Discussion about the training or education for “dry needling practice”

Abstract

Dry needling is one style of acupuncture, therefore, practitioners of dry needling should abide by laws of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and acupuncture boards in the U.S. Along with following the laws of practice should be included basic acupuncture education requirements. The education or training requirements regarding regulations for practicing acupuncture among different professionals in the U.S. were investigated for this article. The facts are, in the U.S., licensed acupuncturists are required to attain a minimal of 1 905 educational or training hours via an accredited (such as the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, ACAOM) school or program before they apply for a license. The physician or medical acupuncturists are required to get a minimum of 300 educational hours in a board (American Board of Medical Acupuncture, ABMA) approved acupuncture training institution and have 500 cases of clinical acupuncture treatments to get certified in medical acupuncture. Some physical therapists (PTs) receive only 20–30 hours of acupuncture training in the form of dry needling in weekend continuing education classes and want to be able to practice acupuncture. For the sake of public safety, they should get a formal education in an accredited acupuncture school or program.