It stands for
Licensed Acupuncturist and it means that I have been licensed by the Oregon Medical Board to practice acupuncture. If you are in Oregon, I
recommend that you not have acupuncture unless it is being done by
someone with L.Ac. after her/his name.
It is certainly legal
for other people (like M.D.s) to do acupuncture but those people may
have as few as 200 hours training in acupuncture (compared to the more
than 3,000 hours of training that I received).
In order to
receive an L.Ac. designation by the state you must have a degree from
an accredited acupuncture school and have passed a national qualifying
exam.
- What does “M.Ac.O.M.” mean?
It stands for
Masters in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. I received my MAcOM from
Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM), which I am proud to report
is one of the top two acupuncture schools in the US. For more
information about OCOM, click here.
- What does “Dipl.O.M.” mean?
Remember that
national qualifying exam I mentioned above? Well, it’s really like
four exams. If you pass the acupuncture and point location exam, you
are designated as a Diplomate in Acupuncture (Dipl.Ac.).
If
you pass an additional exam in Chinese herbology, you are designated as
a Diplomate in Chinese Herbology (Dipl.C.H.). If you also pass an exam
in Asian bodywork, you are designated as a Diplomate in Oriental
Medicine (Dipl. O.M.).
For more information about the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine which administers these exams or about the exams themselves, click here.
To find acupuncturists who have passed the exams in your local area,
click the previous link and then click on "Find a Practitioner" or click here.
- What does “ADS” mean?
It stands for
Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist. It is a designation given by
the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) which
indicates that a person has been trained in the five needle protocol
for treatment of addiction. For more information on NADA, click here.
- Let’s start with “L.Ac.”
- What does “M.Ac.O.M.” mean?
- What does “Dipl.O.M.” mean?
- What does “ADS” mean?