International News

• Statement of Support for BC Acupuncture Coverage
• Links to International AOM Articles

• CSA Event Report
• Wright States & Membership
• Ohio Legislative Update

National AOM Issues

• Kitaeff Interview
• John Weeks Interview
• Integrator Blog News & Reports

• The Power of Fire
• Space to Heal

AAAOM Activities

• Mark your Calendars Today! - Expo 2008
• Five Steps Toward Writing an Effective Rebuttal
• Standards of Care and Practice: AOM Update

• April Links

Continuing Education and Events

• Yale School of Medicine Hosts Integrative Medicine Scientific Symposium
• Tai Sophia
• 2010 Dietary Guidelines
• Look for our upcoming revue of the book, "The Tao of Fertility"

• Foundation For Your Future
• AAAOM-Student Organization Council Spring Board Meeting Wrap Up

• Dear Prospective Advertiser

Greetings AOM Members and Colleagues:

We have recently achieved new heights in our ability to offer you the best in AOM. Read our AAAOM Activities section to learn about the impressive line-up of speakers we have coming to the AAAOM conference in Chicago this October, including Dr. Josephine Briggs, Judy Worsley and Sherman Cohn. In this Qi-Unity Report, you will also find an interview with Rick Kitaeff, the first practitioner to work in a hospital in the Pacific Northwest. Rick also paved the way for westerners to study acupuncture in Japan, for acupuncturists to work legally in Washington state, and much more.

Meanwhile, Chris LaCava reports in from Connecticut on how to expose AOM to decision-makers at the state level. Our mighty AAAOM-SO demonstrates how to build a foundation for the future of the profession. Keep reading and you can discover everything from how to approach your clinic space holistically to how to write an effective rebuttal to a journalist.

Once again we extend our thanks to Golden Flower, Kan Herb, and Mayway for choosing to sponsor the Qi-Unity Report. If you are one of our business partners, wouldn’t you like to join them? Your continued support invigorates the AAAOM and serves to remind us that the AOM profession is, in many ways, the sum of our collective efforts as a community. Thank you, sponsors, for your support. We ask our practitioner members to continually patronize those businesses that have put themselves forward to support your profession.

We hope this edition of the Qi-Unity Report has you thriving, enjoying spring, and also pouring through the pages of The American Acupuncturist.

The AAAOM is interested in your feedback. We invite you to use our General Feedback page to let us know your opinions and insights.

International News

Statement of Support for BC Acupuncture Coverage
The AAAOM supports efforts to expand AOM care in general. Recently, the province of British Columbia took the lead in extending insurance coverage to low-income populations there. This represents a concrete first step toward expanded coverage of acupuncture in Canada. As such, AAAOM President Martin Herbkersman issued forth a letter of support recognizing this historic act of the BC Ministry of Health and George Abbott, Minister of the MOH. Also look to see an interview of George Abbott in the forthcoming Summer edition of The American Acupuncturist.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/bcmoh_statement.pdf

Links to International AOM Articles
Check out these links to recent international AOM articles.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/1b.html

State Legislative Activities

CSA Event Report
How do we put the holistic capacities of AOM on the radar of state representatives? The Connecticut Society of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine conducts its first “Acupuncture Demo Day”.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/2a.html

Wright States & Membership

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/2b.html

Ohio Legislative Update
Ohio Passes Bill to Lift Referral Requirement for Experienced Acupuncturists

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/2c.html

National AOM Issues

Kitaeff Interview
Qi-Unity Report interviews Rick Kitaeff, a pioneering naturopathic physician and acupuncturist who helped to establish the presence and legitimacy of AOM in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/3a.html

John Weeks Interview
John Weeks, of The Integrator Blog News & Reports, research advocate and networking maven, has lent his voice and organizing skills to the cause of integration since 1983. Weeks’ publication serves as a hub of reference among the individuals and institutions that connect to the larger discourse on the role of complementary, alternative and integrative care. In this interview, Weeks discusses some of the dynamics that inform AOM research in the current environment.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/3b.html

Integrator Blog News & Reports
As an on-going monthly feature, the Qi-Unity Report. continues to feature articles of interest from the Integrator, edited by John Weeks. The articles for March include a new poll showing even higher interest in coverage of acupuncturists ion basic benefits, a look inside the minds of two Chrysler leaders on the mind-body pilot, a dialogue between holistic medical doctor and naturopathic physician leaders on their decision to co-locate their conferences, some strategic thinking on an integrative center in the US heartland and a series of notes of professional activities of a dozen associations – including AAAOM.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/3c.html

Practice Management

The Power of Fire
Have a closer look at Moxa and its use in a modern clinical setting.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/4a.html

Space to Heal
Brendan Armm, DAOMc, LAc, decided holistic medicine also means creating a holistic clinic where there is a positive connection between AOM and a healing space. We asked Brendan about this green approach and how it has translated into his practice.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/4b.html

AAAOM Activities

Mark your Calendars Today!
Expo 2008 – October 16-19
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine - Your Passport to Better Health
Chicago Westin Northshore, Wheeling, IL

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/5a.html

Five Steps Toward Writing an Effective Rebuttal
In the previous edition of the Qi-Unity Report, you were invited to register your voice as an AOM professional. Engaging in public dialog with the media as a practitioner affords the public an opportunity to absorb the epistemology of AOM directly. Your media engagement also ensures the public receives accurate information about the medicine. This article furthers that cause by providing a few suggestions on effective rebuttals.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/5b.html

Standards of Care and Practice: AOM Update
To Our Members:

From time to time, we hear about certain techniques being used by an acupuncturist that do not appear to conform to generally accepted standards of practice. We would like to remind everyone that a patient's safety and well-being should always be our top priority, regardless of which AOM style or tradition is used. The AAAOM supports standards to assure that professional acupuncturists are practicing in a manner that enhances public health and well being, and we encourage practitioners to follow established standards of care in their practice.

Links

April Links
Here you will find a set of links to various AOM articles of note found on the web.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/6a.html

Continuing Education and Events

Yale School of Medicine Hosts Integrative Medicine Scientific Symposium

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/7a.html

Tai Sophia
On May 21st in Rockville, Maryland, Tai Sophia, together with UMBI, WVU, and Frostburg State, will cosponsor an historic conference on Herbal Medicine: To Regulate or Not to Regulate. Simon Mills and Bob Duggan and Kevin Spelman are among the presenters.

2010 Dietary Guidelines
Federal Register, April 10, 2008:
Announcement of Intent To Establish the 2010 Dietary Guidelines - Advisory Committee and Solicitation of Nominations for Membership

The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services announce the intent to establish a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and invite nominations for the committee. Nominations must be submitted by close of business on May 24, 2008. The Committee will evaluate whether a revision of the 2005 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is warranted, based on a thorough evaluation of the most current scientific and applied literature and, if so, will proceed to develop recommendations for these revisions in an advisory report to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services.
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-7614.pdf

Look for our upcoming revue of the book
“The Tao of Fertility” by Daoshing Ni and Dana Herko, in the summer edition of The American Acupuncturist.

AAAOM Student Organization

Foundation For Your Future
Consider the fundamentals surrounding what it takes to form a college chapter of the AAAOM Student Organization.

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/8a.html

AAAOM-Student Organization Council Spring Board Meeting Wrap Up

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/8b.html

Products, Services, and Member Savings

Dear Prospective Advertiser

http://www.aaaomonline.info/qiunity/08/04/9a.html

As always, your feedback serves as a useful lens through which we may look at how well we are serving our members. Please take a moment to express your thoughts to us.

General Feedback

In Health,

Rebekah Christensen, Executive Director

Douglas Newton, Managing Editor