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The purpose of the Acupuncture Society of South Dakota (ASSD) is to increase public awareness of properly educated and adequately trained practitioners in their communities through the State.
The ASSD supports the mission, work and members of the South Dakota Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Association. All members of the SDAOMA are welcomed as members of the Acupuncture Society of South Dakota without any annual dues or application. The ASSD gladly refers prospective patients to SDAOMA member acupuncturists in their community for acupuncture care and informs them why it is very important to see one of those members versus an inadequately trained non-acupuncturist (such as a chiropractor). These chiropractors that are holding themselves out to the public as "acupuncturists" have a dangerously limited education in the field of acupuncture to administer acupuncture treatment effectively and safely.
The ASSD was established to support efforts regarding the regulation and licensing of acupuncturists in South Dakota that have passed the national acupuncture board examinations and graduated from an approved and accredited graduate college of acupuncture (see acaom.org and ccaom.org).
However, the ASSD does not support the requirement of active certification with the testing agency that issues the national board exam. This takes the issue of regulation out of the power of the State to regulate its own practitioners and hands it over to a national "umbrella" organization. The majority of States do not require active certification to obtain an acupuncture license. Many States that once required the certification have now dropped the requirement due to many reasons (these States include OR, TX, PA, NJ, MD, DC, HI, FL in the past few years and this trend will continue with more States to follow). The first States to license acupuncture (NY and CA) never required active membership or certification with this national testing agency.
As of September 2017 there were 14,037 REAL acupuncturists (those that graduated from accredited acupuncture colleges) practicing in the Unites States (according to acupuncturetoday.com) and 11,215 were practicing in States where active national board certification from the national acupuncture exam agency was not required.
80% of the practicing acupuncturists in the U.S. practice acupuncture without the requirement of active certification from this testing agency. Any membership relationship with this national testing organization beyond the exams is voluntary and not mandatory and has no impact on the requirements for maintaining an active acupuncture license.
With all of the expenses of professional and business licenses, insurance and continuing education, it should be voluntary on the part of the practitioner whether they decide to burden themselves with additional expenses. There are many professional organizations in the acupuncture field and each one plays an important role. However, there is no one organization that should be made mandatory to pay dues to on a regular basis in order to continue in professional practice. In many cases the issue can be one related to personal freedom, the right to work and a State's right to governor their own licensed health professionals independent of an outside national umbrella organization with many other agendas beyond simply testing an acupuncturist's clinical proficiency.
It is the belief of the ASSD that the issue of regulation regarding acupuncture should not be influenced by an outside agency. However, successfully passing their national board examinations is one of the minimum entry level requirements for the field of acupuncture. This testing agency certifies proficiency in the field of acupuncture with tests and continuing education credits. It should not be given the power of a regulatory agency. This is the role of each State's professional board.
It is the goal of the ASSD to require chiropractors and other non-acupuncturists to meet this very basic standard along with the appropriate approved hours education and supervised clinical training at a regionally accredited graduate college of acupuncture to practice acupuncture in South Dakota. Currently chiropractors are encroaching on the acupuncture profession in the State with dangerously inadequate training. This is a serious public safety concern and a dishonest and deceptive business practice holding themselves out to the public as properly trained acupuncturists.
The ASSD believes that it is important to create a clear separation of the acupuncture profession and the practice of acupuncture from the chiropractic profession. It is the goal of ASSD to educate the public that:
Acupuncture has nothing to do with chiropractic and chiropractors should not be practicing acupuncture unless they have met the minimum basic standards of education, clinical training and testing as any other professional acupuncturist (MSOM, MAcOM, DAOM, LAc).
Acupuncture Legislation in South Dakota:
In 2010 a House Bill was introduced to regulate acupuncture. Fortunately, it did not become law since it was a typical template bill (provided by the national acupuncture testing agency) that gave the national testing agency power over the State's professional licensing board to decide to whom they may issue acupuncture licenses. There was specific wording that makes a State's ability to license a practitioner based on this agency's approval (by active status with their certification). This completely takes control of acupuncture regulation out of the hands of the State. Additionally, there are many professional acupuncturist throughout the country that are concerned about this testing agency gaining too much power of the acupuncture profession. When a new House Bill is introduced again in South Dakota, it must be required to omit any of the wording that grants this national testing agency ultimate authority or requires allegiance to them beyond their role as a testing agency to evaluate competence in the acupuncture field.
The House Bill must look similar to the legislation that has been adopted in States like Wyoming, Washington, Wisconsin, New York, etc where State professional boards are the ones that determine the granting of acupuncture licenses in their State, independent of approval by national umbrella private and government agencies. It is simply about States being able to control healthcare related policies and licensing within their own States minus the agenda of blanket national control and financial interests of this testing agency.
In recent years more than a few State acupuncture licensing boards have dropped the requirement for active certification with this agency. These States, as other States that do not require active certification with this agency, simply use this national testing organization for the intended purpose for which it was initially established: evaluating an acupuncturist's skill, knowledge, safety and competence in acupuncture and Oriental medicine as well as approve courses for continuing education. They are not a regulatory or enforcement agency that has the power to overstep a State's role in deciding to grant acupuncture licenses to various individuals since this is the role of the State professional board. This position regarding this issue of the testing agency's role is shared among the vast majority of acupuncturists practicing throughout the United States as demonstrated by the dropping of the requirement for active certification (by the national testing agency) in many States that one held it as mandatory for obtaining a license. It would be of no benefit to South Dakota acupuncturist to create a practice act that does not reflect the position of the majority of practicing acupuncturists and would overstep the authority of the State's acupuncture board in deciding to whom they grant licenses.
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