I am an Acupuncturist since 1999 and CEU provider since 2007. I am often asked questions about how to find the right Acupuncture CEU courses to fulfill state license and national certification renewal guidelines. I am myself a State Licensed Acupuncturist, NCCAOM Certified and responsible for my state and national renewals. I hope this blog post is helpful.
As of the year, 2022, Acupuncturists in almost all 50 states are required to have a state Acupuncture License and take continuing education courses every two years. Each state’s requirements are different. Some states require you to maintain both your National Certification with the NCCAOM (National Certification Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine) and your state Acupuncture License.
Does my national board approve Medical Qigong courses for my license renewal?
Yes, let me explain the basics. The NCCAOM requires 60 units every four years in continuing education. They have created several continuing education categories: 52 points in any of these five categories: AOM-OM, AOM-AC, AOM-CH, AOM-ABT, AOM-BIO, and 8 points in total for; Safety, Ethics, and CPR. Medical Qigong is under the AOM-OM category. Our Qigong Awareness, LLC continuing education courses are approved in this AOM-OM category and can meet up to 52 points of each four-year renewal period. If you take a CEU course that is not Medical Qigong but is listed as only Qigong or Tai Chi, you can only take a limited number of these units. This is not the case for our continuing education courses since our courses are listed under the AOM-OM category as Medical Qigong.
Are my state licensing requirements different than the National Board requirements?
Yes, State Licensing for Acupuncture in the USA is bit more confusing. Almost every state is different. Some don’t require CEUs. Most states do require, on average, 40 CEUs every two years. The states do not seem to be communicating with the national board to make this streamlined and logical for the Acupuncturists. For example: in North Carolina, we are required to complete at least 15 of the 40 required CEUs must be in the AOM-AC category. When I spoke with the NCCAOM, they were not aware of NC Acupuncture Board having this requirement. The NCCAOM’s intention was to accept all of these categories as core competencies: AOM-OM, AOM-AC, AOM-CH, AOM-ABT, and AOM-BIO. This AOM-AC category was at first challenging for me to find. However, there are courses both online and in-person that have this AOM-AC category. Often, you will need to contact the CEU provider to find out what category their course is approved for. If the CEU provider does not know, then ask them to look at one of the certificates they give out from the NCCAOM, and the category will usually be listed in the bottom left corner of the certificate.
Are CEU units, CE units, and PDA Points the same?
For an Acupuncturist seeking continuing education courses in the USA, yes, CEU units, CE units, and PDA Points are basically the same. The NCCAOM refers to these continuing education credits as PDA Points. The Florida Acupuncture Board and CEBroker refer to continuing education credits as CE units. Another example is The CA Acupuncture Board and NCALB (North Carolina Acupuncture Licensing Board) refer to continuing education credits as CEU units.
If you have trouble with any of this, please contact your state or national licensing boards, or feel free to email me at [email protected] or phone: 910-833-8036.
