CAN Does Not Support The Proposed First Professional Doctorate Degree

The following is a copy of the letter sent by the CAN Board to ACAOM (Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) stating official opposition to the FPD.
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To the Commissioners of the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine,
I write to you as a representative of the Community Acupuncture Network (CAN) Board of Directors. CAN represents over 1,000 OM practitioner members who are actively engaged in utilizing acupuncture and Oriental medicine to make a positive impact on communities that have been, more often than not, under-served by the profession. These communities include the vast working class along with racial and ethnically diverse peoples in the United States. We estimate that our member clinics have given approximately 200,000 acupuncture treatments in 2009 alone, a testament to a commitment to service and the effectiveness of the model of care. We also consider CAN to speak for this under-represented patient population in the gathering of feedback for a First Professional Doctorate.
CAN is strongly opposed to the development of standards for and subsequent piloting of a first professional doctorate in acupuncture and in Oriental medicine. We firmly believe that the first professional doctorate is not in the best interest of the public at large, including both potential patients and potential students. As such, it is a misuse of the profession’s time and resources to continue the development of the doctoral standards and resume a process that may well lead to a change in the entry level degree designation for the profession.
Thank you for the opportunity to express our opposition to the first professional doctorate.
Sincerely,
Andrew Wegman, L.Ac.
President – CAN Board of Directors

Author: andy-wegman