Practitioner Licensing

In many states, acupuncturists are considered independent of primary care providers and have extensive training. The state of Wisconsin requires certified acupuncturists to complete the equivalent of a master's degree program from a nationally accredited professional school and to have passed the national board exam. A typical curriculum is over 3000 hours of in-class and clinical training and would include:

Oriental Medical Theory	546 hours
Treatment Technique and Theory	378 hours
Western Biomedicine	721 hours
Personal Development	259 hours
Clinical Training	1032 hours
Herbal Medicine	413 hours

A short list of the many courses such a practitioner has completed:

Anatomy
Physical Exam
Nutrition
Pharmacology
Diagnosis and Evaluation
Clinical Research and Design
Orthopedic Evaluation
Neurological Evaluation
Biochemistry
Biology
Clinical Counseling
Clinical Science
Pathophysiology
Oriental Medicine
Herbology
Tai Qi and Qi Gong

Sometimes, other medical practitioners may legally be allowed to perform acupuncture and oriental medicine. But they are not held to the same standards of hours or training as formally certified acupuncturists. Patients are encouraged to ask their provider questions such as:

Where they received their training?
How long they have practiced?
What is their success rate?
how many hours of training did they receive?