A Comparison The HAC 6 month course clearly contains fewer hours of training than a 3 year course. However, when you review the whole package taking into account home study and practice you will see that the actual hours over 3 years are not so far apart, depending of course on how much home study you do.
A Typical 3 Year Course 1200 hours contact time + home study: Typically TCM or 5 Elements in detail over 2 years. This includes practical skills such as pulse, needling, moxabustion etc. For Point Location students learn about 250 points over 2 years. Practitioner development is a separate module within most courses. Western Medicine: Typically involves extensive study of A&P and some pharmacology over 2 years. Research: Usually a major research project done during the third year. Clinic: Approximately 27 days supervised clinic which include discussion sessions.
Note: The 1200 hours does actually tend to be quite a bit less because it includes, for example 7 hour days allocated for exams which take 1 or 2 hours. This happens about 10 times throughout the course.
Total Approximately 1150 hours + self study over 3 years.
Our 6 Month Course + Practice 140 hours contact time + home study. Schedule: 15 days are split up to approximately 50% practical and 50% lecture and cover a variety of different material and skills on each day. We teach a core of acupuncture theory which reflects our commitment to the 5 elements but with some basic TCM theory as well. We cover 50 point locations & uses to start. Practitioner development is an integrated part of the core of the course. Western integrated practice and cautions will be covered in one day concentrating on competence and safety only. Clinic: 5 days, Students will treat under supervision in the mornings and have a discussion/revision and learning session in the afternoon.
After qualification extra CPD days are recommended, eg 15 days over 2.5 years = 120 hours. Acupuncture practice, typically an average of 6 patients a week over 120 weeks = 720 hours.
Total Approximately 980 hours + self study over 3
years.
How to choose an acupuncture course