AAMA Newsletter
Serving the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture
December 2000

Member News

The Medical Acupuncture for Physicians program sponsored by the Office of CME of the UCLA School of Medicine just started its fall 2000/spring 2001 program with the introductory session Nov. 16-21. Colleagues of course graduates who were unable to apply for this program are encouraged to reserve May 31-June 4, 2001 to enroll in the spring/fall 2001 program. Keep in mind the “20,000 by 2010 campaign.”

Drs. Angelica Fargas-Babjak and Alejandro Elorriaga Claraco will instruct Acupuncture for Sports Injuries: An Integrated Approach Jan. 26-28, 2001 and again June 22-24, 2001 at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The course is accredited by AMA PRA Category 1 for 24 hours in Category 1 credit towards the Physicians Recognition Award and by College of Family Physicians of Canada for 24 MAINPRO-M1 credits. Call 905/521-2100, X75175.

The article, “Acupuncture for the Athlete,” by F. Kennedy Gordon, MD, was published in Sports Medicine Update journal (volume 15, number 1). Professional, Olympic and amateur athletes are discovering the power of acupuncture. Dr. Gordon (KLGordons@pol.net) specializes in sports medicine and practices in Union, NJ, and White Plains, NY.

AAMA members are sought to serve on MARF’s Board of Directors. Visit: www.medicalacupuncture.org if you are not familiar with MARF activities. Sit-down meetings are generally held twice a year, with telephone conferences occurring twice a year. To promote acupuncture research, contact AAMA headquarters for a Board membership application form.

AAMA has revised its Book Store offerings (adding discounted books by Mark D. Seem, PhD; Joseph Y. Wong, MD; and Toshikatsu Yamamoto, MD, PhD, and Helene Yamamoto, SRN. See changes on AAMA’s website.

In September, more than 50 doctors requested information on joining AAMA when staff manned a booth at American Academy of Family Physicians annual Scientific Assembly in Dallas. Staff also represented AAMA in the exhibit hall of several other annual conferences this fall.

Yuan-Chi Lin, MD, MPH, has been named director of the newly established Medical Acupuncture Service at Children’s Hospital, Boston, Harvard Medical School. He was director of pediatric pain management service at Stanford. Dr. Lin started the medical acupuncture service at Stanford Complementary Medicine Clinic and established a pediatric medical acupuncture program at Stanford. Having created the first medical acupuncture course at Stanford Medical School, Dr. Lin is now being recruited to Harvard. He has done research in acupuncture and has won poster and research awards at AAMA Symposiums.

Members participating in AAMA’s referral program will be happy to hear that 629 inquiries came into national headquarters in August, 488 in September and 418 in October from patients seeking medical acupuncturists. The toll-free number that patients are calling for referrals is 800/521-2262.

AAMA President Bryan L. Frank, MD, has a new e-mail address: bfrankmd@aol.com.

Practice members (associate and full) who are not participating in the patient referral program but would like to, need to notify AAMA by mail (4929 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 428, Los Angeles, CA 90010) or by e-mail (spc6@pacbell.net). If you are not sure whether or not you are already signed up for this program, check the patient referral listing on the public area of: medicalacupuncture.org.

May Loo, MD, gave an excellent presentation on Pediatric Acupuncture at the Fall Meeting of the Acupuncture Society of Michigan (headquarters has moved and is now at 248/669-0068).

Alison Lee, MD, gave lectures at several University of Michigan educational functions. For a group of spinal cord injury patients and specialists caring for this group, she spoke about using acupuncture. At a program for nurses working in pain management, she spoke about alternative modalities for pain. At their CME program on Alternative Medicine and to the third-year medical school class, Dr. Lee spoke on Comparative Western and Chinese Physiology. This is actually a presentation on how even a basic understanding of 5 Phase theory can be applied in a variety of conventional medical settings. The medical student presentation was longer and allowed for more depth and group participation. The University of Michigan students are known for their skepticism, and despite a few raised eyebrows during the presentation, the overall response was enthusiastic. It was especially interesting to do an interactive session with students who are intelligent and well-studied, and just starting to develop skills with patients.

Rx Consultant provides continuing educational monthly newsletters for pharmacists. It is currently preparing one on Chinese herbal medicine and pharmacologic considerations. For this, Dr. Lee provided editing advice on content and presentation.

Central London was introduced to the first clinic to be opened and run by British Medical Acupuncture Society this fall. Dr. Mike Cummings, BMAS director of education, is running the clinic at Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. The clinic, which will also be used to train physicians in acupuncture, is initially only able to offer treatment privately. However, BMAS hopes to integrate into the local NHS services in the future. For more details, visit: medical-acupuncture.co.uk.

Joseph Sciammarella, MD, is in the process of organizing a New York State Chapter of AAMA. Interested members are encouraged to contact him (516/594-1057). After a well-received lecture on Medical Acupuncture: Overview and Implications for Psychiatry to the Department of Psychiatry at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre, NY, Dr. Sciammarella received requests for patient consults—even one from a psychiatrist for her headaches.

Russ Erickson, MD, MARF Board member since 1992 and Medical Acupuncture literature reviewer since ‘93, will retire in spring 2001. He hopes the reviews (now posted at: medicalacupuncture.org) and bibliography have been helpful. Dr. Erickson is pleased to have been a part of AAMA and acupuncture growth and acceptance.

The 2001 International Council of Medical Acupuncture and Related Techniques Symposium will be held in Berlin, Germany June 14-17. ICMART unifies about 50 medical acupuncture societies in eastern and western Europe, as well as Canada, Japan and Brazil. The AAMA Board recently approved application for membership and will be officially recognized at the Berlin Symposium. The theme for the Symposium is “Acupuncture in Modern Health Care.” Co-hosts are the German Medical Acupuncture Association, celebrating its 50th anniversary, and the German Association for Acupuncture and Neural Therapy, celebrating its 30th anniversary. Registration information may be obtained on the Symposium website: www.hakp.de/icmart2001. Register by Feb. 28 for lowest rates (info@hakp.de).

Licensed physicians who have completed an organized primary acupuncture course of at least 200 hours and have 300 or more total hours of training are eligible to make application to the American Board of Medical Acupuncture to sit for the examination. Thus, physicians may sit for the exam soon after their training, or they may wait, depending on their preference. The other components of certification include two years of practice after the initial training program with at least 500 cases, and three professional physician references. The other components, the affidavit of experience and references may be submitted after they are completed.  Applicants should not attest to completion of two years of practice until they have actually completed the time after their training.

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has grant monies available for research in acupuncture. All interested parties are strongly encouraged to make grant applications and to be involved in this critical area of acupuncture. Information is available through the NCCAM website: www.nccam.nih.gov/.

Academy members of at least five years can pass on their knowledge by participating in the Curbside Consult Program. Newer members will contact participants with questions. To join, request a practitioner response form (323/937-5514).

If you have acupuncture privileges at a hospital and have not notified AAMA, fax your name, hospital, city and state to 323/937-0959 to be added to our list. You can see if you’re already listed at: medicalacupuncture.org. If you need a hospital privileges credentialing package, call 323/937-5514 (or download from website).

Jay Sandweiss, DO, gave a lecture on Integrative Medicine to the medical staff of the Veteran’s Administrative Hospital in Detroit in October. The event was well attended and may lead to a series of workshops for the attending staff. He is teaching Myofascial Release and lecturing on Integrative Medicine at the annual meeting of the American Back Society in Vancouver, BC, Canada in December. Also, Dr. Sandweiss is now on live Web-Radio (Renaissanceradio.com KFNX 1100 AM) at noon Tuesdays (Phoenix time). He is seeking members to be guests (acuomtdr@aol.com).

Physicians, please be aware that every three years after you’re approved as a practice member (associate or full), you need to attend 50 CME/CEU hours or more of acupuncture-related training to maintain your AAMA practice membership status.

Helio Medical Supplies, Inc., which supports AAMA through sponsorships and Medical Acupuncture ads, has moved to 606 Charcot Ave., San Jose, CA 95131.

Members are reminded that they cannot use the AAMA logo without prior written consent. They can, however, use the words, “member of AAMA,” on business cards and stationery.

Editor Richard Niemtzow, MD, seeks articles for Medical Acupuncture. See submission guidelines on any journal inside cover.

Send your news to: bdortberg@aol.com.

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