| --Type Summary Here-- |
| July 26, 2002 |
| Senator Liz Figueroa |
| Chair, Senate Business and Professions Committee |
| State Capitol, Room 2053 |
| Sacramento, CA 95814 |
| Re: AB 1943 (Chu) - Acupuncturist Education - Support as Amended August 5 |
| Dear Senator Figueroa and Committee Members: |
| Our profession supports Assembly Bill 1943, because it will require standardization of acupuncture and oriental medicine training programs. Because educational standards have not been upgraded for nearly twenty years, schools have added hundreds of extra hours of unreviewed coursework. The public expects every Licensed Acupuncturist to have a core and fundamental understanding of the health care services we provide, and students expect the schools to teach that subject matter. Many in our profession complain that certain schools have become "diploma mills," not teaching balanced programs of study that adequately prepare graduates to enter practice, and instead, only prepare them to pass licensing and certification exams. It is incumbent upon the Legislature to direct these schools to correct the deficiencies in their educational programs, as their experiment in self-regulation has failed. |
| Assembly Bill 1943 will: |
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Set education standard for licensed acupuncturists to 3,000 hours for students entering after January 1, 2005. The Acupuncture Board appointed twenty professional and school representatives to a Competencies Task Force, which met five times over nine months, and determined that 3,000 hours were a minimum requirement for preparation to enter the profession, and also determined the subject matter that should make up such a curriculum. |
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Request the independent Little Hoover Commission to review and report on the need to further raise educational requirements, up to 4,000 hours, and to determine whether current practitioners need any supplemental education. |
| Please support this important legislation to benefit students and patient alike. |
| Sincerely, |
| Dr. You, OMD, LAc |
| cc: Assembly Member Judy Chu |
| Council of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Associations |
| Fax to the Senate Business and Professions Committee FAX: 916-327-2433 |
| Fax to Assemblymember Judy Chu FAX: 916-319-2149 |