AAMA Newsletter
Serving the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture
January 2000

AAMA: A look at '99
and what lies ahead
By Bryan L. Frank, MD
AAMA PRESIDENT

     I am privileged to wish all members a happy and prosperous New Year 2000, on behalf of the AAMA Board of Directors! Your Academy and Board have indeed been busy since the 1999 AAMA gathering in Chicago, where we enjoyed the largest AAMA Symposium to date.
     As education is one of the key missions of the Academy, we were able to get back on track, offering two intensive Chinese Pulse Workshops with Robert Heffron, MD; two fall Acupuncture Review courses, and a Craig Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (PENS) Seminar with Bill Craig, MD, and Stephen Taylor, DO.
     Hiroshi Nakazawa, MD, assisted me in leading the AAMA Japan Delegation in November 1999 with great success. (See the article to the left on this page.) Still to come is a Korean Hand Acupuncture course with Roberto Jodorkovski, MD, and others. Year 2000 will also be rewarded with the 12th Annual Symposium, “Unveiling the Mysteries of Acupuncture: Energetics, Myofascia and Neurophysiology,” at the Hyatt Orlando Hotel in April. In addition, there will be the Pan-Pacific Acupuncture Forum at the new Paris Hotel in Las Vegas in October, where we will meet with our “Anglo-phonic” Pacific friends from Canada, Australia and New Zealand for professional presentations from each of the four nations.
     You should be receiving your membership survey soon. Please be sure to take a little time to fill it out and return it. This survey informs your Board of your interests and preferences and is used in making many decisions throughout the year.
     The AAMA journal, Medical Acupuncture, is developing in its new full-sized format. We hope that you will take the opportunity to send in original basic or clinical research and case reports to Editor Richard Niemtzow, MD, for consideration of publication.
     Under the direction of webmaster James Rotchford, MD, the AAMA website continues to be actively updated to meet your needs. Please visit the website at www.medicalacupuncture.org, and give us your feedback to know how to make this more useful to you.
     In each AAMA Newsletter, Marshall Sager, DO, announces more new state and regional Chapters. If you don’t have one in your region, consider forming a Chapter. This is often the best way to address legislative and practice issues that come up, as well as for regional educational opportunities.
     AAMA will soon complete and offer a packaged acupuncture talk, which may be adapted to the type of audience and length of time for talk. Thank you to Wendy Page-Echols, DO, and her talented son, Ian, who have made this available either in a CD-ROM Power Point format or as a slide presentation.
     You will also soon see Academy logo products for purchase, that will allow you to share your pride and association with your fellow medical acupuncturists.
     This is only a small sampling of the many projects that the AAMA Board is pursuing on your behalf. We wish you well in all your endeavors in 2000. Please participate with us so we can continue to see medical acupuncture, the best of both worlds, continue to flourish.

AAMA delegation
enjoys 1999 Japan Tour

     The 1999 AAMA Japan Tour enjoyed tremendous success with the recent trip, Nov. 10-20,1999.
     Twelve delegates visited acupuncture clinics, schools and research centers. While in Tokyo, the group discussed US and Japanese acupuncture management of low back pain with acupuncturists from the Tokyo Women’s Medical University. There, medical students are introduced to acupuncture through licensed acupuncturists.
     The group also toured Goto College of Medical Arts and Sciences, which trains acupuncturists, nurses and physical therapists. Discussions described the methods of training and licensure of acupuncture in Japan, where non-physicians are licensed nationally after three to four years of acupuncture school and physicians generally self-train or receive no training. There is little opportunity for continuing education for either group of practitioners.
     Toshikatsu Yamamoto, MD, received the group at his clinics in Nichinan and Miyazaki. Numerous patient treatments were observed while delegates asked questions regarding the YNSA scalp acupuncture approach. Dr. Yamamoto’s sessions on this subject at AAMA’s Symposia are always in high demand. The delegation also toured Meiji University of Oriental Medicine, which trains acupuncturists in a four-year program. Additional studies are available for three years, which will confer a Masters degree, and two more years for a PhD degree. Teaching facilities, clinics, the hospital and rehabilitation areas were all visited.
     Cultural sights included many temples, shrines and castles of Tokyo and Kyoto. Appearances of the Crown Prince and Princess and also the Emperor were special occasions for the group.
     Led by AAMA President Bryan L. Frank, MD, group members enjoyed language interpretation by Dr. Nakazawa.
     The group included Sunanda Apte-Kakade, MD, Julie Asch, MD, Pamela Avery, MD, Schue-Yuan Liao, MD, Mrs. Su-Chin Liao, Drs. Samuel and Fabiola Perez, John Poag, MD, Michael E. Tofteland, MD, and Scott J. Zuckerman, MD. Drs. Apte-Kakade and Tofteland were also delegates on the 1998 AAMA China Tour, led by Dr. Frank.

AAMA 1999 Japan Tour delegates, from left, include
Fabiola Perez, MD, Samuel Perez, MD, Mrs. Su-Chin Liao, John Poag, MD, Schue-Yuan Liao, MD,
Sunanda Apte-Kakade, MD, Pamela Avery, MD, Scott Zuckerman, MD, Michael Tofteland, MD,
Bryan Frank, MD, Julie Asch, MD, and Hiroshi Nakazawa, MD.

Case study contest awards
cash, prints winning entries

     To encourage AAMA members to write up their case studies, MARF is introducing a contest that publishes winning entries and awards cash prizes. Having just started on Jan. 1, 2000, the purpose of this contest is to increase the number of formal case studies for publication. All submitted cases will be considered for publication in Medical Acupuncture, AAMA’s journal.
     Each month, three cases will be selected and posted on AAMA’s website (www.medicalacupuncture.org). There will be a form available to cast your vote for the best of these three studies. The winner will receive $50 from MARF.
     Votes for the three best cases submitted in January will be tallied on Feb. 1. The AAMA Newsletter will list contributors and announce winners for each month. An e-mail broadcast to all members who have submitted their e-mail address will also announce monthly winners.
     Access to the Internet is required to vote.
     Directions for submitting case studies are found on the web site.
     One criteria for selection will be formal presentation of information. A guide to submitting cases studies, prepared by Patrick J. LaRiccia, MD, is available on the AAMA Website at: http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/members/cases/casesguide.html.
     You can also refer to Medical Acupuncture for examples.

Back to TOP