 entities total, and we would like to have at least 3 reviewers take a look at each filled content model. To fill in the content model takes 15-30 minutes, on average, so to review it should be less, unless there are many errors in the original content.
Click here for more information about Marilyn Allen, Editor-at-Large.