As announced previously, the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) has embarked on a process to determine the level of support within the profession for the development of a first-professional doctorate degree. In the spirit of supporting an ongoing deliberative process, ACAOM recently convened a Doctoral Task Force comprised of representatives of all the profession’s key stakeholders including educators, practitioners, and regulators. The Task Force had its first meeting in Las Vegas, NV in March 2004.
The following vision statement and guiding principles were formally adopted by the Doctoral Task Force and have been subsequently endorsed by the Commission. The statement and principles will help to shape the course of future discussions as the Task Force works to analyze the implications for the AOM profession of a potential transition from Master’s to doctoral education as the first professional degree for the profession. As an integral part of the Task Force’s recommendations relative to implementing the vision statement, the Task Force is recommending that ACAOM seek a change of scope in its recognition by the US Department of Education from accrediting Master’s Degree and Master’s level diploma programs in AOM to accrediting the AOM curriculum and allowing programs to seek state authorization to grant either Master’s or Doctoral degrees based on that program of study. This request is currently under review by the Commission.
Terry Courtney, MPH, L.Ac.
Chair, ACAOM
Task Force Statement
We are considering the likelihood that our profession will migrate through a transitional process towards implementing a First Professional Doctoral degree. To understand this progression it is important to understand the distinction between First Professional Doctorates and other Doctoral degrees. These distinctions include:
- A Professional Doctorate is different from an Academic Doctorate.
- First Professional Doctorates are:
- Entry level by definition.
- Not laddered degrees. They are not advanced degrees dependent upon prior degree acquisition. Rather they are the first and only degree required for practice of a profession.
- Not intended to represent significant contributions to the science and body of knowledge (as is, for example, an academic Ph.D.) but rather intended to represent acquisition of the necessary skills for the practice of a profession.
- We undertake to help facilitate this process should it occur according to the following six principles.
- Above all else, we will endeavor to do no harm.
- We will endeavor to bring all communities of interest and voices in the AOM community into this process and through it together without eliminating or excluding anyone.
- We will respect all voices in the field and all traditions in the field.
- We will provide clear communication about our discussions and the processes we propose to the entire community throughout our discussions.
- We recognize that our current curriculum leading to the professional degree in AOM and the competencies that they represent support a valid First Professional Degree at both the current masters and the proposed doctoral degree level.
- We recognize that content of curricula will continue to evolve, as it always has, based upon the need to support new professional roles which emerge for practitioners of AOM.
Task Force Participants: American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM), the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Alliance (AOMA), Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM), the Federation of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Regulatory Agencies (FAOMRA), the National Federation of Chinese TCM Associations (NFCTCMA), the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS) and the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM).
DRAFT STANDARDS FOR FIRST-PROFESSIONAL
DOCTORAL PROGRAMS IN AOM
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