Guest guest Posted March 4, 2002 Report Share Posted March 4, 2002 Hi Ken and Will and those interested in this AB 1943, This is one of the letters. I could send the original text, however the way it was forwarded to me... it takes forever to format it into a readable file. I am not political, and for some reason have allowed myself to be pulled into this. All, I know is that there was no-way I would ever have been ready to practice with less hours. I do not think even think 3200 hours is enough for entry level. I am doing it, however I am also doing allot of CEU.... like 300 hours over the course of this year. In support of higher education, Teresa February 26,2002 Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine 7501 Greenway Center Drive, Suite 820 Greenbelt, MD 20770 301/ 313-0868 phone 301/313-0869 fax www.CCAOM.org To: The Honorable Reprehensive 49th Assembly District FAX (916) 319-2049 Phone (916) 319-2149 Dear Representative Chu: We are writing to you on behalf of the Council of Collages of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM), a national organization representing 45 colleges of acupuncture and Oriental medicine located throughout the USA. We have 24 CCAOM members colleges +2 bunch campuses that are California-approved. We would lie to meet with you in Sacramento on Tuesday. March 5th, 2002 at 1:00 p.m or 4:00p.m. Lixin Huang, President of the American College of Traditional in California, will call your Office this afternoon or tomorrow to set up an appointment. We are writing to request that you withdraw your proposed bill AB 1943. There are several significant problems with the proposed bill. Most importantly, passage of this measure would be very detrimental to the California-approved colleges, our student and ultimately the consumers of our medicine, our patients. The reasons for our request are as follows: 1. There is no demonstrated need to raise the hours. Our graduates are very competent, patient satisfaction is high and the field's safety record in California and nationally is superb. 2. The adverse financial impact on the students, colleges, and ultimately the patients would be very significant. From an initial analysis, the proposed increase in hour should cost students al all CA-approved colleges at least 12 million dollars, which will impact not only the ability of students to pay their educational loans, but may also make the education in this field beyond the reach of financially-disadvantaged students. 3. State Licensure laws are designed to set the basic entry-level standards into a field, not the advanced level. Entry-level for acupuncture and Oriental medicine in the U.S.A., as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, is the master's degree. A 4,000-hour acupuncture/Oriental medicine educational training program leading to a master's degree is extremely unreasonable and inappropriate. It may also adversely impact the ability of California colleges to attract students who intend to practice outside California as all other states use national standards as their main criteria for licensure. Currently, many students at California collages are from throughout the USA. We acknowledge that the hours could be raised and have suggested a 2,600 to 2,800-hour compromise with the practitioners who are attempting to raise the educational training hours. A 2,600-2,800-hour masters program, while being lengthy, might be acceptable. The parishioners who are recommending the raise in educational training would not themselves have to meet the new educational standards, nor have they agreed to do so. We believe that they should be. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that we are training practioners in acupuncture and Oriental medicine, not in western medicine. Students learn a sufficient amount of western training to do a limited biomedical assessment and know 1) how to communicate with the western medical providers and 2) when too refer patients to western heal care providers. For clarification, it is important that you understand that our practitioners do " acupuncture and Oriental medicine diagnosis and treatment. " 4. The Department of Consumer Affairs rejected the same proposed raise in hours last year due to the lack of demonstrated need and financial impact. 5. The Joint Legislative Sunset Review is in process now and this bill appears that it is attempting to over-ride that process. 6. As you probably know since your husband sits on the California Acupuncture Board, the California Acupuncture Board currently has an Educational Tusk Force discussing competencies, subject matters and training in length and this bill appears that it is attempting to circumvent the sunset review process as well. We are also concerned that cause your husband sits on the Acupuncture Board, that your bill may be viewed in a different light than a bill introduced by someone not related to a board member. 7. 41 states plus D.C. utilizes national Standards. Only California doe not. We strongly recommends that instead of AB 1943, that California adopt national standards as the primary basis for licensing acupuncture and Oriental medicine providers. The two main national criteria include graduation from an accredited/candidate collage, and passage of the national certification commission. The national accreditation commission has established the appropriate educational training requirements for our field. Lastly, the colleges do not support the proposed AB 1943 as it micro-manages our educational training programs and thus restricts our academic freedom. There are several other major problems with this bill. Therefore, we request to meet with you on March 5th 2002 to further discuss this situation. We will contact your office this week to confirm an appointment time. Yours Sincerely, Elizabeth A. Goldblatt, PhD, President, Portland, OR Jack Miller, M.Ed., L.A.c., Vice-President, San Diego, CA Lixin Huaug, M.A., Secretary, San Francisco, CA Shen Ping Liang Ph.D., L.Ac., Houston, Texas Stave Given, L.Ac., Seattle, WA Barbara Ellrioch, Columbus, MD Anthony Abbate, L.Ac., Santa Fe, New Mexico All the above persons work at California-approved Acupuncture and Oriental medicine educational institutions. CC: The Honorable Senator John Burton Senator Liz Figueroa, Chair of the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee Kristin Triepke, Senior Consultant, Senate Committee on Business and Professions Jay j DeFuria, Principles Consultant, Senate Comm. On Business and Professions Kathleen Hamilton, Executive Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs Marilyn Nielson, Expectative Director, California Acupuncture Board - " dragon90405 " <yulong Sunday, March 03, 2002 2:38 PM Re: CA bill... LONG > Teresa, > > I'd like to see it. > > Ken > > , " Teresa Hall " > <Teresa.bodywork4u@w...> wrote: > > BTW... if anyone is interested in NCCAOM's agenda, for the meeting > on March > > 3. Let me know, I will forward it to you ... I believe we can only > take a > > position when we have as many of the facts, as possible. One of > their > > points of interest is that we should only be learning OM... well, > hell does > > that mean we will be re-imbursed for all the Western Med classes we > sat > > through. For example, OrthoNeuroEvaluation... which we were taught > for 2 > > semesters, and it was never implemented in the clinic. Now that I > am in > > practice and many of the cases I see are Workmen's Comp... we'll, I > can say > > these classes are VERY important! > > > > It is becoming very apparent that everyone involved, in regards > toAB 1943, > > has their own agenda. Why is the NCCAOM so concerned about what > California > > does or does not do? I guess, I should write them to find out *S* > > > > > > Teresa > > > > > > > > > > - > > " 1 " <@i...> > > > > Sunday, March 03, 2002 12:46 PM > > Re: CA bill... LONG > > > > > > > , " Teresa Hall " > <Teresa.bodywork4u@w...> > > > wrote: > > > > Hi Todd and all, > > > > > > > > My understanding is that AB 1943 (Chu) is about raising the > > > standards of our > > > > profession. > > > > > > Thanks, Teresa. very informative. feel free to debate this > issue, > > > but I doubt we will reach a consensus. So everyone should make > their > > > positions known to the legislature so that the rank and file are > heard > > > on this matter. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Chinese Herbal Medicine, a voluntary organization of licensed > healthcare > > practitioners, matriculated students and postgraduate academics > specializing > > in Chinese Herbal Medicine, provides a variety of professional > services, > > including board approved online continuing education. > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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