For more than 3,000 years, acupuncture has been a trusted technique used by healthcare providers in many parts of the world. (Some scholars actually date primitive elements of the practice back as many as 6,000 years.)
We know that acupuncture has existed since at least the Han Dynasty in China more than 2,000 years ago. It was introduced in Europe in the 17th century. Only recently has modern scientific research into the effects of acupuncture been undertaken, yielding a growing evidence base of clinical findings that support the use of acupuncture for a number of conditions, diseases and disorders.
Acupuncture is taught in European medical schools and applied in nearly all fields of medicine in Eastern countries. In the United States, perceptions of acupuncture are evolving alongside mounting scientific research, and it is rapidly solidifying its legitimacy as a valuable therapeutic technique.
The American Academy of Medical Acupuncture was founded in 1987 by a group of physicians who had graduated from the Medical Acupuncture for Physicians Training Program at the UCLA School of Medicine.
The AAMA is the sole physician-only professional acupuncture society in North America accepting members from a diversity of training backgrounds. The Academy represents more than 1,000 members and continues to grow.
In addition, the AAMA works in conjunction with its sister organizations, the Medical Acupuncture Research Foundation, which sponsors research paper competitions and encourages acupuncture research and the American Board of Medical Acupuncture which administers a Board Certification program to recognize those physicians who have achieved high levels of training, experience and knowledge in the field of medical acupuncture.