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AAMA
Newsletter
Serving the American Academy of Medical
Acupuncture
February 2002
ACADEMY RECEIVING LOTS OF PUBLICITY
Dr. Truett Bridges'
demonstration of acupuncture on CNN Headline News and Dr. Richard Feely's
treatment of a Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist reported in the Chicago
Tribune topped the list of AAMA members making news between November 2001
and January 2002. Members also captured headlines in the trades, as AAMA
President Marshall Sager's letter to the editor and Dr. William Rutenberg's
CAM Commission testimony captured prominent space in Acupuncture Today;
and Drs. Yuan- Chi Lin's and Dr. Brenda Golianu's prescriptions for acupuncture
to treat pain in children were outlined in Anesthesiology News and Pediatric
News.
Below, a detailed list of AAMA newsmakers:
- Dr. Paul Allen focuses on
the benefits of acupuncture to the nervous system. Olympian (Olympia,
WA), Circ. 38,584, 9/24/01
- Acupuncture is used to ease
chronic pain. News (McKeesport, PA), Circ. 25,000, 11/2/01
- Web Watch lists www.medicalacupuncture.org
as a way to find a medial acupuncturist. Lexington Progress (Lexington,
TN), Circ. 8,400, 11/7/01
- Dr. David Bilstrom told
of using medical acupuncture for overactivity of the sympathetic nervous
system in congestive heart failure patients (prompted by research released
that day at AHA's annual meeting in LA), ABC News, Chicago, 11/14/01.
Also, Dr. Bilstrom to join the staff at Good Samaritan Hospital, Suburban
Life (Berwyn, IL), 12/22/01
- Acupuncture has gained some
Western acceptance as an alternative treatment for chronic pain and
certain other medical conditions, Islander (St. Simons Island, GA),
Circ. 4,000, 11/19/01
- Dr. Robin Eckert was the
subject of a feature on integrative medicine, combining both traditional
and alternative approaches. Daily Pilot (Costa Mesa, CA), Circ. 45,000,
11/29/01
- AAMA is listed as a resource
to find qualified practitioners who use acupuncture to treat pain, Health
& Healing (Potomac, MD), Circ. 250,000, 12/1/01
- Dr. Yuan-Chi Lin. Acupuncture
can be used to treat chronic pain in children. Anesthesiology News,
Circ. 35,000, 12/1/01
- Dr. Brenda Golianu. Pediatricians
are increasingly willing to consider acupuncture, especially in pain
management, Pediatric News, Circ. 38,835, 12/1/01
- Dr. Richard Feely treats
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Violinist, Cornelius Chiu, with acupuncture
in order to increase the strength and agility in his fingers which were
damaged by an injury he incurred, Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL), Circ.
1,034,440, 12/2/01
- Dr. G. Joseph Herr to present
a community forum addressing the subject of acupuncture and pain, Hendricks
County Flyer (Plainfield, IN), Circ. 30,000, 12/3/01
- Dr. Lawrence Li is shown
inserting an acupuncture needle into the hand of a patient as treatment
for an ankle injury in an article about raising the conciousness about
complementary medicine, Daily News (Los Angeles, CA), Circ. 202,000,
12/3/01
- Dr. Christine Nguyen was
named DABMA, Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA), Circ. 358,010,
12/19/01
- Dr. Bryan Frank. Many allergy
sufferers are looking to medical acupuncture for relief, Sunday Freeman
(Kingston, NY), Circ. 34,000, 12/30/01
- Dr. Marshall H. Sager responds
in a letter to the editor regarding Acupuncture Today's coverage of
British Medical Journal safety studies, Acupuncture Today, Circ. 16,500,
1/1/02
- Dr. Angelica Fargas-Babjack
is teaching acupuncture as an adjunct therapy for a number of ailments
at McMaster University, Medical Post (Toronto, ON, CN), Circ. 43,000,
1/8/02
- Dr. Truett Bridges answered
questions regarding treatment methods, the philosophy of medical acupuncture,
success rates and how to choose a doctor. He also demonstrated the treatment
by inserting needles into the hand of the anchorwoman, CNN Headline
News, 1/14/02
- Dr. Shi-Hong Loh tells of
efficacy of medical acupuncture in government-subsidized program offering
free CAM to HIV/AIDS patients, The Jersey Journal, 1/18/02
- Dr. William Rutenberg testifies
before the White House Commission on CAM Policy, Acupuncture Today,
Circ. 16, 500, 2/1/02
- Drs. Angelica Fargas-Babjack and Alejandro Elorriaga Claraco highlighted the Contemporary Medical Acupuncture Program at McMaster University in Canada, The Medical Post, Vol. 38, No. 1, 1/8/02.
If you've been featured in the media, please send the details to editor Barton Ortberg (bdortberg@aol.com, fax 323/937-0959).
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MEMBERS EARN BOARD CERTIFICATION
These AAMA members recently met all qualifications, passed the ABMA exam and had their applications approved to be Board Certified in acupuncture. They bring the number of physicians who have earned the designation DABMA (Diplomate, American Board of Medical Acupuncture) to 187: Benson Chin, MD, PhD, Yuba City, CA; Leslie A. Foote, MD, Arcata, CA; Peter Hanfileti, MD, Vancouver, WA; Gary Kaplan, DO, Arlington, VA; Nick S. Kouchis, MD, Woodridge, IL; Lynn Lang, MD, Yuba City, CA and Elnora Rint-Cambe, MD, Westminster, CO
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By William D.
Rutenberg, MD, DABMA, Chair
MEDICAL ACUPUNCTURE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Chapter Liaison:
AAMA's Board of Directors has made a commitment to fostering the growth
of the regional chapters and recognizes their importance to the overall
success of the Academy and survival of medical acupuncture as a distinct
medical specialty. To be successful in this endeavor, the Board needs
to learn from the chapters the elements of support they believe necessary
to foster their success and growth. Martha Grout, MD, chair of the Regional
Chapter Subcommittee, will be contacting chapter officers to gather ideas
to strengthen the chapter network. Of course, chapter officers are welcome
to contact her (drmartha@worldnet.att.net).
Forming a Chapter, physicians in Illinois met in November and January.
The initial Executive Committee elected includes: President David Bilstrom,
MD, President-Elect Tony Lu, MD, and Treasurer/Secretary Manuel Roserio,
DO. There are 38 founding members. Committees formed include Finance,
Membership, Continuing Education, Medical Acupuncture, Action, Website
and PR.
ProActive Legislation:
For the Academy to have a successful proactive legislative awareness program,
volunteers are needed from each state to comprise a communication tree
so a quick response preemptive strike can be mounted to adverse legislation.
Issues have arisen, that if not for a rapid response from the Board and
local leaders, may have resulted in restricting members' ability to practice
medical acupuncture under the scope of their licenses.
New Jersey ALERT - There may be a misunderstanding or misinterpretation
about the statutes and regulations concerning physician acupuncture practice
in New Jersey. The section in question states: "Course of training,
approved by the Board, shall be for a minimum of 300 hours, which must
include a clinical training program of at least 150 hours."
Questions can be directed to State of New Jersey, Acupuncture Examining
Board, PO Box 183, Trenton, NJ 08625-0183.
Media and Communications:
Under the leadership of Allen Fein, MD, and his subcommittee, a process
is in place for members to share slides to be used in the preparation
of lectures and talks on acupuncture. Members willing to share their slides
should contact him (allenfein@pol.net)
and arrange to send him the slides. The committee will review the slides,
and if the content is appropriate, the member's name will be listed in
a section on AAMA's website listing names and contact information.
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Joseph Sciammarella,
MD, president of the newly formed AAMA New York State Chapter, was recently
interviewed by The New York Resident, a Manhattan publication with an
online edition (www.NewYorkResident.com).
The interview involved the study presented at American Heart Association's
2001 Scientific Sessions conference in November 2001 entitled, Acupuncture
Inhibits Sympathetic Activation During Mental Stress in Advanced Heart
Failure Patients. Many of the published facts about the study and about
acupuncture were provided by Dr. Sciammarella who, as chairman of Operation
Heartbeat for the New York/Long Island Region of AHA, is a frequent media
spokesman for AHA.
On behalf of AAMA, Hiroshi Nakazawa, MD, DABMA, attended the White House
Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy Feb. 22. He
testified that the ABMA is a Board Certification program that promotes
the safe, ethical and effective use of acupuncture to the public by maintaining
high standards for examination and certification of physician acupuncturists
as medical specialists (see next newsletter for coverage). Also in February,
he gave the talk, "Extra Meridians and Clinical Applications of Ion
Pumping," at Maryland State Society of Medical Acupuncture in Baltimore.
Additionally, Dr. Nakazawa participated in the second American Medical
Acupuncture Seminar in Japan in November. Thirty Japanese physicians (who
are not required to have a separate license to practice acupuncture) treated
25 patients. Attending at their own expense, these doctors exhibited a
keen interest to learn about American medical acupuncture during the three
days. Further, several physicians expressed interest in joining AAMA in
an International Membership category; one doctor did join and visited
Academy headquarters in Los Angeles. Dr. Nakazawa noted that more educational
trips to Japan will be worthwhile since the seminar was widely covered
in Japanese medical journals.
Members participating in AAMA's referral program will be happy to hear
that 275 calls came into national headquarters in November 2001 (2,543
website hits to the referral page) and 316 calls in December 2001 (2,081
hits) from patients seeking medical acupuncturists. The toll-free number
patients are calling for referrals is 800/521-2262.
Margaret M. Mullins, MD, of Acupuncture Associates of Annapolis was one
of the guest speakers at an Integrative Medicine Conference aboard the
Grand Princess for a Caribbean cruise in February.
Practice members (associate and full) who are not participating in the
patient referral program but would like to, need to notify AAMA by mail
(4929 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 428, Los Angeles, CA 90010) or by e-mail (spc6@pacbell.net).
If you are not sure whether or not you are already signed up for this
program, check the patient referral listing here.
The new president of the Maryland Society of Medical Acupuncture (MSMA)
is Sam Sencil, DO. Physicians interested in joining this group can contact
him via e-mail at: ssencil@aol.com.
Past president Nader Solimon, MD, DABMA, reports that the society is in
the process of applying to become an AAMA Chapter.
Dr. Soliman has written a detailed article about the history, physiology
and philosophy of medical acupuncture in the Maryland Medicine journal
published by Maryland Medical Society. The article is intended to help
physicians in Maryland understand basic principles of medical acupuncture,
its indications and the protocol of treating patients.
Richard Niemtzow, MD (n5ev@aol.com),
editor of Medical Acupuncture, seeks articles; see submission guidelines
on any journal inside cover. Mailed free to members, AAMA's journal has
increased frequency from two to three issues annually.
Mark Young, MD, recently published, "Women and Pain: Why it Hurts
and What You Can Do" (Hyperion Publishers). Emphasizing the importance
of medical acupuncture and AAMA, the book is available at major bookstores
and on the World Wide Web at: www.womenandpain.com.
Ronald Glick, MD, of Pittsburgh has been named medical director for the
Center for Complementary Medicine at UPMC Shadyside-affiliated with the
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He has been on faculty at
the University of Pittsburgh as clinical director for Chronic Pain Rehabilitation
at the Pain Evaluation and Treatment Institute. He was a co-investigator
and acupuncturist for a study using CraigPENS for the treatment of low
back pain in older adults with degenerative disc disease. The Center for
Complementary Medicine provides a variety of complementary medicine techniques
for pain and other health problems. The program is actively involved in
research in acupuncture as well as integrative psychiatry.
If you have acupuncture privileges at a hospital and have not notified
AAMA, fax your name, hospital, city and state to 323/937-0959 to be added
to our list. You can see if you're already listed here.
If you need a hospital privileges credentialing package, call 323/937-5514
(or download from website).
Yuan-Chi Lin, MD, MPH, director of the Medical Acupuncture Service at
Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, recently organized
acupuncture workshops for physicians at the American Society of Anesthesiologists
annual meeting in New Orleans and American Academy of Pediatrics National
Conferences. The panel of the workshops includes Drs. Yung-Fong Sung,
Eric Hsu, Lynn Rusy, Shu-Ming Wang and Brenda Golianu. Setting up these
workshops in the major international anesthesiologists and pediatrics
convention was very important in increasing physicians' knowledge and
awareness in acupuncture practice. Interested physicians can further pursue
training in medical acupuncture.
Members are reminded that they cannot use the AAMA logo without prior
written consent. They can, however, use the words, "member of AAMA,"
on business cards and stationery.
Please send your news to: bdortberg@aol.com.
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