What is the knowledge that should be required for learning or practicing acupuncture?That is a question with many answers depending on the view point:

-        Chinese traditional practitioner.

-        Chinese trained in western medicine but practicing acupuncture.

-        Western medical doctor trained in China.

-        Western doctor trained elsewhere than in China.

    o   According the Chinese acupuncture

          o   According to western adapted acupuncture.

          o   According to a modified concept derived from acupuncture, for example segmental                acupuncture or reflex therapy, etc.

It also depends on the personal beliefs and tendencies of the learner, teacher, and practitioner:

-        Some take the Chinese tradition as a whole, and refuse to question it.

-        Some recognize the basics of Chinese acupuncture, but use scientific methods to evaluate its contents

-        Some reject the traditional aspects and retain only the concept of points similar to trigger points.

That is the intellectual or personal approach. What about the ethical approach?

-        What level of general or specific knowledge would allow for fulfilling moral standards, whether for teaching or practicing?

-        Is online teaching of acupuncture an ethical move? Must it be modulated, and the students warned of the moral and eventual legal implications?

Now we come to the legal approach, depending on the laws of each country:

-        Only medical doctors can practice.

-        Only doctors are legally entitled to practice, but many non-doctors practice also, and are not submitted to trials and condemnations. The laws are outdated, or it is too expensive to go to court, or the government is busy with more important matters…

-        Health professionals in general (medical doctors, physiotherapists, nurses, etc.) are allowed to practice.

-        Everybody can practice, providing they don’t pretend to be what they are not.

-        A special group of practitioners are allowed to practice CAM after having passed a minimum level knowledge in medicine.

I could take each group and give you examples, but it would take too long. Then individual cases are not always relevant. This small article is just to give you a broad and rough idea of the situation in the world, but it is by no means exhaustive. Just a few thoughts to make you think…