ARA accredits comprehensive theoretical, practical and supported education of practitioners. We award the ARA professional quality mark where we see outstanding training.
Becoming skilled at acupuncture takes training in health and disease, physiology and anatomy, theoretical models of treatment and demonstration of capability in acupuncture techniques. In particular demonstration of appropriate skilled technique and applicable application and supervision in developing these techniques is required.
ARA works diligently with training providers to ensure that the course theory is sound with significant emphasis on the ability to demonstrate competency in execution. Courses that are not accredited with ARA have not passed the comprehensive ARA accreditation process. ARA uses National Occupational Standards and the National Credit Framework and its deep understanding of the industry and wide ranging practices using acupuncture, herbs and adjunctive modalities to be able to assess training courses that have both online and face to face components.
Levels of Training are assessed against the Educational National Credit Framework which uses a skill level and also a certification length based on credits where 1 credit roughly equates to 10 hours. Length of course for example requires that if your course has 13 to 26 credits (130 to 260 hours) you are awarded a certificate, while those who have 37 credits or more are awarded diplomas. Core training offers levels of skill which range from Level 4 (HNC), Level 5 (Foundation Degree) and Level 6 (University Degree) and are of diploma up to degree level in length of hours.
ARA has three recognised categories of skills training –
Core Training – which is your core acupuncture/TCM/herbal training and ranges from 1-4 years or more.
CPD’s – CPD stands for continuous professional training and are generally short courses to help expand and grow a therapists knowledge. Some modalities such as physiotherapists, etc. may add acupuncture CPD courses to their existing practice. This does not mean that they are a specialist in acupuncture as this does not have the scope of practice or depth of knowledge to offer that someone with core training may have, however it acts as an adjunctive modality which can assist in resolving various patient concerns.
Specialisms – These are specialist advanced courses that build on a good foundation of Core training and allow practitioners to understand and provide a range of specific treatments using specialist protocols for a field of practice. Significant specialist training is typically held over months and is often in musculoskeletal problems, Oncology, paediatrics, fertility, menopause, women’s health, men’s health, mental health, sports injuries and neurology. Practitioners will list their specialisms on the Acupuncture Near Me page.
A pathway to becoming an acupuncturist involves intensive training.  It will require dedication to understanding the deep, rich tradition and theoretical models that derive from East Asia as well as Western anatomy, physiology, health and disease. It will also involve significant mastery of skills in diagnosis and treatment in accordance with internal medicine.Â
Generally becoming an acupuncturist is the beginning of your training. Additional courses will deepen your knowledge in diagnosis, techniques or specific areas of health and disease. ARA accredits additional training courses here.
Specialist training may include oncology, neurology, fertility, womens health, peadiatrics.
You may already be a health professional looking to start your journey into acupuncture by using it as an adjunctive therapy to increase efficacy in your own field of expertise. Here you can find accredited courses that offer supplementary training to offer learning and mastery of treatments that often improve patient outcomes.
