FAQ

"What is 'medical acupuncture'?" "Medical acupuncture" refers to a contemporary system of acupuncture based on scientific principles, in keeping with the "biomedical" domain. This means that, instead of remaining mired in ancient metaphorical disease processes described before the common era (BCE) whose original context and meaning died long ago, medical acupuncturists strive to update and upgrade acupuncture by putting into practice the vast insights into mechanisms and effectiveness derived through decades of scientific research.
"How do I know if the Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians Program is the one for me?"
If you want to learn how acupuncture works based on neurophysiology and other scientific principles, the Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians program is the best choice, since no other veterinary acupuncture course places the scientific basis front and center. We eschew belief-system orientations, in which students are expected to adopt and regurgitate poorly defined metaphysical and metaphorical processes as though they were a highly-developed, quasi-spiritual ancient healing method. Instead, we tell it like it is, which is that the ancients did unearth a rich network of somatovisceral, viscerosomatic, and somatosomatic reflexes that they could work to the healer's advantage by sending somatic afferent signals into the nervous system, with fairly reproducible effects. They did not originally view acupuncture as an "energy" system, but rather performed in-depth anatomical investigations and were cognizant of afferent and efferent signals emanating from acupuncture stimulation. As medical acupuncturists, we view acupuncture as a continually evolving medical approach and incorporate ongoing refinements and changes based on evidence showing support or refutation of claims.
On the other hand, if you want to learn acupuncture as a process of moving invisible energy through invisible pathways, please explore one of the other programs.
"Why do you refuse to teach that acupuncture is an 'energy medicine'? Isn't that what it is?"
The mistaken idea that acupuncture works by moving invisible energy ("qi") through invisible lines on the body arose as the result of a mistranslation promoted by George Soulie de Morant in the early 1900's. "For lack of a better word", Soulie de Morant wrote in his own book Chinese Acupuncture, he translated the term "qi" into "energy" instead of the circulating substances it actually represented; this led to an entire system of thought in the West that regards acupuncture as a way to move mystical energy through the body. Unfortunately, as it turns out, most energy-based acupuncturists refuse to face the historical truths and lack of evidence of their ideas, no matter how clearly or strongly these facts are presented.
Frankly, it is much more challenging to fully grasp how nervous system pathways explain acupuncture effects than it is to believe that the acupuncture needles work mysteriously to remove energy blockages. It requires a medical background and dedication to serious study of the central, autonomic, and peripheral nervous systems. However, the rewards of taking a scientific approach are vast; first and foremost, the biomedical basis of medical acupuncture removes the need to convince oneself and others of the existence of a mystery-energy known as "qi", and that their needles are expelling "evil pernicious influences" such as dampness, wind, and fire from the body. This is the 21st century, and we should be converting the arcane and nebulous metaphors into the physiologic processes they actually represent.
"Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians sounds hard. Is it?"
Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians is indeed challenging, although most students pass the written and practical examinations as long as they have studied the material throughout the course, in preparation for the upcoming session. We provide an interactive canine anatomy DVD for anatomy review, and a neurobiology CD so that registrants can brush up on their knowledge of the nervous system. Two interactive programs on equine and canine acupuncture points locations offer additional home-study involvement so that learning the point locations becomes fun and personal.
As noted above, learning the intricacies of the neural network underlying acupuncture is much more difficult than assuming that acupuncture needles simply remove energy blockages, but it is this level of understanding and development that we should expect as scientifically educated veterinary professionals.
"Will I be ready to practice acupuncture on animals in my veterinary practice when I am done with the course, or do I need further coursework?" Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians contains ample, hands-on, experiential laboratory time in small groups that facilitates your understanding of how the patient assessment techniques and treatment approaches work in the clinical setting. Our cadre of dedicated and experienced clinical preceptors assist students in developing their expertise and clinical acumen, so that once a student receives a certificate of completion, she or he can confidently and effectively introduce acupuncture into a veterinary setting.
"I'm definitely interested in the scientific approach. Why do I also need to learn Chinese medicine in the process?"
We teach Chinese medicine alongside acupuncture neurophysiology for several reasons:
First of all, the early acupuncturists approached acupuncture as blood-letting, and the channels (renamed 'meridians' through a mistranslation in the last century) originally corresponded to blood vessels, not invisible energy pathways for invisible energy travel throughout the body. Although they employed agrarian-based metaphors to describe the physiologic changes that needling produced, these colorful desriptors were consistent with their time and world view. It was entirely appropriate millenia ago to call edema "dampness" and inflammation "heat". As biomedically-based health care professionals of today, we can view Chinese medical diagnostic and treatment techniques through the neurophysiological lens that is appropriate for this day and age, and work to replace the outdated metaphors with more accurate descriptors.
Secondly, we can revisit the principles and practice of Chinese medicine with a critical eye and learn from the centuries of astute observation and empirical information about how the body responds to acupuncture. From here, we can delve more deeply into Chinese thought and use Chinese medicine principles as a roadmap to unveiling heretofore unrecognized neural reflexes. We can interpret treatment outcomes in concise medical language, rather than try to remain complacently comfortable with murky phraseology. We can create rigorously designed research trials based on well-defined endpoints and transform subjective interpretations of resolving dampness or activating Wei Qi into objective outcomes of circulatory improvement and immune modulation. But first, we need to know the rationale behind the old Chinese medical thinking to understand how they came up with constructing their treatment paradigms and why.
Thirdly, in order to upgrade the dialogue and remove the mystery surrounding acupuncture, we need to be able to follow the language and lines of reasoning of the metaphorical, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) approach. Otherwise, the communication gulf that now exists between scientifically-based acupuncture researchers and TCM practitioners will remain broad and deep.
"Will I be 'certified' in veterinary medical acupuncture when I complete the course?" Upon satisfactory completion of the course requirements and examinations, you will receive a certificate of completion from the Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians program.
"I only practice on small (or large) animals. Do I need to take the entire course?" Yes. We teach one full, 140-hour program annually, which covers large, small, and exotic animal acupuncture.
"I love animals and would like to take your course, but I am not a veterinarian. Can I still get in?" Only veterinarians and 4th-year veterinary students with permission from their dean's office are eligible to enroll in the program.
"Where does the course take place?" The lectures and small animal laboratory sessions take place at the Marriott Hotel in Fort Collins. The equine, ruminant, and anatomy laboratories are held on the Colorado State University campus. We provide transportation from the Marriott Hotel to the CSU-campus labs.
"How long has this course been offered?" Our first acupuncture course at CSU ran in 1998 and has been updated on an annual basis to integrate the latest scientific insights and evidential advances.

"What is 'medical acupuncture'?"	"Medical acupuncture" refers to a contemporary system of acupuncture based on scientific principles, in keeping with the "biomedical" domain. This means that, instead of remaining mired in ancient metaphorical disease processes described before the common era (BCE) whose original context and meaning died long ago, medical acupuncturists strive to update and upgrade acupuncture by putting into practice the vast insights into mechanisms and effectiveness derived through decades of scientific research.
"How do I know if the Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians Program is the one for me?"	If you want to learn how acupuncture works based on neurophysiology and other scientific principles, the Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians program is the best choice, since no other veterinary acupuncture course places the scientific basis front and center. We eschew belief-system orientations, in which students are expected to adopt and regurgitate poorly defined metaphysical and metaphorical processes as though they were a highly-developed, quasi-spiritual ancient healing method. Instead, we tell it like it is, which is that the ancients did unearth a rich network of somatovisceral, viscerosomatic, and somatosomatic reflexes that they could work to the healer's advantage by sending somatic afferent signals into the nervous system, with fairly reproducible effects. They did not originally view acupuncture as an "energy" system, but rather performed in-depth anatomical investigations and were cognizant of afferent and efferent signals emanating from acupuncture stimulation. As medical acupuncturists, we view acupuncture as a continually evolving medical approach and incorporate ongoing refinements and changes based on evidence showing support or refutation of claims. On the other hand, if you want to learn acupuncture as a process of moving invisible energy through invisible pathways, please explore one of the other programs.
"Why do you refuse to teach that acupuncture is an 'energy medicine'? Isn't that what it is?"	The mistaken idea that acupuncture works by moving invisible energy ("qi") through invisible lines on the body arose as the result of a mistranslation promoted by George Soulie de Morant in the early 1900's. "For lack of a better word", Soulie de Morant wrote in his own book Chinese Acupuncture, he translated the term "qi" into "energy" instead of the circulating substances it actually represented; this led to an entire system of thought in the West that regards acupuncture as a way to move mystical energy through the body. Unfortunately, as it turns out, most energy-based acupuncturists refuse to face the historical truths and lack of evidence of their ideas, no matter how clearly or strongly these facts are presented. Frankly, it is much more challenging to fully grasp how nervous system pathways explain acupuncture effects than it is to believe that the acupuncture needles work mysteriously to remove energy blockages. It requires a medical background and dedication to serious study of the central, autonomic, and peripheral nervous systems. However, the rewards of taking a scientific approach are vast; first and foremost, the biomedical basis of medical acupuncture removes the need to convince oneself and others of the existence of a mystery-energy known as "qi", and that their needles are expelling "evil pernicious influences" such as dampness, wind, and fire from the body. This is the 21st century, and we should be converting the arcane and nebulous metaphors into the physiologic processes they actually represent.
"Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians sounds hard. Is it?"	Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians is indeed challenging, although most students pass the written and practical examinations as long as they have studied the material throughout the course, in preparation for the upcoming session. We provide an interactive canine anatomy DVD for anatomy review, and a neurobiology CD so that registrants can brush up on their knowledge of the nervous system. Two interactive programs on equine and canine acupuncture points locations offer additional home-study involvement so that learning the point locations becomes fun and personal. As noted above, learning the intricacies of the neural network underlying acupuncture is much more difficult than assuming that acupuncture needles simply remove energy blockages, but it is this level of understanding and development that we should expect as scientifically educated veterinary professionals.
"Will I be ready to practice acupuncture on animals in my veterinary practice when I am done with the course, or do I need further coursework?"	Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians contains ample, hands-on, experiential laboratory time in small groups that facilitates your understanding of how the patient assessment techniques and treatment approaches work in the clinical setting. Our cadre of dedicated and experienced clinical preceptors assist students in developing their expertise and clinical acumen, so that once a student receives a certificate of completion, she or he can confidently and effectively introduce acupuncture into a veterinary setting.
"I'm definitely interested in the scientific approach. Why do I also need to learn Chinese medicine in the process?"	We teach Chinese medicine alongside acupuncture neurophysiology for several reasons: First of all, the early acupuncturists approached acupuncture as blood-letting, and the channels (renamed 'meridians' through a mistranslation in the last century) originally corresponded to blood vessels, not invisible energy pathways for invisible energy travel throughout the body. Although they employed agrarian-based metaphors to describe the physiologic changes that needling produced, these colorful desriptors were consistent with their time and world view. It was entirely appropriate millenia ago to call edema "dampness" and inflammation "heat". As biomedically-based health care professionals of today, we can view Chinese medical diagnostic and treatment techniques through the neurophysiological lens that is appropriate for this day and age, and work to replace the outdated metaphors with more accurate descriptors. Secondly, we can revisit the principles and practice of Chinese medicine with a critical eye and learn from the centuries of astute observation and empirical information about how the body responds to acupuncture. From here, we can delve more deeply into Chinese thought and use Chinese medicine principles as a roadmap to unveiling heretofore unrecognized neural reflexes. We can interpret treatment outcomes in concise medical language, rather than try to remain complacently comfortable with murky phraseology. We can create rigorously designed research trials based on well-defined endpoints and transform subjective interpretations of resolving dampness or activating Wei Qi into objective outcomes of circulatory improvement and immune modulation. But first, we need to know the rationale behind the old Chinese medical thinking to understand how they came up with constructing their treatment paradigms and why. Thirdly, in order to upgrade the dialogue and remove the mystery surrounding acupuncture, we need to be able to follow the language and lines of reasoning of the metaphorical, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) approach. Otherwise, the communication gulf that now exists between scientifically-based acupuncture researchers and TCM practitioners will remain broad and deep.
"Will I be 'certified' in veterinary medical acupuncture when I complete the course?"	Upon satisfactory completion of the course requirements and examinations, you will receive a certificate of completion from the Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians program.
"I only practice on small (or large) animals. Do I need to take the entire course?"	Yes. We teach one full, 140-hour program annually, which covers large, small, and exotic animal acupuncture.
"I love animals and would like to take your course, but I am not a veterinarian. Can I still get in?"	Only veterinarians and 4th-year veterinary students with permission from their dean's office are eligible to enroll in the program.
"Where does the course take place?"	The lectures and small animal laboratory sessions take place at the Marriott Hotel in Fort Collins. The equine, ruminant, and anatomy laboratories are held on the Colorado State University campus. We provide transportation from the Marriott Hotel to the CSU-campus labs.
"How long has this course been offered?"	Our first acupuncture course at CSU ran in 1998 and has been updated on an annual basis to integrate the latest scientific insights and evidential advances.