April 2026 – AAMA Member Newsletter

Welcome Our New and Returning AAMA Members

Please join us in welcoming the following member who became part of the Academy in March  2026:

If you have peers or colleagues who aren’t currently members of the AAMA, please encourage them to learn more about the benefits of membership by visiting the website or contacting Russell Corcoran, the membership committee chair.

Physician Completes 10-Year ABMA Recertification Process

Congratulations to the following physician who has completed the process set by the American Board of Medical Acupuncture (ABMA) to be re-certified as a Diplomate for another 10 years:

• Montiel T. Rosenthal, MD, FAAMA, of Cincinnati, OH

Do You Have Colleagues Who are Curious about Medical Acupuncture?

The AAMA has a presentation that AAMA members can use to present as an introduction to medical acupuncture for health care professionals. It provides information about mechanisms of action, treatable conditions, adverse effects, and reasons to consider acupuncture treatments for patients. This new AAMA member resource includes the presentation slides for your use, the narrative that goes along with the presentation slides, and a file of references for the presentation. Recently a recording was made of the actual presentation that members can view and see how the presentation might be delivered. Learn more.

Acupuncture for Pain Featured in Middle Eastern Press

AAMA member, Ravinder Mamtani, MD, professor of population health sciences and vice dean for population teal and lifestyle medicine and professor of medicine a the Center for Global health at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar, recently shared with AAMA a copy of an article that was published in Gulf Times and in Qatar Tribune. The piece, WCM-Q experts spotlight role of acupuncture in pain management, provides an overview of recent research by Mamtani and his peers. Read the article.

Commentary: Defining non‑acupoints for sham control design in acupuncture trials

In clinical trials and mechanistic studies, non-acupoints are widely used as control sites and commonly serve as sham points in tests of acupoint specificity. Despite their central role in interpreting acupoint‑specific effects, non‑acupoints remain poorly defined. In many trials, a non‑acupoint is defined simply as a site located a few centimeters away from recognized acupoints, with little attention to local tissue features, tenderness, and physiological reactivity. This assumption is increasingly difficult to sustain because reactive loci—including Ashi points, myofascial trigger points, neurogenic inflammatory spots, and related entities—are widely distributed across the body surface and often overlap with or lie near classical acupoints. Under these conditions, distance from an acupoint alone cannot ensure that a site is physiologically inert. Read the full piece in Integrative Medicine Research.

New York Times: Does Dry Needling Really Relieve Pain?

The article begins: “Over the past decade, a strange practice has worked its way into physical therapy offices. It’s not exactly acupuncture but still involves a therapist sticking tiny needles under your skin and letting you suffer for a short time.” And concludes: “At the end of the day, dry needling is relatively safe and effective at loosening muscles and easing pain in the short term. Some patients swear by the therapy, though it’s probably no more effective than other treatments, and it may not address the underlying causes of pain.” Read the full article.

Are You Following Us on Socials?

Join the conversations online with fellow physician acupuncturists from around the country! You can find AAMA on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-academy-of-medical-acupuncture/about/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AAMAcupuncture
• Facebook:
• Instagram: @aamacupuncture

There’s even a closed group on Facebook for discussion between members: