How to find a legitimate Chinese medicine physician – Four tools

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Most people in the United States, and most places outside of China, Japan and Southeast Asia have not gone to a Chinese medicine physician. However, the use of Chinese medicine (CM) by non-Asian people seems to be on the rise – with a recent study indicating that 8.2 million Americans have used the services of a CM physician in their lifetime (1). That’s great news and I hope that you are considering trying CM if you haven’t before. Chinese medicine represents the most time-tested and effective therapeutic modality for everyday medical problems and chronic medical conditions that exists. But, like any tool, there are people who are skilled in its use and people who are… well… less skilled. This is the case within Western medicine, it’s the case with pretty much every kind of skilled work. There are, just as in Western medicine and other modalities, national standards for education of CM physicians, as well as national licensing standards. But honestly all that the standard education and licensing does for any medical practice is assures the public that you’re capable of doing more good than harm! It doesn’t assure you that your diabetes is going to see dramatic improvement, it doesn’t assure you that the doctor you meet is going to have a deep understanding of their medicine. I think this lack of assurance is why so many people visit specialists in Western medicine – you can be guaranteed that the specialists have a deeper understanding of their medicine than do general practitioners. So, within Chinese medicine, how can you find a good doctor? I will split this article into two parts – first, the basic tools to find a legitimate Chinese medicine physician. Second, coming soon, how to differentiate the adequate doctors from the great ones.

You have probably searched for a Western medicine doctor before – maybe using your HMO’s online tools, maybe by asking your friends who they see. If you are on a health care plan that covers acupuncture and herbal medicine (awesome!) and they restrict your choice of physicians to a pre-approved list, you will obviously need to use that list to find your doctor. After you do that you can come back and read the second part of this series to figure out which of those doctors to use. If you are on an insurance plan that allows you to choose your own physician or if you will be paying out of pocket or using some other unrestricted funding source, the list of tools below will help you in your quest to find a doctor who is adequately trained.

1. Word of mouth – Probably one of the more reliable tools and one you are probably very comfortable with using. When a friend has seen a CM doctor and have had a great experience they are likely to tell you about it. Then, assuming you trust the friend, you can be reasonably assured that this doctor is going to meet some minimum standard of quality. It doesn’t mean you’re going to “click” with that doctor, it doesn’t mean that their particular fields of expertise are going to overlap with your needs – but it is certainly an effective way to begin separating the wheat from the chaff.

2. Your local Chinese medicine school – Depending on where you live, there may be a school of CM nearby. The best place to search for a school is at the The Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) website.

I believe in the power and effectiveness of accreditation – a topic for another article – and this is the most complete list of schools who are either already nationally accredited or are on that path. Once you click on a school and arrive at their website, search around to discover if they provide a tool for finding practitioners, like this one at my school – NCNM. At There are, of course, other (unaccredited) schools – and you can find them with a quick internet search. The website above is also flawed in that it doesn’t include schools in China and other countries. The process of educating physicians in China is extremely rigorous – doctors who would be licensed as acupuncturists and herbalists in the United States have full physician’s privileges in China, akin to M.D.s in the United States. They learn everything that M.D.s learn and more. In the United States, the national standards for education of Chinese medicine physicians isn’t quite up to that level, but some schools are striving to achieve this. If you are interested in knowing what the doctors you are considering have learned, you can visit the website for the school they graduated from to get an idea.

3. National and State CM Organizations – There are national and state organizations that license CM doctors in the United States, just as for Western medicine. Not all states have licensing standards, and for those states who do not – word of mouth and investigation of a doctor’s credentials should play a greater role in your decision making process. For many states, practitioners must pass the national licensing exams as well as state exams. Regardless, the state and national organization websites are a great resource for finding practitioners.

Try the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine practitioner finding tool.

To find your state’s CM licensing body, you can use this list (but come back here after you’re done!) – or simply do a web search for your state name and the words “acupuncture” and “licensing.” Using the word “acupuncture” is important, as most states license CM physicians as acupuncturists.

4. Other Chinese medicine related websites – There are quite a few websites out there with listings of practitioners. When you start using more general websites you have to be a little more careful, as you can’t be assured that the doctor went to an accredited school or that they have been licensed in your state. You’ll just have to do a bit more research if you want to use one of those more general tools.

These are the best tools for beginning to narrow down the field. But even these tools are only going to get you so far. Depending on where you live, these searches may give you only a few practitioners or they may give you a list of hundreds! If you live in an area with relatively few CM doctors, your options are obviously limited. In my opinion, this doesn’t mean that you should just go to whatever doctor is available to you. Check their credentials, ask for patient references, find out where they went to school and check the school website or call the school directly to learn about their curriculum. If you don’t resonate with that practitioner or if their credentials don’t check out to your satisfaction, look in neighboring areas. It may seem crazy to suggest driving many miles to see a CM physician, but if you suffer from a chronic health problem or even an acute problem that you are having difficulty finding treatment for – you owe it to yourself to try Chinese medicine. It will be worth it to you to find a doctor who is truly skilled.

In my next article, How to find a legitimate and GREAT Chinese medicine physician, learn about the qualities you should look for in a doctor to be assured that you are getting the best care available.

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1. Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. CDC Advance Data Report #343. 2004.

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June 25, 2007 · Filed Under New to Chinese Medicine?, The profession

Comments

4 Responses to “How to find a legitimate Chinese medicine physician – Four tools”

  1. Holistic ways to fight/prevent depression - Personal Development for Smart People Forums on July 7th, 2007 8:47 am

    [...] relief. At my site I list several tools to help you find a great Chinese medicine physician. How to find a legitimate Chinese medicine physician and 7 Features of your GREAT Chinese medicine physician For depression, I can especially [...]

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    [...] Now that I’ve discussed how to find a legitimate (read: non-lethal) Chinese medicine physician – I’d like to get to my [...]

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    [...] talked in prior articles about finding competent Chinese medicine physicians and/or acupuncturists. In short, find out where your doctor was educated and do the best you can to [...]

  4. Cleansing on April 18th, 2009 9:13 pm

    Thanks for the list of the websites … good article.

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