Protecting the Future of Medical Acupuncture
By Michael Freedman, MD, FAAMA, AAMA President
I hope that this letter finds you well. I write to introduce myself and all members of the board of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture. If you have concerns, questions or ideas to share, or you are need of our support in some manner, any one of us are happy to serve as a conduit to address those thoughts to the entire Board. Email AAMA
The process of planning for our next Annual Symposium, April 15-18, 2027, in Pittsburgh has already started. Whether you can attend or not, just the occurrence of the Annual Symposia serves as an important glue that binds us together. The closer and more comfortable we are together, the tighter our relationships become. We can harvest that feeling of unity to promote a vision that every physician should have medical acupuncture skills and be encouraged to use those skills as he or she feels is appropriate.
Please consider ways you might actively start educating your colleagues, local medical societies, medical schools and residencies about the value of medical acupuncture. There are approximately 1 million licensed physicians (MDs/DOs) in the United States. At most about 3,000 have trained in medical acupuncture and not all of them regularly use their skills. That means that at least 99.7 % of all physicians in the U.S. have little or no understanding of medical acupuncture. They are not familiar with the concept of tweaking the trajectory of someone’s well-being in just a few minutes at essentially no cost of materials, with minimal risk and taking just a few minutes of the physician’s time.
The board of the AAMA is asking each of you to consider ways to become a vocal champion of medical acupuncture. If we collectively reach only 1% (10,000) of our colleagues and of that number only 1% (100) became interested enough to attend our symposium and perhaps become new members, that would increase our membership numbers to a little over 700 this year. At the same rate, over 10 years we could have more than 1,000 members. We have prepared lectures that are ready for you to use or adapt at a presentation to your local or state medical society, at a nearby medical school, or to the leadership of a health plan or hospital group or practice in your community.
Together we can create an enthusiasm for medical acupuncture such that practices and leadership of medical groups will be advertising “all of our physicians are board-eligible or board-certified in their specialty, as well as medical acupuncture.”
If we act together, we can unite forces to increase the number of physicians trained in medical acupuncture, and seize the opportunity to ensure medical acupuncture becomes an integral part of practicing the art of medicine in the United States.
Your AAMA membership year expires on June 30. If you have not already done so, please renew early. With a steady membership base, the Board will make solid commitments to member benefits such access to the journal, webinars and resources within the members portal of the website including practice support features, and the “find a medical acupuncturist” referral directory.
I believe we are going to have a great year! Speaking for the board and myself, we look forward to hearing your thoughts.
AAMA member and friend, Dr. Steven Aung, passed away last fall. His calligraphy teachings were a beloved experience for many years at the AAMA Annual Symposium. We will miss his contributions to our membership. His passing was noted by the 
“One World, One Breath.” On the third Saturday of April, thousands of people around the globe celebrated World Tai Chi/Qigong Day. To commemorate the occasion, which this year coincided with the AAMA’s Annual Symposium in Denver, AAMA members gathered during a break for a session led by Drs. Rey Ximenes and Barbara de la Torre. World Tai Chi/Qigong Day was honored on at least six of seven continents.
