Program Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Health professionals finishing the program will be able to successfully integrate contemporary medical acupuncture into their practice. Following widely recognized international standards of practice; they will be able to design safe and effective acupuncture treatments for musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction, as well as for common problems of autonomic, hormonal, and central nervous system regulation such as fatigue, anxiety, irritability, poor digestion, menstrual discomfort, migraines, etc.

At the end of the program participants will be able to:

• Design Contemporary Medical Acupuncture (Neurofunctional Acupuncture, Electroacupuncture) treatments for conditions responsive to peripheral nerve stimulation with acupuncture needles and electricity;
• Understand the “specific neurofunctional goals” integration of Contemporary Medical Acupuncture (Neurofunctional Acupuncture, Electroacupuncture) into the management of complex clinical conditions;
• Inform patients and other practitioners about the possible adverse effects of acupuncture interventions, based on current information published in the peer reviewed literature;
• Understand the topographic and gross anatomy of the most common insertion sites used in Contemporary Medical Acupuncture (Neurofunctional Acupuncture, Electroacupuncture) practice;
• Identify, using standardized palpation manoeuvres to access a broad selection of anatomical structures relevant to the practice of Contemporary Medical Acupuncture (Neurofunctional Acupuncture, Electroacupuncture), namely muscle bellies, motor points, muscle-tendon junctions, tenoperiosteal attachments, ligaments, joints, peripheral nerve trunks and peripheral neurovascular bundles;
• Perform safe and precise needling of the anatomical structures (mentioned above), following standardized safety procedures including the clean needling technique, the safe insertion protocols (with standardized safety palpation manoeuvres and clear limits of depth), the safe needle removal and disposal, and the blood management protocols;
• Select safe and effective parameters for the electrical stimulation of acupuncture needles inserted into the structures (mentioned above), based on information published in the peer reviewed literature;
• Understand the basic neurophysiology of nociception and acute pain;
• Understand the basis of the physiological mechanisms available for the neuromodulation of nociception;
• Understand the basic neurophysiology of neuropathic and central pain;
• Understand the basic mechanisms of visceral, central and systemic regulation, including the mutual influence between the viscera and the somatic tissues, as well as between central and peripheral processes;
• Understand the biopsychosocial model of the experience of chronic pain;
• Understand the currently known physiological mechanisms involved in the response to acupuncture needling from animal and human studies, based on information published in the peer reviewed literature;
• Understand the currently known epidemiological data regarding the effectiveness of acupuncture for certain conditions, based on information published in the peer reviewed literature; and,
• Understand the basic history and paradigms behind the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) model currently used by American and Canadian acupuncturists and some other health professionals worldwide.