Where to Find An Acupuncture School

For those who wish to become an acupuncture practitioner, there are various acupuncture school options throughout the United States and other parts of the world. It is not something you can learn on your own but is a very specialized field. Whether you are choosing just acupuncture or the entire field of Traditional Chinese Medicine, you will need to attend school to learn the practice. When you look, you will find that there are both acupuncture school options as well as those who run an entire curriculum of TCM.

One of the best ways to find an acupuncture school is through an online search. You can certainly look into your local area, but your resources are very limited. This is not the kind of curriculum that you will find at your local university or community college, but with an online search you will be able to find acupuncture schools that are close to where you live. At the same time you will be able to find the requirements, tuition, location, and much more. With all of the information right in front of you there will be no need to spend hours on the phone or traveling to find a school that meets your needs.

One thing you may want to consider is the possibility that you may need to travel out of town to find an acupuncture school. If you live in a small town, there is a good possibility you won’t find any acupuncture schools within commuting distance. The field is not as wide open as traditional medicine, and even medical schools are not located in every city. Choosing a quality acupuncture school is very important for your future as a practitioner, thus you must make sure you choose a good school and not one based upon location and tuition alone.

If you are unsure which an acupuncture school is the best, talk to some people who are already in practice and are willing to share their information with you. You may even be able to speak to your local university and obtain some information on acupuncture schools and which ones are likely to meet your needs. As one of the alternative medicines, acupuncture does not yet have the recognition it deserves. With that in mind, it is going to be more difficult to find acupuncture schools than a traditional university, especially in smaller towns. That doesn’t mean you have to give up your dream, but you do have to be willing to travel. For example, some acupuncture schools are located in one state and provide training in another one. You must be prepared for that and not expect to train in the same state where your college is located.

Understanding Acupuncture Points

Before you begin any acupuncture, you need to know the location of acupuncture points and understand the functions they serve. In short, acupuncture points or acupoints as they are also called are body locations that are the focus of acupuncture treatments. You will find several hundred acupuncture points within connected points across the body. These areas are called meridian and affect specific organs or other parts of the human body. In addition you will find many other areas that include points not connected to any specific meridian. The majority of current research into locations of acupuncture points is being conducted in China using methods based on theory that existed before any scientific methods were developed. These theories have been criticized because of their lack of scientifically based thought processes.

The theory behind choosing acupuncture points may be confusing to those who are new to the treatment because of the fact these acupoints may not be in the area where the symptoms are occurring. The theory within Traditional Chinese medicine is to choose points through stimulation of the meridian system in order to bring relief. This requires balancing yin, yang and qi, a theory that does not exist within traditional Western medicine. The location of acupuncture points is based upon anatomical landmarks that the practitioner can touch or feel. The World Health Organization recognizes almost 400 basic acupoints; however, many of these are rarely used while others are of more value in treating health conditions.

Whether scientifically proven in theory or not, acupuncture points are used in the administration of acupuncture and have been for thousands of years. Similarities in the thinking of scientists exist in much the same way they discount natural health remedies. Treatments our grandparents and great grandparents used for years with great success are not dismissed by medical science because it can not be scientifically proven. The fact that modern medicine is now beginning to see the use of chicken soup as having medical benefits shows how ineffective scientific theory can be. Such may be the case with TCM at some point in the future.

Those who choose to try acupuncture should first understand the theory behind using acupuncture points in order to have a clearer understanding of the procedure. Going to an acupuncture practitioner without having knowledge of the process and theory behind it would be like going to a surgeon and not knowing what is going to happen in the operating room. You need to understand why the practitioner has chosen the specific acupuncture points for your treatment and what you should expect after the treatment is complete. Conduct some research and ask some questions before you agree to any treatment invoked within the field of alternative medicine.