The Curriculum
Session I establishes a firm footing for medical acupuncture by building a solid foundation on contemporary anatomy and physiology.
Session II presents both timetested and novel methods of Chinese medical assessment and treatment strategies, taking a critical view throughout.
Sessions III and IV takes students into the clinical application phase of the course and interweaves acupuncture anatomy, physiology, Chinese medicine, and research evidence. Participants learn how to design and implement acupuncture treatments on live animals, working in small groups under the supervision of experienced clinical preceptors.
Ample hands-on laboratory sessions on both small and large animals provide ongoing opportunities to refine acupuncture point locating skills and patient assessment methods.
Adjunctive approaches such as soft tissues treatments and rehabilitative techniques further expand the multifaceted curriculum.
Course faculty monitor students’ mastery of information via small groups, class discussion, and examinations.
Interactive computer-based instructional media:
In order to reinforce fundamental concepts pertaining to anatomy and neurobiology, all participants will receive a DVD of Virtual Canine Anatomy (an interactive multimedia anatomical instruction program)
and a CD-ROM on veterinary neurobiology for neuroanatomy review.
Participants also receive an interactive canine and equine point-finding CD-ROM containing the topographical locations of acupuncture points, complete with flash-card self-testing options.
All were produced at the CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Specify PC or Mac software versions when you register.
Session I February 4-8, 2009
Scientific Acupuncture
- Interventional neuromodulation: the key to acupuncture
- Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of acupuncture – from peripheral nerves to the brain and back again
- How the human acupuncture channels and points network transposes to non-human anatomy
- Research advances in scientific acupuncture
- Acupuncture anatomy prosection laboratories in the Colorado State University Anatomy Laboratory
- Acupuncture point palpation and optional self-needling exercises
- Trigger point therapy, lecture and laboratory; the myofascial examination
- Soft tissue manual therapy, lecture and laboratory
- Techniques and instrumentation laboratory and demonstrations
- Point-finding laboratories on dogs and horses illustrating viscerosomatic and somatovisceral reflexes underlying the Back Shu/Front Mu point relationships to organs
- Pain management, acupuncture analgesia and acupuncture-supported anesthesia
- Needling precautions and adverse reactions to acupuncture
- The hazards and mistaken assumptions related to gold bead implants, and why permanent needle embedding is considered malpractice by human medical acupuncture authors
- Review of the neurologic examination of horses and small animals, designed to improve treatment accuracy and effectiveness
Session II March 4 - 8, 2009
Chinese Medicine: Moving Beyond the Metaphor
- Early Chinese Medical physiology – where they got it right, and where they got it wrong, and why we need to evaluate Chinese Medicine critically
- Is TCM diagnosis worthless? What the scientific literature indicates regarding the struggle of assembling a TCM pattern differentiation, and the debate surrounding its value or lack thereof
- Yin and Yang, Five Phases, Eight Principles: What were the ancients really describing, based on modern medical terminology?
- The neurovascular origins of acupuncture channels
- The "big" points -- master, influential, and command points: Which ones matter most and why, from a neuromodulatory perspective
- How acupuncture outside of China devolved into an “energy medicine” based on a few unfortunate and recent mistranslations
- Tongue and pulse diagnosis —sorting through what works and what doesn’t, based on facts and sound, clinical judgment
- Chinese medical examination and treatment laboratories on horses and small animals
- Ting point therapy for horses
- Unveiling the mystery behind the eight singular vessels – the vascular basis of the so-called “Curious Meridians” or “Eight Extra Meridians”
- Point-finding laboratory: Regional points
- Written examination on Session I material
Session III April 1 - 5, 2009
Clinical Applications: Where Neuromodulation, Chinese Medicine, and the Evidence Intersect
- Acupuncture techniques for problems related to the following systems or conditions: musculoskeletal, neurologic, peri-operative, dermatologic, gastrointestinal, reproductive, ophthalmologic, urologic, respiratory, cardiovascular, immunologic, critical care, pain, psychological, and behavioral problems
- Small groups with clinical preceptors and live patient evaluations
- Acupuncture for bovine, camelids, and other farm animals -- lecture and laboratory
- Where acupuncture and organic farming meet
- Review of acupuncture point locations with mock practical examinations to prepare for actual practical examination
- Electro-acupuncture including percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS)
- Written examination on Session II material
Session IV April 29 - May 3, 2009
Synthesis and Integration: Putting Acupuncture to Work
- Live animal work-ups and treatments with small animals and horses
- Saddle fit lecture and laboratory
- Acupuncture practice management
- Getting started with your first acupuncture lecture
- Moxibustion laboratory
- Legal issues surrounding complementary and alternative medicine
- Stretching and rehabilitation lecture and laboratories
- Clinical cases written examination on material presented in Sessions I through III
- Practical examinations on point locations in dogs and horses
Note: Lecture sequences may vary from year to year.