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(ACAOM) Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
Core Curriculum Competency Standards:
The Essential Requirements 8
Training for Acupuncture and Oriental MedicinePprofessionals.
11. Oriental Herbal Studies
This component shall be included in any continuing education program in herbal therapy or any herbal component of any other type of program that provides students with sufficient knowledge to enable them to use Oriental herbs in the practice of Oriental medicine.
Introduction to Oriental Herbal Medicine
Development of herbal medical systems throughout the Orient
History of the development of Oriental herbal medicine in the USA
Legal and ethical considerations of herbal medicine
Basic Herbal Medicine Theory
Plant-part terminology and significance to usage
Herbal properties, e.g., concepts of herbal categories, taste, temperature, entering meridians
Methods of preparation, i.e., dried, honey-baked.
Methods of delivery, e.g., decoction, topical, timing (before meals)
Laws of combining, including common contraindications, prohibitions, precautions
Methods of treatment, i.e., induce sweat, clearing, harmonize
Oriental Diagnostic And Treatment Paradigms As They Pertain To Herbal Medicine, e.g.:
Shan Han/6 stages
Wen Bing/4 levels
Zang Fu
Chinese Internal and External Medicine
Herbal Treatment Strategies
Methods and systems for planning, carrying out and evaluating a treatment
Differentiation and modifications of herb formula for various patterns of disharmony according to Chinese medical principles
Chinese herbal medicine protocols applied to patients with a biomedical diagnosis
Materia Medica Instruction in a minimum of 300 different herbs
Categories: functions and meaning
Visual identification including differing methods of cutting
Temperature, taste, and entering meridians
Taxonomy and nomenclature
Introduction to Chinese names of herbs
Functions and actions; classical and new developments
Specific contraindications for each herb
Applications of herbal dosages
Current developments in individual herb research
Endangered species and substitutions for them
Herbal Formulas -- Instruction in a minimum of 150 formulas
Traditional formula categories, functions and meanings
Meanings of the traditional Chinese formula names
Functions and actions; classical and new developments
Specific contraindications for each formula
Current developments in formula research
Composition and proportion of individual herbs in each formula
Major modifications of formulations
Patient education regarding administration, potential side effects, preparation and storage of formulas
Prepared herbal formulations: modifications and format of delivery
Food Therapy/Nutrition
Categorization of foods with regard to temperature, taste, and function
Dietary advice for various conditions
Preparation of common food/herbal recipes
Clinical Internship and Herbal Dispensary
Clinical internship in which students interview, diagnose and write appropriate herbal formulae moving from complete supervision to independent formula development
Standards of cleanliness in a herbal dispensary
Storage of herbs (both raw and prepared formulas), covering issues of spoilage and bugs
Practice in the filling of herbal formulas in an herbal dispensary setting
Western Science for Herbal Medicine
Botany, non-botanical and horticulture (e.g., changes in the characteristics of herbs due to environmental factors) as they pertain to herbal medicine
General principles of pharmacognosy:
(a) Biochemical components of herbs and natural substances
(b) Considerations of pharmaceutical interactions with reference to current texts
12. Other Oriental Medicine Modalities
Oriental manual therapy, including bodywork and physiotherapies
Exercise/breathing therapy
Diet counseling
Criterion 8.1 (a) Program length [These credit requirements are over and above the 60 semester credits required for admission to the professional master's degree level program.] [Note that the hours in brackets are equivalent to credits.]
The minimum length of the professional acupuncture curriculum must be at least three academic years (a minimum of 93 semester credits or 1725 hours). This must be composed of at least:
47 semester credits (705 hours) in Oriental medical theory, diagnosis and treatment techniques in acupuncture and related studies,
22 semester credits (660 hours) in clinical training, and
24 semester credits (360 hours) in biomedical clinical sciences.
The minimum length of the professional Oriental medicine curriculum must be at least four academic years (a minimum of 123 semester credits or 2175 hours). This must be composed of at least:
47 semester credits (705 hours) in Oriental medical theory, diagnosis and treatment techniques in acupuncture and related studies,
30 semester credits (450 hours) in Oriental herbal studies,
22 semester credits (660 hours) in clinical training, and
24 semester credits (360 hours) in biomedical clinical sciences.
(b) Minimum/maximum time frame
The professional acupuncture program must require a minimum of 90 instructional weeks to be completed in not less than 27 calendar months. The professional Oriental medicine program must require a minimum of 120 instructional weeks to be completed in not less than 36 calendar months. The program must set a maximum time frame to complete the program which should be no more than 6 calendar years for the acupuncture program and no more than 8 years for the Oriental medicine program.
(c) Clock to credit hour conversion
One semester credit hour is granted for each 15 hours of classroom contact plus appropriate outside preparation or the equivalent; or one semester credit hour for each 30 hours of supervised laboratory or clinical instruction plus appropriate outside preparation; or one semester credit hour for each 45 hours of clinical externship or independent study. One quarter credit hour is granted for each 10 hours of classroom contact plus appropriate outside preparation or the equivalent; or one quarter credit hour for each 20 hours of supervised laboratory or clinical instruction plus appropriate outside preparation; or one quarter credit hour for 30 hours of clinical externship or independent study.
Guideline: An academic year is defined as at least 30 instructional weeks. A semester credit is defined as 15 hours (see Glossary for definition of "semester" and "credits.")
Guideline: If translation is provided for a class taught by an instructor who is not fluent in the language of the students, the program should take into account an adjustment to the class-to-credit-hour-ratio to allow for the extra time needed for translation.
Guideline: The program should set a maximum time by which a student must complete the program.
Guideline: The program should regularly assess the impact of its academic load on students. While the maximum load that can be taken in one semester is left up to the program, it should have a policy in place so that the public is aware of how an academic load is authorized.
Guideline: Program length in terms of clock or credit hours and the number of courses per semester should be sufficient to enable the student to achieve the program's educational objectives and should be in accordance with acceptable educational practices.
Guideline: The program is expected to articulate its curriculum for each academic year, identifying semesters, courses and precise clock or credit hours. A credit hour is 50 minutes of instruction per week for a specified term or semester.
Criterion 8.2 Completion designation To each person successfully completing the professional program, the program must award a certificate, diploma, or degree following both the general practices of higher education and the requirements of individual state jurisdictions.
Guideline: The preferred designation for a degree in the field of acupuncture is the Master of Acupuncture.
Guideline: The preferred designation for a degree in the field of Oriental medicine is the Master of Oriental Medicine.
Criterion 8.3 Consistent with purpose The program in acupuncture or Oriental medicine must offer a program of study that is consistent with and clearly related to its statement of purpose.
Criterion 8.4 Appropriate level of instruction The program must be appropriate to an institution of higher education offering a professional master’s degree level program in acupuncture or Oriental medicine.
Guideline: The curriculum should contribute to the personal growth of students by helping them to understand fundamental theory, develop responsible, independent judgment, and to weigh values.
Guideline: The program should be sufficiently rigorous in breadth and depth and appropriate to the education and training of independent practitioners in the field of acupuncture and Oriental medicine.
Criterion 8.5 Instruction The instruction of students must be the central focus of the resources and services of the institution.
Guideline: The program should stimulate and assist the faculty to achieve a high quality of instruction.
Guideline: Clearly identified standards of scholarship should be applied consistently and rigorously in each course of the program.
Criterion 8.6 Syllabi A syllabus must be prepared for each course or major unit of instruction and must be distributed to each student in the course. A syllabus must contain at least the following: the purpose of the course; the objectives of the course in specific terms; the prerequisites of the course; an outline of the content of the course and laboratory instruction in enough detail to permit the student to see its full scope; the method(s) of instruction; the requirements of the course with important dates (e.g., papers, projects, examinations); the type of grading system used; and the required and recommended reading.
Guideline: Syllabi should be reproduced and made available to faculty members so that they may learn what the various courses in the curriculum include and can relate their instruction to other courses.
Guideline: Copies of syllabi should be kept in the library and the curriculum files.
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