Most of us are head’s down in our clinical work and focused on taking care of patients and running a business. It’s easy to forget that 40 years ago people were being arrested for doing acupuncture. As a profession in the West, we are new. Even without Covid-19 we often dealing with issues of growth, development, scope of practice, messaging and regulation that all professions go through.
And since we are in a time of challenge and change these issues become all the notable.
Listen in to the conversation with with NCCAOM CEO Mina Larson and Member at Large Afua Bromley as our national accrediting organization responds to the coronavirus and what it means for our profession.
In This Conversation We Discuss:
- If you are going to criticize something then you need to come up with a thoughtful solution
- When working online, work out of your areas of expertise
- Mental health is a place where we can make a big difference
- Do good work as a kind of advocacy
- Telemedicine will mean different things to different people
- Concerns with practicing across state lines
- An opportunity to hit the fast forward button on how we use technology in our work
- Attending to the line between lifestyle advice and counseling
- What the NCCAOM is doing for graduates in the process of credentialing
- How the NCCAOM is working with practitioners who are in the process of re-certification
- Some of the dangers the profession faces at this point in time
How to find a unified voice?
Mina Larson has utilized her association management and leadership experience to serve the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) for the past 16 years, moving up to the Chief Executive Officer position in July 2019. Ms. Larson helped create the public relations and marketing department and launched a media campaign that brought national recognition to NCCAOM and its Diplomates. She also led the Advocacy team that has helped bring federal recognition to NCCAOM National Board-Certified Acupuncturist.
Ms. Larson has devoted many hours overseeing NCCAOM’s Regulatory Affairs Department, partnering with states to adhere to NCCAOM standards for the safe and ethical practice of acupuncture and Oriental medicine (AOM). She also utilizes her years of legislative and lobbying experience to advocate for the advancement of NCCAOM certification both at the estate and federal level. Prior to arriving at the NCCAOM, she served in former California Governor Pete Wilson’s Executive Office and Communications Office and handled media relations for the California State Assembly.
One of my favorite teachers, Dr. Liu, always said, ” if you listen long enough and carefully enough, your patients will tell them exactly what is wrong with them.”
Study hard, learn deeply, revisit your training, be humble, and trust your intuition.
Care deeply – your patients will feel the difference.
Afua Bromley
I was pre-med in undergrad and have Bachelors Degrees in Elementary Education and African/African- American Studies from Washington University in St Louis. I received my MSOM from what is now the Florida College of Integrative Medicine in Orlando, FL, in 1998, and did a summer externship at Yu Huan Ding Hospital in Yantai, Shandong Province, PRC following graduation. I did teach for 5 1/2 years and also worked at Harcourt Brace Publishing in their Schools Division. My education background and focus on community empowerment and social justice has always informed my philosophy in practice. I come from parents who were organizers in their own rights – if they saw an injustice or a way to improve the community around them – they worked to solve or improve the situation. I've built my practice to be inclusive and to serve a wide variety of patients respective of income. To that end, I believe a more united and cooperative profession is a much stronger one. I've helped to write the rules and regulations for Missouri, served as President of the Acupuncture Association of Missouri, and currently serve on the NCCAOM Board of Commissioners – most recently finishing up a 3 year term as Board Chair. It's not about the titles – it's about the work and the longevity of the profession. If I can help or serve in anyway to make our profession stronger – I am there.
I am the owner of Acupuncture Saint Louis & Wellness Center, a holistic multi-specialty clinic in Saint Louis, MO, where I practice Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine. In addition to my private practice, I worked at CHIPS (Community Health-In-Partnership Services), a multi-specialty clinic for uninsured and underinsured individuals in north St. Louis from 2000-2012 and previously ran the acupuncture detox component of St. Louis City Drug Courts program for a time.
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